Over the past 15 years, medical schools have paid some attention
to the importance of developing students' communication
skills as part of their medical education. Over the past decade,
medical ethics has been added to the curriculum of most U.S.
medical schools, at least on paper. More recently, there has
been growing discussion of the importance of professionalism
in medical education. Yet, the nature and content of these fields
and their relationship to one another remains confused and vague,
and that lack of clarity, in turn, impairs the effectiveness
of medical education. This ambiguity invites serious contention
over who should design and teach the curriculum as well as when,
where, and how it should be taught.