Georgetown University Medical Center

Patrick C. Beeman, MA

Section: Edmund D. Pellegrino Fellows

Mr. Beeman is currently a second-year medical student at the University of Toledo College of Medicine. He holds a B.A. in philosophy from the Franciscan University of Steubenville and an M.A. in philosophy from Cleveland State University. He may be contacted at patrick.beeman@utoledo.edu

Summary of Research Proposal:
Instilling a Catholic Professional Identity: From Medical School to Practice

Many recent authors have recognized a crisis of professionalism in medicine. The pursuit of a moral and philosophical foundation for professional identity seems lost on many. One consequence of this crisis is that the religious faith of many physicians has little impact on their practice.

With a diminished sense of professional identity among some members of the medical profession comes an attenuation of religious commitment in the practice of medicine. Medicine is seen as one job among many, rather than a calling with specific obligations and rights, and especially duties toward patients, the profession, and society. These obligations and duties are understood differently when seen in light of personal faith.

My research will explore the philosophical and moral foundations of medicine and delve into the question of how a specifically Catholic professional identity both modified or out to modify the character of Catholic physicians and health care institutions.

A number of questions arise from considering the idea of a Catholic Professional identity:

  • Is it possible to construct a moral foundation for the profession of medicine which makes room for distinct and often dissenting ethical and religious commitments?
  • Does admittance to the profession demand discarding the moral strictures of one's religion in medical practice?
  • What does the physician's conscience play in carrying out the acts of one's profession?
  • What makes the institutions of Catholic health care unique? How autonomous should these institutions be?
  • How can one cultivate a Catholic professional identity? Where should it begin? How should it develop? What is its goal?

An indepth study of and dialogue with the work of Edmund Pellegrino will form the basis of this project. The corpus of Dr. Pellegrino's writing will be explored for answers to these and other questions.

Read Mr. Beeman's review of "The Philosophy of Medicine Reborn: A Pellegrino Reader" in First Things: The Journal of Religion, Culture, and Public Life at the following link: http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/?p=1059