MEDICINE AND SOCIETY Judging Doctors—The Person and the Professional

Joe turns to see Doc Wilson swigging from his flask. JOE: Aren’t you supposed to set an example for people? DOC WILSON: Nope. I’m just supposed to hold people’s hands while they die [1]. As a scholar of bioethics and health law, I often find myself reflecting on this scene from David Mamet’s State and Main. For physicians, one drawback to being part of a profession society holds in such high regard is the expectation that their decision making, both inside and outside the clinical sphere, be beyond reproach. Whether implicit or explicit, this expectation is one that few other professions face. Attorneys may be gamblers, plumbers may be tax frauds, and corporate managers may solicit sex for money without facing professional discipline or public censure. This phenomenon provokes two lines of inquiry. First, what is it about the medical profession that inspires such idealistic (and, many would argue, unrealistic) expectations? And second, why is it necessary to impose such high standards of conduct on physicians when the rest of us are free to make poor personal choices without suffering significant professional repercussions