Contact: Kara Gavin, [email protected], 734-764-2220
Physicians under fire: Threats to doctors' professionalism to be explored at June 19 conference
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Managed care requirements are limiting their decisions. Pharmaceutical ads and Internet health information are influencing their patients. Government insurance cuts are squeezing their reimbursements. Industry is sponsoring more of their research. And new unions are inviting them to join.
With all these pressures, are America's doctors facing the loss of their longstanding professionalism? And, will the pressures of modern medicine overwhelm physicians' traditional professional roles of providing care, taking on responsibility and dedicating themselves to the public's health?
On Monday, June 19, a daylong session at the University of Michigan Medical School will explore these questions and others in depth, with help from national experts and local health care professionals. The event is in honor of the school's 150th anniversary, or sesquicentennial.
"While a physician graduating from our school 150 years ago wouldn't recognize our current understanding of human physiology, disease and healing, our professional values and reputation have endured," says organizer David Stern, M.D., Ph.D., U-M assistant professor of internal medicine. "But today, we face more challenges to that professionalism than ever before and we must confront what the effect might be on practicing physicians, those currently in training, and the doctors of the future."
The sesquicentennial symposium, "Will Professionalism Be a Casualty of Modern Medicine?", will be held from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the North Lecture Hall of the Medical Science II building on the UMMS campus. Registration is $125, or free for students and media.
Panelists include Allen Lichter, M.D, UMMS dean.; Jordan Cohen, president of the American Association of Medical Colleges; Neal Baer, M.D., co-executive producer of the TV series "ER"; Susan Adelman, M.D., a U-M surgeon and president of Physicians for Responsible Negotiations, the nation's first doctors' union; Jerome Kassirer, M.D., editor-in-chief emeritus of the New England Journal of Medicine; a representative from the pharmaceutical company Parke Davis; and Richard Bernstein, M.D. of Aetna US Healthcare. The afternoon panel will be moderated by Joe Palca, Ph.D., senior science correspondent for National Public Radio.
Among the topics to be discussed:
-- How the modern health care system affects the professional development of medical students, residents and practicing physicians
-- How these effects manifest themselves in the daily lives of physicians and trainees
-- How physicians and medical educators can ensure the continued professional practice of medicine
-- How medical organizations can promote the professional behavior of physicians
-- How patients can promote professional interactions with physicians
Attendees will hear from Stern about efforts to teach and measure medical professionalism at the U-M Medical School, including the Simulated Patient Instructor program he heads. "Cross-Cover", a film about today's medical residency experience by Gretchen Berland, M.D., Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar at UCLA, will also be shown.
Participants will then hear from and be able to question two expert panels. The morning discussion will focus on challenges to the teaching and learning of professionalism in today's medical schools and residency programs, while the afternoon will address current challenges to professionalism in current medical practice.
Jordan Cohen's talk will outline the role of academic medical centers, such as the U-M, in maintaining professionalism in medicine. The event will conclude with an address by James Woolliscroft, M.D., UMMS executive associate dean, associate dean for graduate medical education and Josiah Macy, Jr. professor of medical education.
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