Ethics -- a force every day in every aspect of medicine

AMA Leader Commentary. By John C. Nelson, MD, MPH, Oct. 18, 2004.

AMA LEADER COMMENTARY

A few words about current events in medical practice

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A message to all physicians from AMA President John C. Nelson, MD, MPH.

When I talk with other physicians about the reasons I'm proud to be an AMA member, one of the first ideas to surface has to do with ethics. Medicine is rooted in ethics and ethical standards. In fact, part of the classic definition of a profession is to have a code of ethics to which all practitioners "profess" their allegiance.

Far from sentences on a piece of paper filed away in someone's desk, ethics and ethical behavior are knitted into the everyday practices and procedures of medicine, into its education and training, into every stage in a physician's career, into a vital patient-physician trust relationship.

Ethics, in that sense, is a living contract we have with individuals and society at large. In 1847, the American Medical Association came into being with the writing of our Code of Medical Ethics. Today, as we have since 1847, the AMA is pioneering ethical leadership in new ways.

Three outstanding examples of new programs illustrate the AMA's continuing leadership:

• Expanding access to care. More than a payment issue or a geographic location issue, expanded access is an ethical issue.
• Improving the quality of care. Health care quality is not just an issue of technical skill. Patients come to doctors with high expectations for ethics, too.
• Building trust in individual physicians and in the profession. Many forces today make it harder than ever to maintain the trust of our patients. The AMA's Ethics Group is working to maintain and build up this vital trust.