Ethical and Legal Issues in Neurology: Chapter 9. The good doctor: professionalism in the 21st century

Ethical and Legal Issues in Neurology: Chapter 9. The good doctor: professionalism in the 21st century
ISBN-10
012808071X
ISBN-13
9780128080719
Series
Ethical and Legal Issues in Neurology
Category
Medical
Pages
472
Language
English
Published
2014-01-09
Publisher
Elsevier Inc. Chapters
Authors
James M. Gordon, Claire J. Creutzfeldt, Amy Y. Tsou

Description

Medical professionalism faces distinctive challenges in the 21st century. In this chapter, we review the history of professionalism, address specific challenges physicians face today, and provide an overview of efforts to address these issues, including behavioral and virtue ethics approaches. First, we discuss core features professions share and the development of codes of medical ethics that guide the practice of western medicine. Second, we address challenges related to the doctor–patient relationship, continuity of care, cultural competence, conflicts of interest, and the regulation of quality of care through maintenance of certification. We then explore three cultural trajectories that have deeply influenced medical practice: the technologic imperative, physicians’ collective neglect of structural factors impacting medicine, and the rise of commercialism. Finally, we describe efforts to address these challenges, focusing on the Physician Charter developed by the American Board of Internal Medicine and widely endorsed by medical boards and societies internationally.

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