The fact that three prestigious groups, the AHA, the AMA, and the Association of American Medical Colleges sponsored the conference, indicates that physician competency is a serious issue. Because the conference seemed to focus upon educational methods and federal monitoring of physician activity, there were few useful conclusions. Yet the question is vitally important. In order to evaluate competency, one must have a clear concept of the purpose of the endeavor to be evaluated.
Medicine aims at maintaining human health and preventing illness and disease.
While medicine is directly concerned with the physiological and psychological functions of the human person, it never abstracts from the social and spiritual functions of the person. Rather, it orders the healing and restoration of the physiological functions in accord with the patient's social and spiritual values. But insofar as making decisions about the physiological and psychological functions of the patient are concerned, the physician retains a responsibility which is not shared with the patient. The physician is not the slave of the patient, but rather a co-worker, supplying a very important service which enables the patient to strive more adequately for an integral experience of humanity. Medicine of its very nature is a moral enterprise.