Professionalism and Ethics

Principles of Medical Professionalism and the Physician Charter

As societal norms have transformed and continued to evolve, physicians and other clinicians have faced significant legal, moral, and ethical quandaries that have influenced the practice of medicine. Although the development of professionalism stems from the core tenets of ethics and medicine, coined by Aristotle and Hippocrates respectively, it has been codified most famously by the Institute of Medicine in its white papers, To Err Is Human: Building a Better Healthcare System, and Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Healthcare System for the 21st Century.

With the increasing emphasis of professionalism in radiology during the past decade, associated with shifting patient expectations, there has been a joint effort by the American Board of Radiology (ABR), the American College of Radiology (ACR), and the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) to train and educate radiologists on professionalism and ethics. To support this endeavor, the RSNA Professionalism Committee adopted the Physician Charter and presented it at the opening session of their annual meeting in 2006. As adopted by the RSNA, professionalism is the basis of medicine’s contract with society. It places the welfare of the patient above that of the physician, sets and maintains standards of competency and integrity, and provides expert advice to society on matters of health. The Physician Charter ( Box 12.1 ) outlines three principles of medical professionalism and denotes 10 professional responsibilities.