Charter of Medical Professionalism

The Charter of Medical Professionalism was conceived after a series of meetings organized by the European Federation of Internal Medicine, the American College of Physicians-American Society of Internal Medicine (ACP-ASIM), and the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) highlighted that doctors with different backgrounds have very similar opinions regarding their profession.

The three organizations then entrusted some of their members with the task of developing a common framework of principles.

The Charter, which was published in 2002 both on the Lancet (359: 520-522) and on the Annals of Internal Medicine (136: 243-246), consists of:

• a brief introduction,
• three fundamentals principles,
• ten commitments that apply to different cultures and political systems.

Today, the medical practice faces unprecedented challenges – growing disparities between patient needs, limited resources, and the dependence of health systems on market forces, with doctors being tempted not to put patients' well-being first. To comply with the social contract, the medical profession must reaffirm its core values, with a personal commitment to patients' well-being and a collective effort aimed at improving the health system for the whole society.
The purpose of the Charter is precisely to encourage this dedication and to promote universally valid line of actions and large-scale initiatives.

The Charter of Medical Professionalism is delivered, together with the text of the Hippocratic Oath, to all students of the Faculty of Medicine at the time of their graduation.