[Courage--the mother of all virtues]

To be a physician requires courage. To engage in the patient as a person calls for social courage. Courage is needed to act rapidly and firmly in unclear clinical situations. The noble art of saying no to patients, bureaucrats and politicians calls upon courageous doctors. To resist follies and fallacies in medicine requires courage. The same virtue is necessary for the brave colleagues who try to diagnose and heal the perils within the medical fraternity. The autonomy, renewal and sustainability of medicine depend on courageous physicians. This article highlights the concept of courage, how this virtue may be promoted in the making of doctors and how courage should be facilitated in our professional culture.