Professionalism and the Medical Student

According to the Charter on Professionalism (1), 3 principles lie at the core of professionalism in medicine. The first principle, primacy of patient welfare, stresses altruistic dedication to the well-being of the individual patient. The second principle, patient autonomy, urges physicians to facilitate patient involvement in treatment decisions. The third core principle, social justice, calls upon physicians to work actively toward equitable societal distribution of health care resources.

In the poignant essay “A Lesson from the Third Year” (2), which appears in this issue, a medical student caring for an elderly Chinese immigrant encounters each of the 3 core principles of professionalism. The problems the student faces in the care of this patient (cultural isolation, lack …