Academic Dishonesty

The world is full of liars and cheats. Caesar's famous, "Veni, vidi, vici" (I came, I saw, I conquered) could just as easily be "Veni, vidi, decepi" (I came, I saw, I deceived) or "Veni, vidi, circumveni" (I came, I saw, I cheated). People typically have a double standard, in that they don't want to be lied to or cheated, but are not above lying and cheating themselves.

What about academic dishonesty – particularly when it comes to those studying to be healthcare professionals? Some studies have suggested that, in general, more than half of students are cheating their way through school. What does this mean for the value of the degrees being conferred, and the quality and quantity of work produced, whether in research or in clinical care? Consider:

Doctors

The December 22, 2005 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine published an article that looked at 235 graduates of three medical schools who were disciplined by one of 40 state medical boards between 1990 and 2003. The not-surprising results? Disciplinary action by a medical board was strongly associated with prior unprofessional behavior in medical school. The study found that the types of unprofessional behavior most strongly linked with disciplinary action were severe irresponsibility and severely diminished capacity for self-improvement. Based on the latter, things won't improve with these individuals any time soon.

Dentists

An article published in the December 2000 Journal of Dental Education was based on the results of surveys on academic integrity sent to the academic deans of all 55 US dental schools. Based on an 84% response rate, researchers found that the average school deals with one or two cases of academic dishonesty per year. The most common incidents involved copying or aiding another student during a written examination, while the next most common incidents involved writing an untrue patient record entry or signing a faculty member's name in a patient chart.

Meanwhile, an article on academic cheating published in the February 12, 2007 issue of Macleans tells the frightening story of some two dozen dental students at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey who were ordered in summer 2006 to perform community service for falsifying credits for clinical procedures such as root canals and dental fillings.

Nurses & Technology

As technology advances, cheating is made easier and is more prevalent. The December 2006 issue of Nurse Education Today had an article entitled High Tech Cheating, which notes that "… academic dishonesty, including plagiarism, has shown a positive correlation with the increased use of technology in education." And as in the case of doctors, "… evidence suggests that academic dishonesty is a predictor of workplace dishonesty. Given this correlation between unethical classroom behavior and unethical clinical behavior, efforts to staunch academic dishonesty may help allay professional misconduct."

Pharmacists

The American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education published a paper on August 15, 2006, in which researchers looked at third-year PharmD students at four schools in the USA. They found that academic dishonesty was prevalent among students. Of the 296 students who completed the survey, 16.3% admitted to cheating during pharmacy school, and approximately 74% admitted that either they or their classmates had worked with a friend on an assignment that was supposed to be completed alone. Students who cheated during high school or in a pre-pharmacy program were more likely to cheat during pharmacy school, while those who possessed a BSc degree prior to studying pharmacy were less likely to cheat. The authors wrote, "While few respondents directly admitted to cheating, many admitted to activities traditionally defined as dishonest." What does this mean? Simply that they're not just cheating, but they're lying about cheating.

And the same journal published a article in their June 15, 2006 issue that looked at students in four pharmacy programs in Canada. More than 80% of survey respondents indicated they had participated in one or more acts of academic dishonesty described in the questionnaire. The authors warned, "The public expects that health care professionals have graduated from academic programs where they have been taught important competencies and that these competencies have been learned. Without further study, questions about the integrity of professional education and practice will continue, and the public's faith in the postsecondary and health care systems may be jeopardized." A rather effective summary of the problem.

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