SP-003 - Challenges in navigating professionalism lapses and opportunities to promote professional identity formation

The study of professionalism and professional identity formation are relatively new to dental education and are ever-evolving due to diverse worldviews and generational gaps among students, educators and patients. There is a pressing need to study the challenges in identifying and responding to inappropriate behavior/lapses in the humanistic learning environment. Participants will discuss adopting a non-penalizing approach to remediation and ways to encourage a culture of growth essential for the evolving landscape of dental education and practice. The objective is to implement more empathetic and patient-centered care while navigating professionalism lapses, benefiting students, educators and the communities they serve.