Tasking the “Self” in the Self-Governance of Medicine

May 14, 2015

(JAMA) – In the United States, governing that interaction now comprises a labyrinthine network of myriad, complexly interrelated mechanisms. Those mechanisms can be seen to operate on 3 levels: (1) professional self-regulation through private sector organizations; (2) laws and governmental regulation; and (3) voluntary, personal commitment to self-regulate by adhering to professional standards. Underlying, and in a real sense legitimizing, all 3 of these mechanisms is medicine’s social contract with society.