Organizational Professionalism: Role of Medical Council in Public Trust in the Profession

As an ideology for managing healthcare relying on internal professional oversight, medical professionalism entrusts the responsibility of regulation to the members of the profession themselves. This allows them to demonstrate to the public that the necessary measures are in place to ensure the competency of individuals practicing medicine and to oversee their performance according to professional standards. This commentary explores how medical councils maintain professionalism through self-regulation and their critical role in sustaining public trust. The medical council plays five key roles in fulfilling its self-regulatory function A. Setting medical education standards and accrediting medical schools, B. Granting licenses to practice medicine, C. Establishing continuous education standards to maintain professional competency, D. Defining professional performance regulations, and E. Handling disciplinary matters related to professional conduct. The strengths and weaknesses of their execution in our country's medical council will be analyzed by introducing and providing examples of successful implementations of each of these roles in various countries. Finally, three solutions are recommended to maintain public trust and enhance these functions through conflict-of-interest management: separating the professional advocacy section from the self-regulation section, including non-medical professionals in the Medical Council and its various commissions, and ensuring transparency in policies, member information, and disciplinary rulings.