[Education in bioethics, a way for professionalism].
One of the elements that have historically defined professions making them different from mere occupations is the fact that their responsibilities have been defined more in moral than juridical terms. Because it is not the due respect to the law but the tendency to moral excellence the fundamental characteristic of professions. Professionalism is the base of medicine's contract with society and it obliges to put patients' interests above the doctors' ones, supplying competence and integrity standards, and providing expert help to society in health matters. Education in bioethics is an appropriate instrument to reach this goal, as it promotes an interdisciplinary analysis of the problems created by the medical and biological progress and its correspondent technologies, to find what is most human in its practical application.
Servicio de Medicina Intensiva, Hospital de Navarra, Pamplona, Navarra, España. kmartinu@cfnavarra.es
K Martínez
KM
Urionabarrenetxea
D001675:Bioethics / Q000193:education*; D004501:Education, Medical; D006282:Health Personnel; D006801:Humans; D011364:Professional Practice; D012941:Social Responsibility