Elsevier

The Lancet

Volume 359, Issue 9305, 9 February 2002, Pages 520-522
The Lancet

Charter on Medical Professionalism
Medical professionalism in the new millennium: a physicians' charter

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(02)07684-5Get rights and content

Summary

Published simultaneously in Ann Intern Med 2002; 136: 243–46.

Section snippets

Preamble

Professionalism is the basis of medicine's contract with society. It demands placing the interests of patients above those of the physician, setting and maintaining standards of competence and integrity, and providing expert advice to society on matters of health. The principles and responsibilities of medical professionalism must be clearly understood by both the profession and society. Essential to this contract is public trust in physicians, which depends on the integrity of both individual

Principle of primacy of patients' welfare

This principle is based on a dedication to serving the interest of the patient. Altruism contributes to the trust that is central to the physician–patient relationship. Market forces, societal pressures, and administrative exigencies must not compromise this principle.

Principle of patients' autonomy

Physicians must have respect for patients' autonomy. Physicians must be honest with their patients and empower them to make informed decisions about their treatment. Patients' decisions about their care must be paramount, as long

Commitment to professional competence

Physicians must be committed to lifelong learning and be responsible for maintaining the medical knowledge and clinical and team skills necessary for the provision of quality care. More broadly, the profession as a whole must strive to see that all of its members are competent and must ensure that appropriate mechanisms are available for physicians to accomplish this goal.

Commitment to honesty with patients

Physicians must ensure that patients are completely and honestly informed before the patient has consented to treatment and

Summary

The practice of medicine in the modern era is beset with unprecedented challenges in virtually all cultures and societies. These challenges centre on increasing disparities among the legitimate needs of patients, the available resources to meet those needs, the increasing dependence on market forces to transform health-care systems, and the temptation for physicians to forsake their traditional commitment to the primacy of patients' interests. To maintain the fidelity of medicine's social

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