The need to continue learning even after having attained professional status is well recognized. Unfortunately many health care professionals confine continuing education to their own specialties. While emphasis upon improving scientific knowledge is laudable, some effort to advance in humanistic knowledge is also useful if one is to progress as a professional. The skills associated with a profession are designed to utilize effectively the knowledge proper to that profession. In the United States, the effort to acquire knowledge and skills simultaneously is highly developed in the health care professions.
All health care educational programs feature clinical experience as an integral element.
Professions are distinguished from trades, crafts, or commercial occupations by reason of the need for empathy. A tradesman or artisan, for example a plumber or electrician, can perform his or her service even if he or she knows nothing about the person who requested the service. The knowledge and skill of the plumber or electrician ensures that a building will have water and electricity. While the people who utilize the building may benefit from the ready supply of electricity and water, the person installing or repairing the electrical or plumbing equipment need never contact the persons living there. Professionals on the other hand must know their clients intimately in order to accomplish their goals.