Community Standards for Professional Accountability

Members of our community are expected to:

• Demonstrate commitment to meet or exceed expectations for high quality patient care, innovative research inquiry, and teaching and learning effectiveness.
• Seek knowledge, ask questions, search for information, and take responsibility for one’s own learning and development.

Members of our community are expected to:

• Actively develop policy, resources, and/or processes as well as demonstrate supporting behaviors that strive for equitable access to opportunities and resources for people who might be excluded, historically marginalized, and/or minoritized.
• Promote and cultivate an institutional culture of equity and diversity in all forms.

Members of our community are expected to:

• Demonstrate high regard for patients, research subjects, students, supervisors, and peers, recognizing that we have an effect on those around us.
• Recognize the inherent dignity and value of all persons and seek to understand the perspectives of others.
• Actively collaborate and cooperate with others in a considerate manner.
• Work to acknowledge power differentials (formal or informal) and seek to promote mutual respect and trust.
• Show care for others’ physical or emotional boundaries and physical property, recognizing that SOP faculty, staff, and students are guests at other locations (e.g., practice sites, conferences).
• Behave with fairness toward others and take responsibility for one’s share of team-based teaching and learning projects.
• Avoid actions that discriminate against or harass others, show disrespect, or are retaliatory and/or destructive.  Bullying is unprofessional behavior that misuses power to control or harm others. (further clarification of disrespectful, retaliatory, or destructive behavior can be found here)

Members of our community are expected to:

• Act with honesty in all interactions and uphold high moral and ethical standards in all endeavors, i.e., act in patients’ and research subjects’ best interests; act in accordance with the profession-specific, research, and/or practice site’s code of ethics.
• Maintain confidentiality, i.e., engage in discussions or other activities involving patient- and/or site-specific information for purposes of fulfilling professional responsibilities only; maintain confidential nature of research subject, patient- and/or site-specific documents.

Members of our community are expected to:

• Display selfless concern for others and a commitment to advocate for the needs and interests of others.
• Recognize suffering and act to alleviate physical, spiritual, and emotional pain.
• Recognize that self-compassion is a key element of personal well-being which enables each community member to function at their highest capacity in their professions.
• Show diplomacy, i.e., be fair and tactful in all interactions with patients, research subjects, supervisors, instructors, and peers.
• Show empathy, i.e., demonstrate appreciation of others’ positions; attempt to identify with others’ perspectives; demonstrate consideration towards others.
• Remain nonjudgmental, i.e., demonstrate an attitude of open-mindedness towards others and situations; does not “stereotype” others or prejudge situations.

Members of our community are expected to:

• Communicate using appropriate terminology and vocabulary for intended audience, through all methods of communication (verbal, in-person, written, telephone, or body language)
• Communicate actively and appropriately engage in dialogue or discussion; offer one’s viewpoint using respectful tone.
• Communicate using appropriate, non-threatening body language, i.e., utilize gestures and mannerisms that enhance communication and avoid offense.

Members of our community are expected to:

• Accept responsibility for one’s behavior and take responsibility for own mistakes or mishaps, acknowledging that—as members of a larger community—we answer to one another for our conduct and outcomes.
• Invite, accept, and incorporate constructive criticism, i.e., respond openly and positively to feedback; modify behavior if necessary.
• Follow through with responsibilities, i.e., if task is left incomplete or problem is not resolved, seek aid or delegate situation to parties who can follow-up on task or problem.
• Demonstrate punctuality, i.e., arrive at practice site, class sessions, and meetings early or on time; meet deadlines for completion of tasks and responsibilities.
• Demonstrate reliability and dependability, i.e., fulfill responsibilities and meet expectations, such as attending class or meetings and submitting assignments/assessments as required/requested.
• Demonstrate confidence, i.e., act and communicate in a self-assured manner, yet with modesty and humility.
• Use self-direction in undertaking tasks, i.e., after initial instruction of tasks / assignments / responsibilities, initiate activities to complete them; demonstrate self-motivation; function independently; seek additional tasks after completing original tasks.
• Prioritize responsibilities effectively, i.e., organize and approach multiple tasks and assignments to produce desired outcomes.
• Use time efficiently, i.e., allocate and utilize appropriate amounts of time to fulfill responsibilities; utilize others’ time wisely.