Emedinews:Insights on Medicolegal Issues:Integrity of a doctor must be whole and complete

• The word "integrity" stems from the Latin adjective "integer" meaning whole and complete. In the context of medical professional, integrity is the inner sense of "wholeness" of a doctor deriving from qualities such as honesty and consistency of character. As such, one may judge that others "have integrity" to the extent that they act according to the values, beliefs and principles they claim to hold. Integrity is a concept of consistency of actions, values, methods, measures, principles, transparency, expectations, and outcomes.
• In medical ethics, integrity is regarded as the honesty and truthfulness or accuracy of one's actions in medical care delivery in the form of diagnosis and therapeutic intervention. Integrity can be regarded as the opposite of hypocrisy in that it regards internal consistency as a virtue, and suggests that parties holding apparently conflicting values should account for the discrepancy or alter their beliefs.
• One essential aspect of a consistent framework is its avoidance of any unwarranted or arbitrary exceptions for a particular doctor especially the doctor that holds the framework in medical setup. In law, this principle of universal application requires that even those in positions of official power be subject to the same laws as pertain to their fellow person.
• In personal ethics, this principle requires that one should not act according to any rule that one would not wish to see universally followed. For example, one should not steal unless one would want to live in a world in which everyone was a thief.
• Speaking about integrity can emphasize the "wholeness" or "intactness" of a moral stance or attitude. Wholeness may also emphasize commitment and authenticity. Integrity "does not consist of loyalty to one’s subjective whims, but of loyalty to rational principles and practice of medicine in the interest of patient and public at large that strictly apply in medicolegal cases
• In a formal study of the term "integrity" and its meaning in modern ethics, Law. Professor Carter sees integrity not only as a refusal to engage in behavior that evades responsibility, but also as an understanding of different modes or styles in which discourse attempts to uncover a particular truth/fact in public interest. Carter writes that integrity requires three steps: "discerning what is right and what is wrong; acting on what you have discerned, even at personal cost; and saying openly that you are acting on your understanding of right from wrong." He regards integrity as being distinct from honesty.