Journal of the Korean Medical Association (대한의사협회지)

Korean Medical Association (대한의사협회)
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Modern-day medical professionalism: historical background, evolution of the concepts, and a critique on the statements

현대 의학전문직업성: 역사적 배경, 개념변화, 선언문 비판

  • Choi, Bomoon (Division of Humanities & Social Sciences of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea College of Medicine)
  • 최보문 (가톨릭대학교 의과대학/의학전문대학원 인문사회의학과)
  • Published : 2011.11.10
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Abstract

Modern day medical professionalism has been advocated by multiple professional organizations and individual scholars. Most of the statements publicly issued emphasize particular moral traditions and the highest professional standards along with doctors' social role to recover society's trust, which have proved ineffective in bringing any change. Based on the perspective that medical professionalism is a norm of practice, acknowledged and shared by the majority of current ordinary doctors, the author traced the emergence of modern professionalism to challenge the legitimacy of those virtue-based arguments within a historical context. With the increasing complexities of both society and the health care system, new types of health clinics have been practiced especially by young generation doctors. As these are explored, several factors related with those stated professionalism that are creating conflicts are discussed. It is criticized that those statements demand individual doctors to adhere to the ideal professionalism regardless of any circumstances, so that it excludes any discussion about professionalism from the broader social contextual background. Given that professionalism is a context-dependent concept, it is stressed that modern day medical professionalism is required to evolve along with societal change. As medicine is recognized as a system in which numerous societal areas are involved, medical professionalism is expected to be rewritten into a consensus-based, more realistic and explicit compact.

Keywords

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