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Doctors are called on to renew their professionalism

Alex Vass BMJ

Three leading professional groups in Europe and the United States have called on doctors to renew their sense of professionalism.

The European Federation of Internal Medicine, the American College of Physicians—American Society of Internal Medicine, and the American Board of Internal Medicine have proposed a new charter on professionalism in response to the challenges that face doctors in the modern era.

The Physician Charter on Professionalism sets out commitments to which all medical professionals should aspire. Doctors must be committed to lifelong learning, be honest with patients, and ensure patient confidentiality. Ensuring the availability of a uniform and adequate standard of care to all patients is another core commitment. Doctors, the charter says, should "work to eliminate the barriers to access based on education, laws, finances, geography, and social discrimination."

The commitments are based on what the groups see as the core principles of medicine. These principles include social justice and the primacy of patients’ welfare and autonomy. Doctors should work to eliminate discrimination in health care, whether this is based on race, sex, socioeconomic status, or religion, the charter says.

The groups see the charter as a way for doctors to reaffirm their dedication to the traditional values of medicine, under threat in a fast changing world. The charter says that challenges to doctors centre on a lack of resources to meet the needs of patients, increasing dependence on market forces to transform healthcare systems, and the temptation among doctors to forsake their commitment to patients’ interests.

The charter is will be published next month at www.professionalism.org.
 
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