Table 3 Students' quotes concerning the LPPD: program (experiences and learning outcomes) and assessment (interview data 2020–2021)

LPPD—program

Experiences

S1: ‘Within the individual sessions with my coach, I became aware of what I (sometimes unconsciously) learned from my experiences within other parts of the curriculum. I learned to think about why things happen the way they happen.’

S2: ‘From vague and useless to awareness of usefulness. I have developed from unconsciously incompetent to consciously competent in the area of professional student attitude and behavior. I feel the need to develop even further. My peers in my coaching group were my colleagues in this sometimes uncomfortable but finally inspiring process.’

S3: ‘I must admit that at the beginning, the course on professional development annoyed me very much because I thought it was not useful for me. Looking back now, I may have learned the most from this course in the whole curriculum. I know much better who I am, how my actions and behavior come about, how I can change them and what I need to do so. So my new learning goal is: 'Not to immediately resist something I do not think is useful, but being open to other views.’

S4: ‘I've figured out myself, at least in the last few years, which aspect of professionality I want to develop.’

Learning outcomes

S5: ‘By reflecting on meaningful experiences, I learned to look more consciously both at things that are going well and at things that I can improve. The individual coaching sessions are a mandatory moment from which to stand still and look back.’

S6: ‘The most important thing that I learned during professionalism is to reflect. In the beginning I found it useless and I saw it mainly as a burden, but now it has become a tool to test whether I have made improvements in my skills and learning objectives.’

S7: ‘It is amazing that I have learned to speak up if an observation asks for it. Hierarchy was scary for me. I learned to ask questions about observations that puzzled me and to give feedback to my supervisor correctly. The supervisor appreciated my feedback.’

S8: ‘Somehow I got the idea that every student should be a leader. However, in patient contacts and discussions with my project team, I realized that followers are needed as well. It is up to you to decide in which role you feel comfortable and use your talents to become a team player.’

LPPD – assessment

S9: ‘It (red: assessment) just feels more like an obligation than actually working on your development.’

S10: ‘I truly did everything (re: the assessment). However, you exaggerate sometimes.’

S11: ‘I think that many aspects of professionalism cannot truly be assessed.’

S12: ‘You truly have another person (re: the assessor), that you do not know, who has a completely different view. That can sometimes lead to very useful tips.’

S13: ‘There are also certain parts of the assessment that I notice, that I have no use of myself. So then I think that this is useless.’

(published with permission)