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Professionalism underpins the commitment made between a profession and society. This social contract balances the benefit to a profession of a monopoly over the use of its knowledge base, it’s right to considerable autonomy of practice, and the privilege of self-regulation with responsibilities and accountabilities to the community.

Medical practitioners have embraced professionalism over the millennia, from the Hippocratic Oath1 to the 19th century² and the present day. Professionalism has recently been highlighted³, but there have been concerns that not all its components are viewed as important^4,5 or are reflected appropriately in surgical training endeavours. 

Details

1. Gain an understanding of the relative importance of the nine surgical competencies and their 27 attributes defined by the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS), which together provide the curriculum framework for today’s surgeons