Which term is an element of professionalism?

• A. Altruism
• B. Courtesy
• C. Accountability
• D. Experience

Answer: (C)

In professionalism, accountability means being answerable for your actions, decisions, and their outcomes, and actively upholding the standards of care expected in practice. In PA work, this shows up as owning your clinical choices, providing clear justification for them, accepting responsibility when things don’t go as planned, and pursuing improvements to prevent recurrence. This binding obligation to our patients and the profession is what makes accountability a defining element of professionalism; it directly supports patient safety, ethical practice, and trust.

Altruism and courtesy are valuable personality traits that support professional interaction and patient care, but they describe how you interact rather than the formal duty to be responsible for your actions. Experience refers to time spent in practice, which can contribute to professionalism, but it does not by itself symbolize the professional obligation to own and remedy actions and outcomes.