What do the terms “profession, professional, professionalism”
mean in 2002? One dictionary defines profession as “a calling
requiring specialized knowledge and often long and intensive academic
preparation,” and it defines professionalism as “the conduct,
aims, or qualities that characterize or make a profession or professional
person.” These definitions are appealingly simple. Complexity arises
when we add the term “medical” as in the medical profession, a
medical professional, or medical professionalism; and, here a specific
understanding of “the conduct, aims, and qualities that
characterize” the field of medicine is required. To complicate matters,
professionalism applies to both the profession as a whole as well as the
individual professional persons, such as the physicians.