This chapter will emphasise the importance of (i) being explicit
about the teaching of professionalism, (ii) defining the content
of professionalism courses, (iii) designing appropriate assessment
strategies and (iv) agreeing on the principles which underpin
the design and implementation of professionalism programmes.
The design of a professionalism programme does not differ from
designing a programme in any other aspect of medicine. The
principles of instructional design apply just as they do to the rest
of the medical curriculum. As always, the essential steps are to
establish the goals and objectives of the programme, develop the
content, choose the methods which will best encourage learning
and assess what has been learnt. Assessment is not only about
measuring student achievement; it is also about evaluating whether
the goals and objectives of the programme have been achieved.