Wimmer, P: The Professionalism Of Medical Practitioners

In America, certain attributes and behaviors become more publicly acceptable and more prominent in persons who practice professional occupations. It is not uncommon in industry to observe a senior professional exhibiting a paternalistic attitude toward a young executive, while at the same time demonstrating behaviors that penalize those workers who do not conform to the core professional principles of the industry. The elite position in society of medical practitioners was threatened during the 20th Century by increasing market pressures and strategic changes in office management strategy directly related to the requirements of managed care and the proportion of aging chronically ill patient populations. This work will address the change in and relevance of practitioner‘s attitudes, opinions, and behaviors within the modern medical profession as compared to those originally assessed through the scale created by Richard Hall in 1968. This work will also look at the influence of differences in organizational size on family practitioner conduct and viability of a small office practice in the current medical marketplace.