In November of 2010, the China-US Center on Medical Professionalism celebrated its fifth anniversary, holding its annual conference on medical professionalism at the Peking University Health Science Center. Some 80 attendees participated, testimony to the outstanding leadership of Center director, Professor Yali Cong. The substance of the two-day sessions reflected the substantial progress that the collaboration is achieving.

The dialogue at these conferences has evolved from efforts to define professionalism (how might the concept best be expressed in Chinese) to a more substantive and nuanced conversation about the state of professionalism in medical practice. Over the two days, Chinese and American scholars analyzed comparable and diverging practices in health care, making judgments about the actual and appropriate roles of medical professionalism.

The initial focus of the sessions was on health care reform. Both China and the US are currently implementing large scale health insurance programs, seeking to provide better quality care with broader access to health services while controlling health care costs.

To lay out some models for research in professionalism and transparency, the U.S. participants presented findings from their own work for Chinese colleagues to consider. The conference then moved to consider the research projects of our Chinese colleagues. To promote professionalism and build research capacity, the project is currently funding seven investigations.

Finally, to communicate its work to other audiences, project members lectured at medical schools and hospitals in Shanghai and Dalian. As conference discussions and site visits demonstrate, the concept of professionalism has taken on greater importance for our Chinese colleagues; medical schools, hospitals, medical associations, and the ministries of health are grappling with translating the concept into practice. The conferences, lectures, and scholarly research that our Center is supporting are helping to bring fresh perspectives to problem areas.