Redefining professionalism

The Code of Professional Conduct of The American College of Surgeons urges that surgeons provide the highest quality care possible to patients without regard to race, gender, disability, disability, religion, social status or ability to pay.4 This definition relates purely to the surgeon's life in the hospital – the surgeon's ability to see patients and care for them with competence, her ability to be a professional. In a recent article in the Journal of Vascular Surgery, Hardouin et al. evaluated the social media content of recent graduates of vascular surgery fellowships and categorized them as either clearly unprofessional or potentially unprofessional.3 While some of the authors' examples of unprofessional behavior such as unlawful behavior or possession of illegal drugs are reasonable by any measure, their categorization of one's “inappropriate” attire, “controversial” political and religious views along with the possession of alcohol (presumably without seeming intoxicated) clearly encroach upon the personal liberties of private citizens. Based on these arguments and significant backlash from the social media savvy part of the surgical community, the previous article was withdrawn by the journal, however, other such published articles still remain.5,6 These articles raise important questions about how professionalism is defined and who determines these constructs and rules.