The Finnish Medical Association unites doctors as a professional community,
and develops and supports the values common to the profession. These values
have a historical, internationally accepted base. The physician‚s basic
values are also the basic values of the Finnish Medical Association.
The World Medical Association (WMA), founded after World War II, rewrote the
Hippocratic Oath and asked all doctors to take it. As a result of the
lessons of the war, a strong injunction to respect life was added to the
oath. The rewritten oath is known as the Declaration of Geneva of 1948.
Humanity includes humaneness, human dignity and human rights. The inhumane
treatment suffered by soldiers at the Battle of Solferino in 1859 inspired
the founder of the Red Cross, Henri Dunant, to take initiatives on behalf of
humanity. These led to the Geneva Convention of 1864, which guaranteed the
right of doctors to care for all of the wounded in war impartially and
without interference. The concept of humanity has also been taken up in the
international law that defines crimes against humanity.
The Finnish Physician‚s Oath adopted by the Finnish Medical Association in
1996 begins with the words: ‰I swear, on my honour and conscience, that as a
physician I shall strive to serve my fellow man and to respect humanity."
And it closes with the words: ‰I shall not, even under threat, use my skills
against my professional ethics.‰
Since ancient times, the work of physicians has been grounded in firm moral
values governing their actions: medical ethics. Medicine is based on an
ethical attitude. Patients are aware of the doctor‚s obligation to protect
human life and relieve suffering. The physician tries to act ethically in a
broader sense than simply observing written ethical guidelines.
Medical ethics compel every doctor to maintain a high level of professional
skill and to assess the quality of his own work. University training gives
doctors good basic preparation, but the rapid advance of medicine requires
continuing professional development throughout one´s career. This requirement
also affects society and the physician‚s employer, who must guarantee the
doctor the opportunity to continuously maintain his or her professional
skill.
Medical work is collaborative by its nature. Professional development is
based on the sharing of experiences and knowledge between colleagues. The
obligation to help one‚s professional colleagues and behave collegially was
always part of the Hippocratic Oath. The Finnish Physician‚s Oath requires
doctors to respect their colleagues and give them help whenever they need it
in treating a patient. The Finnish Medical Association also has a special
code of medical collegiality.
A profession is a calling whose practitioners combine a demanding scientific
education with a firm base of moral values. It is important that society
values doctors‚ commitment to ethics and assures them the right to practice
their profession independently. In Finland, only physicians have the right
to make a diagnosis and prescribe care, admit patients to the hospital and
release them. Doctors are responsible for their work not only to patients
but also to society.
A profession is more than a professional community. Advancing the profession
means the Finnish Medical Association must safeguard the professional
development opportunities for doctors and stand up for the profession‚s
needs and values.
The Finnish Medical Association unites doctors working in different economic
sectors, specialities, and scientific organisations. Thus the association is
able to work vigorously on issues important to all doctors.
From its founding, an important task of the Finnish Medical Association has
been safeguarding doctors‚ interests. Doctors can more effectively protect
their interests, improve their working conditions, organise professional
training, and affect public policy if they work together and as a collective
organisation. The challenges of protecting their interests have increased
and the tasks have become more complex as health care legislation and
safeguarding of interests are internationalised.
According to the Finnish Physician‚s Oath, the main goal of physicians is to
maintain and promote health, prevent and cure sickness, and relieve
suffering. The encounter between doctor and patient is the central event in
health care. The doctor is an expert working for the good of the patient,
and his or her work includes developing health services for the good of the
patient.
The Finnish Medical Association works actively to see that health care is
taken into account in all the decisions made in society. The association is
an expert on human health and health care, and a strong and influential
voice in health policy.
The immunity and special rights given to doctors in the Geneva Convention of
1864 come with obligations for the professional community. Doctors work in
national and international organisations, and in war and crisis zones.
Everywhere they work, they are expected to defend humanity and to relieve
humanitarian emergencies, without discrimination, according to their ethics.
The work of the Finnish Medical Association is to safeguard the
internationally recognised special position of doctors and to develop and
make known the ethical basis that guides medical work.
The work done in the name of Finnish Medical Association is marked by the
following qualities:
VALUES AND THE WORK OF THE FINNISH MEDICAL ASSOCIATION
THE PHYSICIAN'S BASIC VALUES
RESPECT FOR LIFE
HUMANITY
ETHICS
MEDICAL EXPERTISE
COLLEGIALITY
THE WORK OF THE FINNISH MEDICAL ASSOCIATION
ADVANCING THE MEDICAL PROFESSION
UNITING DOCTORS AS A PROFESSIONAL COMMUNITY
SAFEGUARDING DOCTORS‚ INTERESTS
PROMOTING HEALTH AND THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE PATIENT
DEFENDING HUMANITY AND ETHICAL VALUES
IN FINLAND AND INTERNATIONALLY
QUALITIES OF THE WORK OF THE FINNISH MEDICAL ASSOCIATION
Förbund
The Finnish Medical Association -
Health Care and the Medical Profession in Finland
Association
