From the moment students set foot in medical school, they are instilled with the concept of medical professionalism: their sacred responsibility to conduct themselves with the values of a profession that is granted automatic trust in society. The problem, as many medical students have also learned, is that where “professional” is vague, "unprofessional” is even more so.  "This can prove particularly pernicious to residents of color, said Dr. Adaira Landry, an adviser at Harvard Medical School and co-author on a recent NEJM article on the “overpolicing” of Black residents.

Medicine was at a crossroads from 1997 to 2007, when corporations were snapping up individual practices and turning them into for-profit enterprises.  Doctors saw their time with patients dwindle, and patients saw their quality of care decline.  “There was a rising public perception that doctors were just like everyone else: They’re just looking to make a buck,” said Dr. Matthew Wynia, a medical ethicist studying the ethics of managed care during this period. “The fear was that our sense of professionalism was being lost.”  Read article>>