More on Teaching Medical Professionalism
"Although disagreement persists among experts
as to which aspects of medical practice are
captured by the term “medical professionalism,”
in recent years there has nevertheless
been widespread agreement within academic
medicine that it is essential to teach about medical
professionalism to medical students and
From "Training Doctors for Professionalism: Some Lessons from Teaching Medical Ethics" by Mark Siegler, M.D. [note: this is a PDF/Adobe Acrobat file]
Another view regarding the teaching of professionalism to medical students and residents is found in the American Journal of Bioethics, V. 4 Nr.2 2004 pages 1-10
"The Professionalism Movement: Can We Pause?" by Delese Wear and Mark G. Kuczewski. Here is the abstract of the article which is also available on the Univ. of Pennsylvania bioethics website
"The topic of developing professionalism dominated the content of many academic medicine publications and conference agendas during the past decade. Calls to address the development of professionalism among medical students and residents have come from professional societies, accrediting agencies, and a host of educators in the biomedical sciences. The language of the professionalism movement is now a given among those in academic medicine. We raise serious concerns about the professionalism discourse and how the specialized language of academic medicine disciplines has defined, organized, contained, and made seemingly immutable a group of attitudes, values, and behaviors subsumed under the label of "professionalism." In particular, we argue that the professionalism discourse needs to pay more attention to the academic environment in which students are educated, that it should articulate specific positive behaviors, that the theory of professionalism must be constructed from a dialogue with those we are educating, and that this theoretical and practical discourse must aim at a deeper understanding of social justice and the role of medicine within a just society."
Finally, the following is a list of pertinent articles regarding the teaching of medical professionalism from: Virtual Mentor,
Ethics Journal of the American Medical Association,
December 2003, Volume 5, Number 12
©2003 American Medical Association
Publication notice from AMA:This publication may be downloaded and reproduced for educational purposes. Sale or distribution for non-educational purposes is prohibited.
Suggested Reading and Resources
Professionalism in Medical Education
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American Medical Association. H-275.956: Demonstration of Clinical Competence. (CME Rep. E, A-90; Reaffirmed: CME Rep. 5, A-99; Modified: Sub. Res. 821, I-02).
American Medical Association. Principle IV. Principles of Medical Ethics. In: Code of Medical Ethics Current Opinions, 2002-2003 edition. Chicago: AMA Press; 2002:xii.
American Medical Association. Principles of medical ethics. Code of Medical Ethics, 2002-2003. Available at: http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/ category/2512.html. Accessed September 15, 2003.
American Medical Student Association Web site. AMSA Advocacy Guide: Understanding and Preserving Your Student Rights. Available at: http://www.amsa.org/adv/advguide.cfm. Accessed October 10, 2003.
Association of American Medical Colleges Web site. Medical School Graduation Questionnaire, All Schools Report, 2003. Available at: http://www.aamc.org/data/gq/allschoolsreports/start.htm. Accessed October 10, 2003.
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Health Care Quality Improvement Act (HCQIA). 42 USC § 11101 et seq.
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Mansky, PA. Chapter 46, Impaired physicians. In: Galanter M and Kleber HD, eds. Textbook of Substance Abuse Treatment, 3rd ed. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press, Inc. In Press.
Medical Professionalism Project. Medical professionalism in the new millennium: a physician charter. Ann Intern Med. 2002:136; 243-246.
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Virtual Hospital Web site. Sir William Osler: Aphorisms from His Bedside Teachings and Writings, #47. Available at: http://www.vh.org/adult/provider/history/osler. Accessed September 25, 2003.
Virtual Hospital Web site. Sir William Osler: Aphorisms from His Bedside Teachings and Writings, #3. Available at: http://www.vh.org/adult/provider/history/osler/1.html. Accessed September 25, 2003.
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