I’m glad a conversation about professionalism is starting. The idea of what constitutes “professionalism” has long been one of the most insidious aspects of the profession to me.
When I was in medical school, a few of my classmates sent out a petition to the faculty denouncing the AMA’s endorsement of Tom Price as Secretary of HHS (if you recall, he turned out to be a crook.) The response of this small act of advocacy was fascinating… and disturbing. Many faculty agreed with the denouncement, but emailed her privately to state that they couldn’t sign the petition publicly out of concern that it would reflect poorly on them. Even worse, an ‘important’ member of faculty sent this student a long missive, lambasting her for her lack of professionalism, her lack of insight, and… wait for it… reported her to the dean of our medical school demanding that she be disciplined for “unprofessionalism.” Luckily, my admin was largely tolerant of advocacy work, and so my friend didn’t get in trouble, but the experience was eye-opening. As a student new to the field, the language that attending felt comfortable using, as well as the eagerness with which he used his position of power to damage a young woman’s budding career because she had a different political opinion was terrifying.
As physicians, we talk a lot about our powerlessness. But this powerlessness is perceived. The system doesn’t run without us. First, we need to redefine professionalism to include advocating for patients, and also to accommodate being whole people who aren’t defined solely by medicine and can chill by the pool or even take #thirsttrap photos in our free time!