The Canons of Ethics and Professionalism

The Canons of Ethics and Professionalism

James Fenton, CPO *

Every society must have a set of rules or laws by which it governs itself. Without laws, society does not exist. The American Board for Certification in Orthotics and Prosthetics, Inc. is a society of sorts. It has a governing body, it has several different departments (committees), with department heads (committee chairmen), and it has citizens (certifees). It has laws by which it governs. It also has a department of justice in the form of the character and fitness committee. The one thing that our society does not have is a police department.

If there is no police department, how effective can our society be? The answer to that question is at the very heart of the word professionalism. There are several dictionary definitions of professionalism. However, I have a very strong inner feeling that professionalism is not defined by words alone. I believe that professionalism in our society is a commitment to do the very best job that you are capable of doing on each and every case. This is not to say that you have to live up to any individual standard, but you must live up to the standards of practice in your community. If you're capable of doing better, then you should commit yourself to that level of excellence to which you're capable. I also believe that professionalism involves a committment to your community: being an active participant in community affairs, being cognizant of the needs of the underprivileged of your community, and doing your fair share to alleviate their suffering.

Professionalism demands that a practitioner keep current of the knowledge of his profession by continued reading of technical manuscripts and attendance at seminars.

Professionalism is wanting to help in the day-to-day activities of the society by committee membership, by helping in the examination procedure, and by doing site evaluations.

All of these are ways in which I believe we can define professionalism in an idealistic way. The Canons of Ethics of the American Board of Certification does not really attempt to set standards of professionalism but it does set standards of conduct that, if breached, can lead to punitive action being taken.

Each and every certifee has received at least one copy of the Canons and if we all try to live up to the standards set forth in them, our patients will receive a better quality of care.

These standards are directed to the way in which we conduct ourselves in the day-to-day management of our patients as well as the manner in which we conduct our businesses and ourselves in general.

Rather than being idealistic, these standards are real. They were always meant to be the absolute minimum that our profession expects from us. Anyone who cannot live up to these standards should not receive the respect and recognition of his peers or the community.