Mark Kuczewski

Mark Kuczewski, Ph.D., is an American philosopher who has been a key contributor to the New Professionalism movement in medicine and medical education. In general, interest in professionalism has been widespread in medicine probably owing to the increasing regulatory and economic pressures on the practice of medicine. Many physicians have sought to identify the focal meaning of what it is to be a doctor in an effort to revitalize the profession. Kuczewski has been among a group that includes Richard and Sylvia Creuss, John Coulehan, and Matt Wynia who see medical professionalism as including a commitment to social justice. That is, while professionalism entails such things as etiquette, communication skills, and basic medical ethics, professions are also expected to be leaders in educating the public and in advocating for the health of the public. This entails an understanding of the factors that lead some patient populations to be underserved and a commitment to bringing about social change to ameliorate these problems.

The New Professionalism movement in medicine is a revival of communitarian bioethics that focus on the kinds of people and society we wish to be rather than on particular ethical questions of right and wrong. This focus on the relationship between the professional and the community can have important implications for medical education and professional development. While not eschewing case analysis and problem solving, the emphasis on the development of the person has created a renewed interest in narrative methods and reflection. Kuczewski has been an outspoken critic of efforts in medical education to focus on quantitative measures of professionalism education. He has argued that in an effort to make professionalism education “objective,” many medical educators are equating professionalism with trivial but easily measured behaviors.

Under Kuczewski’s direction, the Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics and Health Policy at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine has become a leader in innovative educational programming to promote the relationship between medical professionalism and social justice. The Neiswanger Institute has contributed elements to the Stritch curriculum that explore the relationship between the business of medicine and social justice. The Institute also has an online master of arts program that is incorporating public health and leadership training in order to help health care professionals across the United States to promote service to the underserved.

References

Kuczewski, M.G., (2007) The Soul of Medicine, Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, 50(3): 410 - 420, 2007. html file; pdf file

Kuczewski, M.G., Villaume, F., Chang, H. Fitz, M., Bading, E., Michelfelder, A. , (2006) Can Justice Be Taught? Valuing Justice and Professionalism in the Medical School Curriculum, in Kayhan Parsi, Myles Sheehan (eds.), Healing as Vocation: A Medical Professionalism Primer, Washington, DC: Rowman & Littlefield, pp.77-91.

Kuczewski, M.G. (2006) The Problem with Evaluating Professionalism: The Case Against the Current Dogma, in Delese Wear, Julie Aultman (eds.), Professionalism in Medicine: Critical Perspectives, New York: Springer Publishing Company, pp.185-198.

Wear, D., Kuczewski, M.G. (2004) The Professionalism Movement: Can We Pause? American Journal of Bioethics, 4(2): 1-10.

Kuczewski, M.G. (2004) Communitarianism and Bioethics, in Stephen G. Post (ed.) Encyclopedia of Bioethics, 3rd edition, Macmillan Reference USA, pp.477-483.

Kuczewski, M.G. (1997) Fragmentation and Consensus: Communitarian and Casuist Bioethics, Washington D.C. Georgetown University Press.