REVIEW Health professionalism and health profession education in the 21 st century [version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review] Chanuttha Ploylearmsang Social Pharmacy Research Unit, Faculty of Pharmacy, Mahasarakham University, Kantarawichai, Maha Sarakham, 44150, Thailand First published: 02 Nov 2021, 11:3 https://doi.org/10.12688/mep.17425.1 Latest published: 02 Nov 2021, 11:3 https://doi.org/10.12688/mep.17425.1 v1 Abstract The dramatic, rapid and uncertain changes from the 20th to the 21st century are called global megatrends. Such trends are the emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, an aging society, environmental hazards, behavioural risks, and more complicated lifestyles of humans in the digital age with advanced information technology (IT) that impact much on epidemiological transitions, health security and healthcare. Health professionals are the key persons for dealing with these challenging healthcare trends. The next generation of health professionals should be equipped with high professionalism especially for the components of humanism that artificial intelligence (AI) cannot replicate. Moreover, interprofessional collaborative teamwork among health professionals is a required skill for working in dynamic transitions such as the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Interprofessional education (IPE) is one of the essential strategies for enhancing teamwork skills in learners. Six previously reported trends in health profession education for the 21 st century are summarized, including interprofessional education, longitudinal integrated clinical education, understanding partnerships and social determination of health in patients, life-long learning, competency- based skills changeable over time, and AI and IT integrated in education. The connection among megatrends, trends in healthcare, health professionalism and health professional’s education will be important issues in academia for both health educators and health professionals. Keywords Megatrends, Health professionalism, Health profession education, Interprofessional education, 21st Century Open Peer Review Reviewer Status AWAITING PEER REVIEW Any reports and responses or comments on the article can be found at the end of the article. MedEdPublish Page 1 of 17 MedEdPublish 2021, 11:3 Last updated: 02 NOV 2021