A Study On Good Of The Medical Profession

Medicine originated from human’s compassion,kindness,and help to their fellows in the pain of injury and illness.Medical actions always contain the spirit of “good”.Therefore,medical practice is a kind of the practice of good in essence.In traditional society,medical practice was carried out by individual doctors.By contrast,with the development of modern medicine,the division of labor in the medical field has been continuously refined.From the knowledge production,and the research and development of technology,to the prevention and treatment of diseases in clinical practice,professionals in each aspect take a part in medical practice and work together to make it possible.The “medical profession” formed by these professionals has actually become the holistic practice subject of the good of medicine.The connotation of the good of medicine determines the ethical attribute of medical profession,which is the reality of the idea of the good of medicine under the current social conditions.It takes the health interests of patients as the highest action goal,makes a health commitment to the society,and undertakes the moral responsibility to improve the overall health level of the society.Meanwhile,the medical profession has substantialized itself in the process of development,forming a modern organizational form represented by the medical association,requiring self-development and benefit during the interaction with other social organizations in a competitive medical market environment,and assuming organizational ethical responsibilities for its members.The professional moral responsibility under the requirement of “the good of medicine” and the organizational ethical responsibility under the requirement of “the good of organization” together constitute the connotation and action orientations of “the good of medical profession”.However,there is always an internal tension between these two action orientations which often turns into practical contradictions in specific medical activities,causing the medical profession to fall into the ethical dilemma between "righteousness" and "interest",and thus raises and aggravates many challenges in current medical activities.Therefore,a study of the good of medical profession is necessary.The philosophical discussion will help to clarify the essence of the dilemma in the practice of the good of medicine,explore the theoretical solutions,and guide the establishment of the ethical guarantee mechanism.Specific contents of this doctoral dissertation include:Firstly,this study summarizes and clarifies the concepts of the “medical profession”,“good”,and the related;grasps the medical profession’s ethical essence under the connotation and orientation of the good of medicine;explores the evolution of the good of medicine in different historical and cultural contexts between China and the West;analyzes the implementation of the idea of the good of medicine by the medical profession through professionalism and ethics codes,especially in the context of modern medicine,and the current concrete practice features.Secondly,this study discusses the ethical dilemma of the good of medical profession,that is,the medical profession assumes the roles of "whole individual" and "modern organization" in medical practice(the former in terms of its role in the social system and the latter in terms of its own structure and the perspective of its internal members),since there is always a real conflict between the goal orientations,the logic of actions,and the practice strategies prescribed by these two roles,excessive emphasis on either role will result in harm to the other.In other words,the ethical practice of the profession as a "whole individual" is to fulfill its good as the subject of medical practice;while the economic practice of the profession as a "modern organization" is to maintain and realize the interests of its members and itself which is the good of the organization.The difficulty of balancing these two kinds of goods which have internal conflicts with each other results in an ineluctable ethical dilemma for medical profession.Thirdly,this study discusses the philosophical root of the above dilemma in the context of modernity,that is,the atomic individuals’ strong demand for their own interests leads to the separation of their "self" from their "role" and "community",which further intensifies the conflict between the moral orientation and interest orientation.Meanwhile,there is no strong value basis to prioritize the orientations of "righteousness" and "interest" in modern society where multiple values and moral systems conflict with each other and lack moral authority.However,as the practice subject of the good of medicine,the medical profession should always adhere to the ethical practice mode and goal of good,fulfilling its duty.In order to cope with the current dilemma,considering the advantages and limitations of the existing theories,the idea of rebuilding the medical profession with professionalism as its essence at the cognitive level is proposed.At the individual level,it is suggested that individual doctors should develop their moral personality and realize their social value through the ethical practice of their professional role by cultivating professional virtues.At the organizational level,it is also suggested that the understanding of the limits of the rule system should be emphasized,and a moral and value system with internal consistency and the highest goal of the good of medicine should be constructed.Finally,on the basis of the theoretical scheme,this study proposes an ethical guarantee mechanism to ensure the medical profession’s practice of good.On one hand,to inspire doctors’ moral emotion,cultivate the habitus of virtuous behavior by shaping a good organizational environment,and strengthen the sense of value and significance of their professional work.On the other hand,to implement the core idea of the good of medicine into the system design and implementation process,urge the profession to assume ethical responsibilities in its interactions with patients and other social organizations and play a better role in promoting the solution of current problems in medical practice at the administrative,economic,and legal level.In addition,the current medical field has shown a significant trend of changes.Standing on the node of history,the medical profession should think seriously about how to better carry out the practice of good under the future medical model and rise to the coming ethical challenges with a positive attitude.