Restriction

Abstract

Chapter 4 examines the physician’s relationship to the broader political life of the community. The Hippocratic corpus mostly frames health in terms of an individual and seems to exclude physicians from involvement in policy and politics. Yet some physicians sought to establish a less restrictive understanding of their work that would not inhibit political engagement. Modern professionals increasingly recognize a broad range of social determinants of healthcare, with a scope that exceeds the purview of traditional physicians. Accordingly, medicine should be recognized as a profession that has real relevance to public service and qualifies its practitioners for political office.