MEDICAL PROFESSIONALISM – VALIDITY OF ARABIAN “LAMPS” IN THE CONTEXT OF MEDICAL EDUCATION IN PAKISTAN

It is widely acknowledged that potent forces of a political, legal and market-driven nature are producing great stress on the practice of medicine. Such influences potentially threaten the underpinning which unites physicians, patients and society. There is a wide – spread concern both inside and outside the profession regarding the impact such forces impart on medical practice. According to Sir William Osler, “The practice of medicine is not a business and can never be one…. Our fellow creatures cannot be dealt with as a man deals in corn and coal; the human heart by which we live must control our professional relations” (Osler, 1932). Medical professionalism received a global interest in recent years mainly because of the high failures in the practice of medicine. Professionalism is defined as the ideal behaviors to-wards which physicians aspire while serving their patients and society. There is no consensus on what contributes to medical professionalism even among leading medical organizations and accreditation bodies. The elements of professionalism and attitudes of different groups to professionalism have not been explored in Pakistani context. Six domains of professionalism were identified by the American Board of Internal medicine (ABIM) in 1995, which include; altruism, accountability, duty, excellence, integrity and honor and respect. These elements provide a good template for validation. The ABIM frame-work seems a standard as it has been used as a consistent scaffolding for a number of studies in different countries to define attributes of professionalism over the past decade.