Passing the torch: A proposed amendment to “A Physician Charter”

A Physician Charter has received widespread attention throughout the medical community since its publication in 2002. The Charter, which lays out three principles and 10 commitments that “reaffirm the fundamental and universal principles and values of medical professionalism …” omits an essential principle and its corollary commitment. That fourth principle, essential to the successful perpetuation of the aims of the Charter, we call the Principle of Generativity: Physicians must contribute to the education and development of the next generation of practitioners in order to ensure that the profession lives on and thrives, grounded in its fundamental professional values. Only by emphasizing our obligation to teach professional values to the next generation of physicians, can we expect to “pass the torch” of the profession.