AMA Code of Medical Ethics
Opinions about patient and physician interactions, treatments and use of technologies, and professional relationships and self-regulation.
The nine Principles of Medical Ethics are the primary component of the Code. They describe the core ethical principles of the medical profession.
1. A physician shall be dedicated to providing competent medical care, with compassion and respect for human dignity and rights.
2. A physician shall uphold the standards of professionalism, be honest in all professional interactions, and strive to report physicians deficient in character or competence, or engaging in fraud or deception, to appropriate entities.
3. A physician shall respect the law and also recognize a responsibility to seek changes in those requirements which are contrary to the best interests of the patient.
4. A physician shall respect the rights of patients, colleagues, and other health professionals, and shall safeguard patient confidences and privacy within the constraints of the law.
5. A physician shall continue to study, apply, and advance scientific knowledge, maintain a commitment to medical education, make relevant information available to patients, colleagues, and the public, obtain consultation, and use the talents of other health professionals when indicated.
6. A physician shall, in the provision of appropriate patient care, except in emergencies, be free to choose whom to serve, with whom to associate, and the environment in which to provide medical care.
7. A physician shall recognize a responsibility to participate in activities contributing to the improvement of the community and the betterment of public health.
8. A physician shall, while caring for a patient, regard responsibility to the patient as paramount.
9. A physician shall support access to medical care for all people.
Chapter 1: Ethics of Patient-Physician Relationships
Doctor-patient relationships are strengthened by the practice of medical ethics, which can help you create better communication and health care decisions.
Chapter 2: Ethics of Consent, Communication & Decision Making
Help your patients make well-considered decisions about their care and treatment by reading up on medical ethics of consent.
Chapter 3: Ethics of Privacy, Confidentiality & Medical Records
Respecting patients’ privacy is crucial. Find out how patient confidentiality ethics build trust, foster thoughtful decision making and improve care.
Chapter 4: Ethics of Genetics & Reproductive Medicine
Genetic testing can provide valuable information to support informed decision making about personal health care options as well as reproductive choices.
Chapter 5: Ethics of Caring for Patients at the End of Life
Find out how advance care planning can give patients peace of mind knowing that their physicians understand their wishes for care at the end of life.
Chapter 6: Ethics of Organ Procurement & Transplantation
The need for organs for transplantation far outstrips the supply. Efforts to increase donation must protect the interests of living and deceased donors.
Chapter 7: Ethics of Medical Research & Innovation
Physicians who are involved in clinical research have special responsibilities to protect the rights, safety and welfare of research participants that include matters of study design, informed consent and selection of participants.
Chapter 8: Ethics for Physicians & the Health of the Community
A doctor's job doesn't stop at individual care. Find out how caring for the health of the community can also lead to better health for individual patients.
Chapter 9: Ethics of Professional Self-Regulation
As practicing clinicians, educators, professional colleagues, businessmen and citizens, physicians should hold one another to high standards of conduct.
Chapter 10: Ethics of Interprofessional Relationships
Find out how physicians commit themselves to high standards of ethics in their relationships with fellow health professionals.
Chapter 11: Ethics of Financing & Delivery of Health Care
Patient-physician relationships are influenced by changing payment systems and models for delivering care and thus physicians must find new ways to balance responsibilities to multiple stakeholders.