The professions.

Abstract

The professions have been described in terms of their prestige and income, specialized skills and knowledge, protected markets, control over entry and discipline of members, common identity and values, long careers, managed relationships with nonprofessionals, licensure, ethics, and service to clients and the public. As useful as these characteristics are, they fail to capture the essence of the professions, especially the classic ones such as medicine and dentistry. A five-part definition is proposed, consisting of a community (including patient, professional, and peers), treating individuals in a customized private and personal fashion based on diagnosis, in a trusting relationship where the professional acts as an agent rather than engaging in economic exchanges. The evolution of the medical profession is discussed as an illustration of the way professions evolve and to reveal some of the historically "taken-for-granted" aspects of professionalism. The fact professional knowledge is both public and scientific and personal and unsusceptible to objective reduction is a paradox. The continued viability of professions such as dentistry depends on protecting against threats to the five essential characteristics that define professionalism.