Rinsho Shinkeigaku (Clinical Neurology)

Symposium 1

Professionalism and the Japanese Society of Neurology-For the next 100 years-

Hidehiro Mizusawa, M.D., Ph.D.

President, the Japanese Society of Neurology
Department of Neurology and Neurological Science, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Center for Brain Integration Research, Tokyo Medical and Dental University

Because neurology is a profession and neurologists are professionals, it is important to understand "professionalism" in general. Moreover, we should keep in mind the unique aspects of our discipline including 1) The wideness and complexity of the nervous and muscular systems, 2) The wide varieties of signs and symptoms, 3) The numerous diseases affecting the wide and complex systems, 4) The brain, the mother of the mind identifying us as human beings, 5) The marked disabilities due to the poor regenerative ability of the nervous system, 6) The many intractable diseases related to aging. This unique situation of neurology requires us to have much higher standards for professionalism. Therefore, JSN has made special efforts for our members to further develop their professionalism via various methods, including our annual meeting, our journal, and the resources on our website. In order to better promote professional development, we are reforming various aspects of our society, including the structure of our annual meeting and the contents of our educational courses. Although JSN's level of professionalism has been traditionally high enough, we should not be satisfied to be sufficiently professional, but rather should strive to be as professional as we can be.
Full Text of this Article in Japanese PDF (226K)

(CLINICA NEUROL, 52: 1028|1030, 2012)
key words: professionalism, profession, neurology, medicine, Ethics Code of the Japanese Society of Neurology

(Received: 23-May-12)