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William Burke, D.O.
(’88) on new rules
of medical etiquette
Dr. Burke discusses
how professionalism
has changed over the
years
By Richard Heck
Feb. 27, 2009
 OU-COM
students are held to
a high standard, as
evidenced by our
student honor code
and the
Professionalism
Lecture Series.
William Burke, D.O.
(’88), recently
shared his thoughts
on emerging
challenges for
today’s physician at
one
of these noon
presentations.
Having graduated
from OU-COM 20 years
ago, Burke, program
director for Doctors
Hospital Family
Practice residency
program, noted key
differences in the
medical field.
For example,
technologies like
cellular telephones
and web-based social
networking present
new rules of
etiquette and new
professional risks.
He recounted how a
colleague rejected a
residency applicant
after viewing an
inappropriate
picture on the
student’s Facebook
profile.
Burke recalled
another student who,
for academic and
professional
purposes, gave out
an e-mail address
including the name
“monkey love.”
“You’re not in
college anymore,”
Burke said. “You
need to think about
those things.”
Another development
Burke noted is the
rising number of
women entering the
profession, which
has required a
revision of
traditional gender
roles. “Change takes
time, but there
still are old, male
doctors out there
who act like pigs,”
he said.
Burke pointed out
that both patients
and fellow
physicians have
certain professional
and ethical
expectations. One
expectation among
patients, Burke
said, is that
physicians wear
their clean white
coats over business
attire – ties for
men.
“Look like a
doctor,” Burke said,
noting that what
students now wear to
first- and
second-year lectures
may not be
appropriate for
third- and
fourth-year clinical
rotations, where
students are
expected to
demonstrate
professionalism as
one of their seven
competencies.
“People make
judgments about you
based on
appearance,” Burke
said. “What you wear
to a club on
Saturday night may
not be appropriate
to wear to the
clinic on Monday
morning. You all are
youthful in your
looks right now, but
that can impede a
patient’s
perception. … Even
bad breath can alter
a patient’s
confidence in a
physician.”
Burke admitted that
professionalism can
be subjective and
difficult to pin
down. “It’s not
about (not) making
mistakes, because we
all make mistakes,”
he said. “What’s
important is you
learn from mistakes
so they don’t happen
again.”
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