The financial considerations of launching medical professions in Malta

Abstract

The Latin root of "profession" and "professional" is professare, to profess, a word that implies a declaration of one's beliefs, based on one's knowledge, experience and values. It also implies openness and exposure to scrutiny whereby one's pronouncements, beliefs, values and actions can be analysed and evaluated for their validity. The more the professional's words and actions contribute to society's welfare and well being, the more they are likely to gain recognition and appreciation. . The term 'profession' has been identified as an entity which comprises a body of knowledge and expertise established over a period of time and whose improvement is a common goal of all members exercising the profession. A profession differs from other types of non-professional occupants by virtue of having such a distinctive basis in knowledge. Professional men, claimed Parsons (1968)1 show central occupational characteristics. Traditionally, these characteristics have been linked with medicine, law, theology and university teaching, which are regarded as the "the established" professions whose occupational practice results from and reflects esoteric, generalised and systematic knowledge.