DOI: https://doi.org/10.53350/pjmhs20221611342 ORIGINAL ARTICLE 342 P J M H S Vol. 16, No. 11, November, 2022 Determining “Professionalism of Dental Students at Various Academic Levels by PSCOM Scale” KHIZER MEHMOOD 1 , MUHAMMAD IMTIAZ 2 , HINA ALI 3 , SALIMA NAVEED MANJI 4 , AYESHA ASHRAF 5 1 BDS (House Officer at Fatima Memorial College of Medicine and Dentistry) 2 BDS, FCPS, MME (Assistant Professor of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Fatima Memorial College of Medicine and Dentistry) 3 BDS (House Officer at Fatima Memorial College of Medicine and Dentistry) 4 BDS (Department of Medical Education, Fatima Memorial College of Medicine and Dentistry) 5 BDS, FCPS ( Assistant Professor of Orthodontics, University of Child Health Sciences & The Children’s Hospital Lahore) Corresponding authors: Khizer Mehmood, Email: khizermehmood3@gmail.com, Cell: +923078754159 ABSTRACT Background/Introduction: Professionalism is one critical cornerstone of a successful academic program and considered to be the mainstay of health care provision. It is of great importance in the life of dentists because it plays a significant factor of interpretation and prediction of human behavior in various contexts of social and clinical practice. The purpose of this study was to determine professionalism of dental students at various academic levels by PSCOM scale. Methods: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study, the participants consisted of undergraduate dental students at various academic levels. The study was conducted between 29 th of December 2021 to 10 th of June 2022 at various dental colleges of Pakistan. A survey questionnaire was submitted to all participants to collect data to assess their professionalism through a validated PSCOM Scale. Results: The total number of participants were 403 containing 129 (32%) of men and 236 (58.6%) of women. The minimum age of the respondents in the research sample was 18 and the maximum age was 28 years. The average value of professionalism is 2.934 for BDS1, 3.045 for BDS2, 2.959 for BDS3 and 3.013 for BDS4 respectively. The average value of sub components of professionalism is 3.044 for accountability, 2.945 for altruism, 3.038 for duty, 3.038 for excellence, 2.964 for honesty and integrity and 2.976 for respect. Conclusion: The results shows that professionalism has neither increased nor decreased significantly over the academic years which tend to overestimate the fact that there is a need to promote personal and professional development throughout the undergraduate dental education course. Keywords: Professionalism; academic levels; PSCOM scale; dental students; competency; dental care; curriculum INTRODUCTION Professionalism is a core competency in dentistry which builds trust in patients, growing societal expectations have drawn public's attention towards dentists’ professionalism (1) . It also emphasizes key principles of behaviors such as accountability, humanism, altruism, and excellence which encompasses clinical competence, ethical or legal understanding, and communication skills (2) . Previous literature has focused on how these competencies in the field of technical skills depend on dental students’ experiences rather than on the concepts of professionalism, hence there is a need to look into the development of professionalism among undergraduate students (2) . Professionalism is critical for dentists to uphold these values within their practices because how patients are treated affects the trust they have in their dentists and whether they return for continued care (3) . There is a need to check these values in a dental students before they graduate. Teaching professionalism is not a simple task and requires a combination of methods and approaches within the undergraduate curriculum, the domain of professionalism is closely intertwined with communication, as well as leadership (3) . It can be presumed that students entering dental schools already possess some preconcept towards professionalism gained from previous experiences. The current dental curriculum is traditional and is not spiraled, other methods that bring change in students’ behavior are not encouraged (4, 5) . For professionalism to be seen as imperative by dental undergraduates, they have to recognize that it is esteemed by the faculty. Hence, it must be instructed and, most critically, evaluated. Evaluation is significant in dental institutes to evaluate advance and coordinate future learning (6,17) . Dentists are leading their business in providing dental care in their dental clinics and hospitals. However, society expects a certain level of professionalism from dentists, in contrast to the methods and motivations of the marketplace (6) . If dentists lack these professional competencies and harbour biases, they are likely to face conflicts at work and may be considered less than professional or contrary to the standards expected in a particular profession (7) . Lack of effective dental curriculum has been highlighted in Pakistan despite presence of subjects to address this need and justifying the need for a formal curriculum on professionalism (9) . It is also important to assess the professional outlook of students and what they perceive including the involvement in critical incidents that shape their understanding of such skill and proficient values, the diversity of tasks in dentistry means that each situation is unpredictable, but the dentist must take ultimate responsibility for every outcome (11,12) . Professionalism has been assessed in western countries as an essential part of good professional regulation as it is vital in professional education to assess progress and direct future learning. Hence, there is a need for the assessment of professionalism of dental students based on their accountability, duty, altruism, excellence, honesty and integrity, and respect at an undergraduate level (10,11) . So far, previous studies have tried to assess the professionalism of healthcare professionals but no such study has been conducted to assess the professionalism of dental students at different academic levels in Pakistan (12,13) . Therefore, the objective of our study is to determine professionalism of undergraduate dental students at various academic levels (14,15) . MATERIALS AND METHODS This was a descriptive cross-sectional study, conducted between 29 th of December 2021 to 10 th of June 2022 at different dental colleges of Pakistan. Ethical approval was obtained from the Institutional Review Board of Fatima Memorial College of Medicine and Dentistry, Lahore (FMH-03-2021-IRB-887-M). Many survey tools for assessing professionalism in healthcare are present (4,6,10,) but we have selected a validated tool for self assessment of professionalism known as Penn State College of Medicine Professionalism (PSCOM) scale. It is a valid, reliable, feasible and acceptable tool that has been used to assess attitudes of faculty and residents towards professionalism in Pakistan (6,13,14) . This survey tool has six sections for assessing accountability, altruism, duty, excellence, honesty and integrity, and respect. We have added demographic details that suit our purpose. After we sought approval from the corresponding author