Surgical Ethics and the Surgical Societies: What Are We Doing?

Abstract

Surgical professional societies constitute a diverse group of organizations whose primary purposes are generally a combination of education and advocacy—advocacy for both the profession and for patients. Such organizations also reflect the ethical norms and values of their members which they may publish through policies and written codes of conduct. The purpose of this chapter is to examine how professional surgical societies address various ethical issues—whether it be at the policy level, the internal self-governance of the organization, discipline and supervision of the professional behavior of its members, or the educational level. This chapter will also address the issue of managing conflicts between the ethical perspectives of different professional societies—whether an individual member has to choose between the ethical obligations espoused by multiple organizations or whether there can be a middle ground.