Document Detail


The professional status of bioethics consultation.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  12222619     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
Is bioethics consultation a profession? With few exceptions, the arguments and counterarguments about whether healthcare ethics consultation is a profession have ignored the historical and cultural development of professions in the United States, the ways social changes have altered the work and boundaries of all professions, and the professionalization theories that explain how modern societies institutionalize expertise in professions. This interdisciplinary analysis begins to fill this gap by framing the debate within a larger theoretical context heretofore missing from the bioethics literature. Specifically, the question of whether ethics consultation is a profession is examined from the perspectives of trait theory, Wilensky's five-stage process of professionalization, Abbott's interdependent system of professions, and Haug's deprofessionalization thesis. While healthcare ethics consultation does not meet the criteria to claim professional status, neither could most professions pass these ideal theoretical standards. Instead of a yes or no dichotomous response to the question, it is more helpful to envision a professionalization continuum with sales clerks or carpenters at one end and medicine or law at the other. During the past decade healthcare ethics consultation has been moving along this continuum toward greater professional status.
Authors:
Deborah Cummins
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Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article    
Journal Detail:
Title:  Theoretical medicine and bioethics     Volume:  23     ISSN:  1386-7415     ISO Abbreviation:  Theor Med Bioeth     Publication Date:  2002  
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2002-09-11     Completed Date:  2002-12-27     Revised Date:  2009-11-19    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  9805378     Medline TA:  Theor Med Bioeth     Country:  Netherlands    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  19-43     Citation Subset:  E; IM    
Affiliation:
Institute for Ethics, American Medical Association, Chicago, Illinois 60610, USA. deborah_cummins@ama-assn.org
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Bioethical Issues
Education, Professional
Ethicists*
Ethics, Professional*
Humans
Professional Autonomy
Professional Practice*
Professional Role
Referral and Consultation
Specialization

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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