Teaching Medical Professionalism in Korean Medical Schools: Tasks and Prospect

Meng, Kwang ho

Abstract

The Medical Student Objectives Project of the American Association of Medical Colleges states that physicians must demonstrate "a commitment to advocate at all times the interests of one's patients over one's own interests," as well as "an understanding of the threats to medical professionalism posed by the conflicts of interest inherent in various financial and organizational arrangements for the practice of medicine." Due to these concerns, for the last some 30 years, there have been many attempts to improve medical professionalism curriculum in medical education such as altruistic attitudes and professional behaviors that those pursuing careers in medicine should possess. However, physicians today are not infrequently confronting conflicts of interest, such as those arising between the health system that employs them and the individual patient seeking care. This paper briefly reviews current status of teaching medical professionalism in Korean medical schools, and discusses tasks to be coped with to further improve the medical professionalism curriculum in Korea including development of effective teaching and evaluation methods. This paper also emphasizes the importance of the role of the medical education systems such as National Licensing Medical Examination and the Medical School Accreditation System in improving the teaching of medical professionalism in Korean medical schools.