Egyptian medical students' recommended responses to the Dundee Polyprofessionalism I: Academic Integrity

Abstract

The Dundee Polyprofessionalism Inventory I: Academic Integrity was administered to 219 medical students from three Egyptian medical schools. The results indicate a high level of congruence between the genders in Recommended Sanctions on a scale of 1-10 ranging from Ignore through Reprimand to Expulsion/Report to Regulatory Body. Some variations in Recommended Sanctions occurred among the age groups 17-19 years; 20-24 years, and 25 years and older. The Egyptian responses were more lenient than a Scottish medical school cohort on four lapses of professionalism and stricter on 5. The Dundee Polyprofessionalism Inventory I: Academic Integrity can be used as a 'diagnostic tool' to profile a cohort's recommended responses to 30 lapses of professionalism at undergraduate level in health professions education. That profile can be compared with another cohort to indicate parallels and differences in the importance with which different respondents (perhaps in different countries and cultures) place on generic elements of academic professionalism. This information in turn can be used to target further education in expected standards of professionalism. The process can be used as an e-learning programme as well as for needs analysis, including that for International Medical Graduates moving from one culture to work in another.