Professionalism in emergency medicine

Medical professionalism is service delivered to the patient's interest. It is essential to reinforce this notion because financial pressures threaten the integrity of the patient-physician relationship. Excessive commercialis m directly contrasts the ideals of medical professionalism. This fact neces sitates re-Examination and reaffirmation of professional behavior. If histo rical standards of professionalism give way to market-driven incentives, th e provision of medical care will become a commodity and practitioners will. be only agents of service delivery. Such a model not only threatens the ph ysician's identity, but also threatens the patient's interests. Medicine ca n never succeed as a transaction; it can only succeed as a partnership, a t rusting exchange with patients, which is the hallmark of professionalism.