Summary
Contents
Subject index
Written by leading academics in their field this book provides a clear and considered overview of the politics of health care in Britain. Bringing together a wide range of material on both past events and recent developments, the chapters cover issues such as the politics of health professionalism, clinical knowledge, and organization and management.
The Politics of Health Professionalism
The Politics of Health Professionalism
Summary of Chapter Contents
- Professionalism: key concepts
- The history of professionalism
- Challenges to professionalism
- Ways of interpreting challenges to professionalism
The evaluative overtones of the term ‘professional’ are ambiguous. Some usage associates professionalism with competence. We admire the ‘real pro’, purchase do-it-yourself products that offer a ‘professional finish’ and deplore ‘unprofessional’ behaviour. In this usage, the opposite of ‘professional’ is negative; we mock the ‘shambling amateur’ and their ‘amateurish’ efforts. But professionalism has negative connotations too. The footballer's ‘professional foul’ is cynically calculated, and a professional is someone who only performs for money, as opposed to the amateur who (literally) does it for love. These contradictory usages are neither new nor confined to everyday usage, having been carried over into social ...
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