The Medical Professionalism of Korean Physicians: Present and Future

BACKGROUND: Medical professionalism is a core aspect of medical education and practice worldwide. Medical professionalism must be reinterpreted to adapt to different social/cultural/historical contexts. We conducted a survey to examine the current understanding and perceived value of medical professionalism among Korean physicians. METHODS: The survey was distributed to 950 physicians nationwide; 721 (75.89 %) completed surveys were returned between 1 April and 31 July 2011. RESULTS: In their practice, Korean physicians prioritized the values and virtues of medical professionalism in the following (descending) order: veracity, respect for patient autonomy, integrity, responsibility, altruism, and honesty. Approximately two-thirds of physicians responded that medical professionalism is an element of their vocation. When asked to choose the most important sets of attributes or virtues of medical professionalism from a provided list, the top three sets (in descending order of frequency) were: “responsibility and duty,” “veracity, integrity, and honesty,” and “rapport with patients and conversational skill.” CONCLUSIONS: Korean physicians value moral duties, such as responsibility and veracity, more than they do moral virtues, such as altruism and honesty with patients. It is presumed that physicians are under pressure due to governmental regulation of the national healthcare system and have difficulty exercising their autonomy. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12910-015-0051-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.