Professionalism as Defined by Dr. Ring

In Ring's Presidential Address, professionalism seemed to tie into all of his goals for the "new" AMA starting this year. I think that putting the patient first is ultimately the best way to ensure that professionalism is met. In other professions, I don't think that "professionalism" could be defined in quite the same way. When I think about Dr. Ring's definition of competence, compassion, and moral accountability, I feel like they fit with what I would expect of myself as a physician acting professionally. He also stated towards the end of the article that being professional also meant sacrifices, which is not always easy. I personally agree with these definitions of professionalism and I know that I chose this profession. I want to be compassionate and giving of myself. I know that I will have to sacrifice to be the best physician I can for my patients. I do think that doctors are somewhat set apart from other professionals in the definition that Dr. Ring has given. If I were asked to define professionalism for a person that works in another field, for example, accounting, professionalism may mean following moral obligations to not cheat people of their money, showing up for work on time, and working well with other members of their work team. I just don't picture asking an accountant to sacrifice all personal obligations in order to save a person's taxes. (I do however have a great respect for accountants and admire their ability to do well with the difficult mess of numbers they are often given.) I know that I signed up for this profession, knowing that the stereotypes about personal sacrifice and putting others first is part of the job. I am excited for those aspects of medicine, although they do seem quite daunting when I think about what the mean for my future.

One very interesting phrase that caught my attention towards the end of the article is when Dr. Ring posed the question of whether we "are we a profession to which business is incidental or a business to which our professionalism is incidental?" It really got me thinking about which way I would phrase it with regards to my own life. I know that, especially with the way our current health care system is managed, that business management cannot be ignored. I do not believe that the business management should be the core focus of providing medical care. We should strive to put the medicine first and take care of the business end out of necessity of continuing to deliver great care.