Abstract

February 2008

Section Elements of Contemporary Practice

Over the past decade, the American health care system has had to cope with and manage an unprecedented amount of change. As a consequence, the medical profession has been challenged along the entire range of its cultural values and its traditional roles and responsibilities. Surgeons find it increasingly difficult to meet their responsibilities to patients and to society as a whole. In these circumstances, it is critical to reaffirm surgeons' commitment to the fundamental and universal principles and values of medical professionalism. The author discusses the meaning of professionalism, the surgeon-patient relationship, how to translate the theory of professionalism into practice, and the future of surgical professionalism. This chapter contains 19 references.

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