Need: Professions such as medicine and law have special relationships with society. Unlike the market, which rewards competition, these relationships prioritize collaboration and thus cannot be established by targeting the chief clients of these practitioners. They must rather accept all because of the basic rights of each individual to be received and establish equitable services. Special obligations and privileges, then, have evolved with these professional relationships.
The unique knowledge and skills that are gained through extensive professional education and experience are essential to the basic formation of society. The normal competitive tools of commerce and law inadequately address these special relationships. Often, commercialism is associated with the loss of both professional ethics and the special basic services that these professions contribute to our economy.
Thus, the purpose of the professional ethics programs is to educate and facilitate professionals and professional communities in articulating and abiding by the ethical principles and codes of conduct that strictly limit their unique monopoly for the benefit of society. In this way, the integrity of their operations and systems that encourages public confidence in their missions and services is assured.
Audience: Ethics programs will be designed for individual professionals, students, and professional organizations. Special sessions will be designed to catalyze the collaboration and integration of professional missions; they will address timely core issues regarding access to the basic social needs that only professionals can provide because of their unique skills, knowledge, and licensing. A wide range of media and conference facilitation will be used. Collaborations between professions and public groups will be catalyzed through special initiatives that provide space and time to develop the discourse needed to address practical community issues.