Medical Professionalism — Focusing on the Real Issues

As commentators focus on managed care and other issues of the moment, many considerations are entirely overlooked, and these omissions may well subvert the effort to make professionalism relevant to contemporary medicine.

Abstract

There is considerable interest in reinvigorating medical professionalism.16 This interest reflects a profound unease with the seeming primacy of economic factors among those currently affecting medical practice in the United States. There is general agreement that patients' interests must take precedence over physicians' financial self-interest and that professionalism also entails service to vulnerable populations and civic engagement. But as commentators focus on managed care and other issues of the moment, many considerations are entirely overlooked. These omissions may well subvert the effort to make professionalism relevant to contemporary medicine.Because the focus on the threats from managed care is . . .