Concerns have been raised, both within and outside medicine, that physicians and the medical education system have lost their commitment to medical professionalism. One senses that in the perennial struggle between self-interest and altruism self-interest may be winning out. The realities of today's medicine, including commercialism, conflicts of interest, decreased autonomy, and increased oversight, have led to the erosion of the idealistic values expected of physicians since the conception of the Hippocratic Oath. This attrition of professionalism has, in turn, led to renewed calls to refine how professionalism is taught in medical schools. Many organizations, including the Association of American Medical College, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, and the American College of Physicians have advocated initiatives to emphasize professionalism in medicine and medical education.

Despite the calls for change, challenges remain about how an ethos of professionalism should be inculcated in doctors-in-training. Professionalism is taught in the explicit and the implicit curriculum in most medical schools. Early in their education, students are first taught professionalism through the explicit curriculum. This occurs mainly during lectures, small group discussion and isolated events, including the “white coat ceremony.” The challenge with learning professionalism in these settings is manifold. The explicit curriculum (1) may not be consistently and readily integrated with the four-year curriculum; (2) may be overly simplistic; (3) tends to focus more on the negative aspects of professionalism (such as using lists of rules and behaviors and describing the negative consequences of bad actions); and (4) lacks a single resource or text used for teaching students about medical professionalism.