Effects of dual job practices on professionalism amongst doctors - A critical literature review

Abstract

Abstract
 Background
 Professionalism in medicine is a trust based social contract between professionals and public wherein professionals are expected to subordinate all their interests to the larger interests of patients and public. Recent commercialization trends have eroded ethical as well as scientific underpinnings of this sacred profession. This situation calls for immediate and planned resuscitative measures to reverse it. Healthcare professionals particularly dual jobs holding doctors themselves are the key persons in this regards.
 Objective
 To systematically examine literature on perceptions of doctors about dual jobs and its effects on professionalism in resource limited settings.
 Methods
 Through systematic searches of Medline, Ovid, ERIC and Science Direct combined with grey search from Google Scholar and hand search from reference lists and selected journals, eighteen articles were found appropriate to be included in this review.
 Results: Six themes were identified: dual job and motives behind private practice; monetary gains and non-professional behavior; threats to professionals and professionalism; role of medical education in building up professionalism; economic principles, law & medical professionalism and finally the governance in healthcare development. The results suggest paucity of qualitative studies on perspectives of doctors with dual jobs about the practices of professionalism in both public and private sectors and their views about remedial measures in low income settings.
 Conclusions: The review highlighted the need to explore the perceptions of the key elements i.e. doctors; particularly those with dual jobs about the practices of professionalism in public and private sectors along with their proposals about remedial measures in resource limited settings.