Professionalism: Reclaiming or Renaming?

Description: Context: Professionalism in medicine is a conflicted concept. The meaning and value of professionalism play formative roles in medical education, encompassing ethics, compassion, and integrity. In practice, behaviors modeled during training and those labeled as "unprofessional" often do not comport with stated values. Professionalism is often reduced to completing tasks, rather than caring for patients.

Due, in part, to this frustration, physicians in many states are actively working against the profession's self-regulation role by uncoupling board certification from privileging and credentialling and by limiting licensing board authority over professional behavior. As ABMS embraces a formative role for professionalism, it is important to understand what physicians think it means, how they experience it, and whether they see the new ABMS focus as valuable.

Topics Covered:

1) Review operating and practical definitions of professionalism vs. how it is experienced. Why are conflicts important?
2) A review of qualitative research conducted by the ABFM in which participants suggest that quality patient care remains at the center of professional identity but there is a need for institutions to allow more physician autonomy over key practice decisions.
3) More work is needed to explore the tensions caused when institutional settings create challenges to professionalism.
4) How can ABMS best support professionalism and who are key partners? What is its role in helping diplomates understand when their professionalism is being leveraged and how to defend it? Is there a need to reclaim or rename professionalism to better protect it and the public’s trust?
5) Reactions, discussion and close