Oaths, Conscience, Contracts, and Laws—The Gathering Storm Confronting Medical Professionalism
JAMA Viewpoint
Jul 31, 2024
Historically, an essential and ubiquitous component of physicians’ oaths and their related ethical codes is the promise to place patients’ interests above any others, including their own. In this perspective, Matthew Wynia, MD, MPH, and Patricia Gabow, MD, address the rising challenges that health providers face in fulfilling this core professional promise not from a virus but from 3 converging fronts: personal conscience, employment contracts, and laws. The authors suggest that health providers need to work to recenter medical care around patients’ interests, which can be difficult or even dangerous, but it is the only path forward if physicians hope to remain a true profession. Read article>>