A Critique of Contemporary Physician Professionalism under the U.S. Healthcare System Restricted; Files & ToC

Abstract

The duties and professional responsibilities of physicians have been a subject of debate for as long as the medical profession has existed. As technological and pharmaceutical advancements of the 1900s exponentially grew the scope and capabilities of medicine, conceptions of physicians’ obligations to themselves, patients, and society at large – professionalism – were challenged time and time again. Social, political, and economic triumphs and mishaps during this period further re-shaped definitions of professionalism and what the duties of a physician ought to be. This thesis first aims to identify these changes, recognize today’s most widely accepted definitions of physician professionalism, and explore what goals and obligations they strive towards. This thesis then documents the rise and establishment of private healthcare institutions in America and identifies their goals and obligations in order to evaluate foundational conflicts that arise between physician and institution. This framework is established to then explore how the goals of American Healthcare as a virtue-oriented profession run antithetical to the realities of American Healthcare as a profit-oriented enterprise. As physicians continue to cede autonomy to consolidated medical entities, they are increasingly compelled to compartmentalize these conflicts in practice. What duty, if any, should physicians have to address the shortcomings of American Healthcare? What are the limits of physician duty and advocacy within such a system? Without confronting the institutional barriers that prevent professionalism’s actualization, we risk physicians leaving the tenets of professionalism as abstract concepts to be debated rather than tangible ends to be pursued. 

Table of Contents

This table of contents is under embargo until 22 May 2025

About this Master's Thesis

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School	Laney Graduate School
Department	Bioethics
Degree	M.A.
Submission	Master's Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Health Sciences, Medical Ethics
Stichwort	Professionalism Healthcare Reform Medical Ethics Advocacy
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Paul Root Wolpe, PhD, Emory University
Committee Members	Bruce Greenfield, PhD, Emory University Benjamin Stoff, MD, MA, Emory University

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