Preamble to the Bylaws

Preamble to the Bylaws

❧ ICIM physicians shall render medical care with compassion and respect for humanity without regard to race, color, creed, religious preference, gender, national origin, handicap, disability, or age. They shall render service to humanity with full respect for the dignity of human kind in general and the total individual in particular. They should consider total needs of patients, directing treatment toward the total person: body, mind, and spirit. The treatment rendered shall be at all times in the best interest of the patient.

❧ ICIM physicians shall honor the dignity of the patient through education regarding disease processes and treatment options, by recognizing that patients have autonomy in making decisions pertaining to their care. Physicians should guide and educate their patients toward this goal and actively encourage patients to share in the responsibility for their care.

❧ ICIM physicians shall be honest in the treatment plans offered patients. The treatments shall be in the best physical, emotional, and financial interests of the patient. Physicians are encouraged to donate services to the medically indigent.

❧ICIM physicians shall recognize limitations in themselves and in their training and shall be willing to pursue intellectual curiosity beyond the confines of institutional learning. They shall strive to obtain medical knowledge and skills which are effective and which do no harm to the patient.

❧ ICIM physicians shall observe the law and acknowledge their responsibility for seeking changes in such requirements, procedures, and treatments that are contrary to the best interests of the patient. They shall encourage the availability of quality medical services and supplies for their patients and colleagues.

❧ ICIM physicians shall be free to utilize all responsible methods of medical treatment for whom, with whom, and in whatever environment they deem appropriate. They shall respect the rights of patients, colleagues, and other health professionals.

❧ ICIM physicians must seek other trained and qualified practitioners to assist in being fully integrated in their practice. They must work with these associates and trained practitioners to expand and increase their ability to provide truly integrated medicine to their patients.

❧ ICIM physicians may advertise where allowed by law. In doing so, however, they should at all times be guided by principles of dignity and good taste. Such advertising should never promise cure, nor be self-laudatory in any way.

❧ ICIM physicians shall lawfully maintain patient confidentiality. They shall not reveal the confidences entrusted in the course of medical attendance, or the deficiencies observed in the character of patients, unless required to do so by law, or unless it becomes necessary in order to protect the welfare of the individual or of the community.

❧ ICIM physicians shall fully accept these principles of The International College of Integrative Medicine and strive to uphold the dignity of the College.