Charter on Medical/Dental Professionalism*

Physicians/dentists must be committed to lifelong learning, and be responsible for maintaining the medical knowledge and clinical and team-skills necessary for the provision of quality care. This includes striving to ensure the competency of trainees and fellow members of the profession via adequate and appropriate educational resources.

Physicians/dentists must ensure that in a timely fashion patients are completely and honestly informed of the nature, expected outcome and risks of treatment before consenting to treatment. This expectation does not mean that patients should be involved in every minute decision about medical care; rather, they need enough information to make their best decisions. This implies that Physicians/dentists should also acknowledge that in health care, errors that injure patients do sometimes occur and that analyzing these mistakes provides a basis for appropriate prevention and improvement strategies as well as for rightful compensation to injured parties.

Physicians/dentists must ensure that the appropriate confidentiality safeguards are in place to preserve patient confidentiality. This commitment extends to discussions with all persons acting on a patient's behalf. It is recognized that the obligation must occasionally yield to legitimate considerations deemed to be in the public interest.

Given the inherent vulnerability and dependency of patients, physicians/dentists must commit to never exploiting them for sexual advantage, personal financial gain or indeed any private purpose.

Physicians/dentists and basic science faculty and students must commit to work with other professionals, and allied health care agencies in a collegial and mutually respectful fashion. This attitude will lead to a comfortable and satisfying work environment for all, and ensures that the focus of health care delivery remains appropriately on the patient. Although constructive criticism is an essential component of the academic and health care environment and essential for life-long learning, it is unacceptable that denigration of other professionals, communities and organizations take place.

Within the framework of respect for patient confidentiality, physicians/dentists must strive for honest and complete communication with others in regard to issues relevant to their patients. This includes other health care colleagues, third party payers, the legal profession and insurance bodies.

Physicians/dentists must be dedicated to continuous improvement of the health of the communities for which they are responsible. This commitment entails not only maintaining personal clinical competence but also working collaboratively with other professionals to reduce error, increase patient safety, minimize inappropriate use of health resources, and optimize outcomes of care by measuring and modifying management where indicated.

Physicians/dentists must dedicate themselves to the pursuit of a uniform standard for health care that is readily available to all people. This pursuit includes the active identification of barriers to such a goal and the determined reduction of those barriers. This commitment to equity entails the promotion of public health and prevention of disease, as well as public advocacy.

Physicians/dentists have a duty to uphold scientific standards, to promote research, to create new knowledge and to ensure its appropriate use. The professions are also responsible for the integrity of this knowledge, which is based on scientific evidence and clinical experience.

Physicians/dentists have an obligation to recognize, disclose to audit at arm’s length, and manage conflicts of interest that arise in the course of their professional duties and activities. In particular this extends to relationships between industry and professional authorities when the latter determine the criteria for conducting and reporting clinical trials, writing editorials or therapeutic guidelines, or serving as editors of scientific journals.

As members of a profession, physicians/dentists are expected to work collaboratively to maximize patient care and to participate in the processes of self-regulation. This includes remediation and discipline of members who have failed to meet professional standards and the organization of educational processes and standard-setting for present and future physicians and dentists. In addition there is an obligation to engage in internal assessment and to accept and respond to external scrutiny of all aspects of their professional and educative duties.