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:
The Work of the Finnish Medical Association
Advancing the Medical Profession
Uniting Doctors as a Professional Body
Safeguarding Doctors' Interests
Promoting Health and the Best Interest 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
