"Integrating Christian Values into Medical Professionalism: Rethinking the Role of Morality in Healthcare"

What does being a good medical professional entail? What are the values that define professionalism and what informs them? And in an increasingly liberal society, how overwhelming is the vagueness of these concepts, really?

Professionalism as a discipline may have different propositions depending on the vocation, geographical location, cadre, culture, and religion. Since work often brings together people with differing backgrounds and expectations, it is often necessary to formulate basic principles that regulate interpersonal relations and professional responsibilities. However, the renewed emphasis on professionalism is sometimes contradictory, especially when the values demanded in the workplace are overlooked or given little attention by society.  The progressive weakening of the moral foundations of societies has resulted in the ambiguity of conversations about ethics. However, because of the realization that different professionals may be dysfunctional without such values, there has been a revived interest in their reintegration into the workplace. Because of this, professionalism has become transactional, as the returns from offering specific services necessitate a high degree of competence and care from those offering it.

But because doctors are exposed to patients sometimes at their most vulnerable, the services they offer ought to transcend beyond what they can gain. I, therefore, believe doctors should have a stronger moral standing than other professionals. Values such as benevolence, integrity, patient-centeredness, and competence should first define who we are before defining what we do. From foundational medical ethics, some of the principles that define the medical profession are autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice. Nonetheless, the practical application of these principles sometimes proves to be a paradox. For instance, when introducing a new vaccine to the public, amid the often rushed clinical trials, there is always a risk of its long-term adverse effects being more considerable than its advantages. What informs our confidence in taking risks of overlooking autonomy and nonmaleficence when legislating vaccination mandates? While these ethical principles are critical in guiding our daily behaviors as doctors, no list is transparent, comprehensive, and exhaustive. Medical professionals will often be required to offer more than the outlined, and this may be both risky and rewarding.

Both the Advancing in Medical Professionalism (AMP ) and the 5-star doctor articles offer a sound blueprint of behaviors that are central to clinical practice as family doctors (Boelen,1993; Tweedie et.al., 2018). While I agree with both articles that doctors ought to be good managers, leaders, advocates, and team players, I would prefer my foundational responsibility to be regarded as a care provider (as outlined by the 5-star Doctor) as opposed to a healer (as outlined by the AMP) (Boelen,1993; Tweedie et.al., 2018). I believe the responsibility of a healer is too significant to be carried by one person. It may sometimes offer a false sense of control that may result in unnecessary weight especially when things do not go as expected. I would think of myself as a facilitator of healing rather than the healer, as wholeness is dependent on many other factors that transcend beyond my medical interventions to familial, cultural, and spiritual factors.

Overall, some of the values that I intentionally prioritize in my clinical practice include empathy, kindness, competence, curiosity, and selfless service. My Christian faith, informed by the loving attitude of Christ, is a foundation of these values. A society that constantly strives to separate faith from work will constantly fail at exemplifying the values they so often strive for in the marketplace.  In my opinion, it is impossible to expect people to be good professionals if they have no reference to who a good human being is. Morality is the only concrete foundation of professionalism and as long as it remains overlooked in professional circles, then the professional values we seek after will remain vague and impractical.  

References

Boelen, C. (1993). The five-star doctor. Chang Med Educ Med Pract, 1-13.

Tweedie, J., Hordern, J., & Dacre, J. (2018). Advancing medical professionalism. Advancing medical professionalism.