Attributes of Medical Professionalism

Altruism and Commitment to Patients’ Interests

As changing market forces continue to confront the medical profession, physicians are increasingly challenged to uphold their dedication to serving their patients’ needs. Professionalism strives to ensure that physicians maintain an unwavering commitment to their patients.

Physician Self-Regulation

Group pressures not to report a colleague or indifference to the performance of others might lead doctors to ignore a colleague’s ineptitude or malfeasance. By emphasizing the obligation of diligent oversight, professionalism serves to promote patients’ health and safety.

Maintenance of Technical Competence

The pace of innovation in medicine is unprecedented. Thus new fields and new technologies must be continuously mastered. Absent a commitment to life-long learning, the knowledge base of the best trained physician will soon be outmoded and fall short of best medical practice.

Civic Engagement

Physicians should enlarge the scope of their concerns from the well-being of the individual patient to a concern for the welfare of all patients. They must make their voices heard by communicating their knowledge and concern to the public and putting a face and a story on advocacy for universal access to health care.

Challenges of Medical Professionalism

The Doctor-Patient Relationship

Despite unprecedented consumer access to medical information, there remains a marked imbalance in power and knowledge between doctor and patient. By insisting that physicians always put patient interests first, professionalism reduces the consequences of this imbalance, in the process enhancing the prospects of patient well-being.

Diversity and the Profession

The medical profession continues to be deeply enriched by the burgeoning diversification of the medical workforce, yet the perception of the profession as an “old boys” guild continues to exist. Physicians must advocate for continued support of diversity in the profession.

Educating to the Profession

It is crucial that physicians not only espouse the tenets of professionalism, but also accept nothing but the highest standards of professionalism. To accomplish that, those who aspire to become physicians must take professionalism seriously, not simply relegate classes on professionalism to a low priority.