Members agree to report any breach of the RTPI Code to the Institute, subject to legal restrictions and assist the Institute in any related investigation. Lastly, the Council has the power to discipline members who are in breach of the code, yet this action will only be undertaken if the Council believes is personally responsible for the breach.
Does the Code of Conduct Address the Conceptual and Legal Meaning of Professionalism:
The RTPI Code of Conduct addresses some of the conceptual meaning of professionalism. Duty, honor and integrity are addressed in the clauses in a variety of ways. The clauses concerning conflict of interest, the commitment to lifelong learning, reporting of gifts or commissions, ensuring members do not make statements contrary to their bona fide opinions, and taking all steps possible to maintain professional competence cover these two aspects quite well. Caring and altruism, however, are not fully addressed with the Code. There is no aspect of selflessness encouraged in the Code. Caring occurs only through duty as opposed to a more humanistic concern. In fact, it would appear that the moral thrust of the RTPI Code of Conduct is more towards protecting the image and reputation of the RTPI than anything else.
It is not surprising that the conceptual professional behaviors that are encouraged in the RTPI Code of Conduct are accountability and respect. These are spokes from the center of the professionalism concept wheel radiating from duty, honor and integrity. However, once again, the more humanistic spokes are not addressed including compassion and empathy. The surface of professionalism too is not addressed in the RTPI Code of Conduct, which is odd given the underlying theme that members agree not to allow the RTPI's reputation to fall into disrepute. One would think this would have been addressed.
The legal definition of professionalism also is not addressed by the RTPI Code of Conduct. In no place in the Code are the members charged with following national and/or local statutes and regulations. The only regulations members are mandated to follow are those that are, and may be in...
Some of the moralistic qualities of professionalism are addressed in the Code. Dealing with conflicts of interest as well as ensuring a maintenance of professional competence are both important parts of professional behaviour. These charges, for example, will encourage members to continue their education, throughout their career, instead of becoming complacent. However, as mentioned above, there are certain aspects that are not addressed. Members could be rude to clients and habitually late for meetings and technically they'd be fulfilling all requirements of the Code of Conduct, yet most would agree this would be unprofessional behaviour. A member's work could be contradictory to a local statute. This too would be contrary to professional behaviour, yet it would not be in violation of the RTPI Code of Conduct.
Conclusion:
The concept of professionalism is somewhat ambiguous. Hammer et al. (2003) describes professionalism like a bicycle wheel, with morals at the center, behaviours spoking out from these morals, and a professional surface presented to the world. The RTPI Code of Conduct addresses several of these aspects, in an effort to ensure that their members act with honor, integrity and a sense of duty. Although the Code deals with some aspects of the conceptual meaning of professionalism, it does not address the legal aspects. As such, there are some behaviours that the Code does encourage and others it simply misses.
References
Code of professional conduct, (1 Jan 2007), [Online], Available: http://www.rtpi.org.uk/download/154/Code-of-Professional-Conduct-2007.pdf [08/05/09].
Guide to the assessment of professional competence, (No date), [Online], Available: http://www.rtpi.org.uk/download/164/Guide-to-the-APC.pdf [08/05/09].
Hammer, D., Berger, B., Beardsley, R., & Easton, M. 2003, "Student professionalism," American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education no. 67, article 96.
