Assessment of professionalism: From where have we come – to where are we going? An update from the Ottawa Consensus Group on the assessment of professionalism

In 2009, an International Working Group (IWG) on the Assessment of Professionalism began collaborating before publishing recommendations in 2011. Nearly a decade later the IWG reconvened to take stock of the state of practice and research in professionalism and the impact of the 2011 report. A bibliometric study of the assessment of professionalism was performed and found 600 publications in Google Scholar and 164 in Web of Science since 2011, of which 177 (30%) and 84 (50%) respectively cited the original IWG publication. A thematic analysis showed that of 9 research areas recommended in 2011, 7 of 9 categories were represented with a large increase in research across languages and cultures. Though the assessment of professionalism remains a challenge the research base continues to grow, especially related to professionalism across cultures and languages, and a large percentage of publications cite the IWG recommendations. There remains a gap in research and writing about patients’ perspectives.