시론 : 만성질환과 의학전문직업성

Attention to medical professionalism has recently increased in S. Korea. The concept of the word ‘professionalism’ can be difficult to translate into Korean. Professionalism for individual doctors is not difficult to explain, but professionalism of organizations or collective dimension of professionalism are difficult to conceptualize in Korean. This might be due to the different trajectory of professional history of S. Korea from western countries. The collective dimension of medical professionalism is artificially divided into three main areas: professional ethics, clinical autonomy, and self-regulation. The concept of self-regulation is unfamiliar not only to Korea, but also to other Confucian countries such as China and Japan, where all regulatory matters are the responsibility of government entities. Medical professional societies do not have the authority to conduct self-regulation. Contemporarily, doctors organizations are classified according to regulatory or trading function. Medical associations usually are categorized as a trade association or trade union, while the medical council is the medical regulatory authority that guides doctors and their practice. However, patient care is a priority regardless of classification. An organization centered on diabetes mellitus could be classified as a doctors’ organization. Its role must be given to guide the best practice, also to prevent the bad practice for the management of diabetes mellitus based on the principle of self-regulation. To achieve this goal as a professional organization, members must be educated to understand the collective dimension of the medical professionalism.