Medical Professionalism in the New Millennium:
  A Physician Charter

Perhaps the principal statement of the ethical code that defines the profession is the Hippocratic Oath—a document authored circa 4th century BC. Given the phenomenal change in medical practice since then, the ABIM Foundation, in collaboration with the ACP Foundation (American College of Physicians) and the European Federation of Internal Medicine (EFIM), published "Medical Professionalism in the New Millennium: A Physician Charter" (pdf).

The Charter sought not to replace the Hippocratic Oath, but rather to consider the ethical principles that are relevant today, in an environment in which medicine's commitment to the patient is being challenged by external forces of change within our society. The Physician Charter on Medical Professionalism lays out three principles—related to the primacy of patient welfare, to patient autonomy, and to social justice—which are the foundation to the ten commitments that are proposed to guide ethical behavior.