gofer articles

In what may be yet another sad sign of the times, pros like doctors, lawyers, and accountants may now have to take ethics CPE courses. Yes, that’s right: as a part of maintaining their licenses to practice, these professionals might now be required to learn the big difference between right and wrong.

To be certain, an ethics continuing education course is commendable, and if it’s important then it is good that such a thing is out there. But the fact that it needs to be necessary at all – since ethics courses already form a part of most people’s educational background, whether as undergraduates or in law school, med school, and so on – is disturbing.

Yes, life is packed with morally ambiguous circumstances, and having an application that applies the eternal verities to modern times should prove valuable. But ethics CPE courses only came about because of the many abuses that have cropped up within the careers. It is an unfortunate commentary that the problem should be so bad regarding warrant such courses – for one may possibly presume that the certifying bodies governing professional licensure would not have compelled the requirement otherwise.

That said, and things being what they are, it is a wholly optimistic development that an official stance has come out against abuse and misuse. For the necessity of such continuing professional education curricula demonstrates at least some measure of committment to ethical standards from the industry itself. The need, moreover, represents an agreed-upon goal: this is just what a lawyer is, this is what an accountant does, this is how a doctor behaves.

Not to pick on doctors, lawyers, and accountants, obviously, as the term “the professions” is also applied to K-12 teachers and, if the ACSM and others have their way, even to personal fitness trainers as well (!), but suffice it to say, one may view the emergence and developing popularity of such curricula as a positive development.