Medical professionalism in Korea: a sociological view

Byong-Hee Cho

doi:10.5124/jkma.2011.54.11.1164

J Korean Med Assoc > Volume 54(11); 2011 > Article

Cho: Medical professionalism in Korea: a sociological view

Focused Issue of This Month

Medical professionalism

Journal of the Korean Medical Association

Journal of the Korean Medical Association 2011; 54(11): 1164-1171.

Published online: November 15, 2011

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5124/jkma.2011.54.11.1164

Medical professionalism in Korea: a sociological view

Byong-Hee Cho, PhD

Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea.

Corresponding author: Byong-Hee Cho, chob@snu.ac.kr

Received September 03, 2011 Accepted September 17, 2011

This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

A profession is characterized by advanced theoretical and systematic knowledge, which can provide that profession with autonomy and authority. This paper examines the factors affecting the realization of complete professional autonomy such as the market and capital, patients, and the state. The primary factor of weak autonomy is due to the undifferentiated interests of professionalism from the influence of capital. The second factor is the ineffective system of self-regulation over physician behavior. The third factor is the underdevelopment of medical values, which could override the current conflicts between physicians and the state.

Professionalism; Medical profession; Autonomy; Medical market

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