Approach to Medicine, the Patient, and the Medical Profession: Medicine as a Learned and Humane Profession

The medical profession incorporates both the science of medicine as well as the art of being a physician. Physicians cannot help patients unless they are well-grounded in the latest information about medical diagnosis and management, which increasingly is based on randomized clinical trials as well as on patient-specific information, including genetics and genomics. However, this scientific expertise also must be applied in the context of understanding the patient as an individual person. In applying both scientific knowledge and medical professionalism, physicians must recognize the importance of the social determinants of health and be champions for diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice as they advocate for and take care of individual patients in the context of broader societal issues.