Jeff Blackmer
Extract
In many respects, medical professionalism is currently at a crossroads. The nature of the physician-patient relationship continues to evolve, as physicians struggle to redefine their role in an ever-changing society that is in the midst of a technological revolution. Threats to medical self-regulation and evolving physician scopes of practice have caused many practicing doctors to question whether the profession itself will ever be the same. . . . The objective of this paper has been to examine medical professionalism through the lens of the representative medical association rather than the individual clinician. Through providing both general and specific, concrete suggestions and examples of current and future potential activities which might be undertaken, it is hoped that it will add in a positive and constructive way to the preservation of what most doctors consider to be at the core of medicine: the role of the physician as healer and professional.
Blackmer J. Professionalism and the Medical Association. World Med Ass J. 2007;53(3):58-74.