Reclaiming the concept of professionalism in the digital context; a principle-based concept analysis

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundThis concept analysis aims to present the best estimate of understanding and attitudes of medical and allied healthcare students and educators towards e-professionalism. This work also elucidates the probable truth about safeguarding the concept of medical professionalism in the digital context.MethodsThis concept analysis was adopted by the Penrod and Hupcey’s principle-based approach using the key term ‘e-professionalism’. On January 2023, PubMed and ISI web of Science were searched for English-language peer-reviewed articles specific to e-professionalism in the medical field. The finally selected research corpus contained 63 articles.ResultsA comprehensive analysis of the existing body of knowledge highlighted that e-professionalism is an epistemologically mature and distinct concept with a standard definition. However, inconsistencies in conceptual meanings were reported due to varied understandings despite digital literacy. The pragmatic utility showed a lack of sound methodological and philosophical paradigms. Perhaps the technological rapid advancements and manifestations have hampered the linguistic maturity. However, logically, e-professionalism is perceived as an extension of conventional professionalism but with a contextual hinging demanding a distinct framework with a set of attributes to be digitally relevant.ConclusionThis concept analysis provides insight into the scarcity of research regarding the collective perspective of essential stakeholders, highlighting the need to investigate further e-professionalism and its complex patterns emerging within the digital context. There is also a recognition of the need for a framework implementation to guide future healthcare professionals. Such framework may potentially yield a more profound understanding and remediation strategies to keep pace with the rapidly advancing medical field in the digital realm.