Opinion
Professionalism and Professional Ethics in Medicine
By JAMA/ARCHIVES
Mar 30, 2005, 18:51

The March 28 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine contains several articles relevant to the topic of professionalism in medicine and/or professional ethics. The Archives of Internal Medicine is one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

"Several years ago, a study conducted by a group at Vanderbilt University demonstrated that unsolicited complaints about physicians correlated with physicians who...were rude to patients and families, and who did not show respect to the patient and family," writes Philip Greenland, M.D., editor of Archives of Internal Medicine, in an accompanying editorial.

"The same study also suggested that practice volume, translating into less time available for each patient, was associated with a higher volume of complaints and higher malpractice risk....We must remember that we accepted the duty of caring for patients when we entered medicine, and we must continue to practice with professional attitudes and behaviors no matter what the pressures we face. ... I believe strongly that we can address our share of the crisis in health care today by returning and holding fast to these long-held values."

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