RSNA Offers New Professionalism Vignette

CHICAGO (November 12, 2014) — In an ongoing effort to maintain the highest standards of practice among radiology professionals, the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) Professionalism Committee has expanded its series of free educational vignettes on ethics and professionalism in radiology. The new vignette is called "Professionalism in Radiology Research: Authorship."

Authorship confers credit for work and is an increasingly important issue, given the pressure for academic productivity and the significance ascribed to the number and quality of citations in the consideration for promotion and grants. The issue of authorship is fraught with professional and ethical implications, given that authorship also implies responsibility and accountability for the published work.

Professionalism is the basis of medicine's contract with society. Core principles of professionalism involve placing the interests of patients above those of the physician, setting and maintaining standards of competency and integrity, and providing expert advice to society on matters of health.

RSNA's professionalism vignettes are descriptive narrative scenarios that emphasize the importance of incorporating professionalism into routine practice and aim to facilitate discussion of this core competency. The series outlines specific ethical dilemmas that may be encountered in practice from disclosure of radiological errors to sexual harassment. New topics are in development.

Each vignette includes several scenarios with embedded questions and potential responses. Explanations comprising the relevant principles of professionalism help users to assess the appropriateness of their choices. References are provided for further study.

"These vignettes provide radiologists with an opportunity to gauge how they would navigate challenging situations and to consider the potential impact of their decisions," said Stephen D. Brown, M.D., chair of the RSNA Professionalism Committee. "The committee will continue to expand these educational offerings as we identify situations in need of best-practice clarifications."

The vignettes are part of RSNA's collection of professionalism resources and can be accessed at RSNA.org/Professionalism.