[Three aspects of the medical ethos]

For many years, a major focus of interest has been the patient, in the context of a constantly changing society and increasingly complex medical practices. We propose to shift this focus on the physician, who is entangled in a similar, but less evident way. In these three articles, we explore, in succession, the lived experience of the contemporary physician, the ethos which brings together the medical community, and the education of the future physician, using research projects currently under way within the Service of Liaison Psychiatry at Lausanne University Hospital. Here, we describe three aspects of the medical ethos shaping medicine and the physicians: pragmatism, scientific rationality, and the individualistic embodiment of clinical practice.