To the Editor: Young doctors and medical students are acculturated into healthcare systems in which governments, corporations, consumer groups and other stakeholders have an increasing presence. These forces have so significantly altered medical practice in the United States, for example, that many doctors have questioned the applicability of traditional patient-centred values. Whether or not Australian doctors have faced such adversity, medical practice is becoming increasingly complex, and the Medical Professionalism Project's charter1 encourages us to consider how we might best serve the future needs of patients, families and the community.

To this end, the charter upholds traditional patient-centred values while embracing less familiar civic responsibilities. It challenges us to think outside the doctor–patient dyad about what it means to be a doctor in contemporary Australian society. The inevitable rationing of finite health budgets, inequalities in access to and quality of care, and growing recognition of social determinants of health are all compelling reasons for engagement with social processes. The Australian medical profession has served us well through its health policy leadership. We have no reason for complacency, however, given the appalling state of Indigenous health, the challenges posed by rural and refugee populations and the progressive infiltration of for-profit interests into the Australian healthcare system.

Upholding the principle of social justice will require skills not often called upon in medical practice. If we are to remain respected public advocates we will need heightened awareness of population health issues and the ability to effectively collaborate with other players. We will need ways of translating time-honoured virtues such as altruism and compassion into public arenas. Partnerships may open new opportunities in a publicly responsive and outward-looking profession, while retaining the inherent worth of patient care.

By its social orientation, the charter does more than exalt old values in the face of modern healthcare challenges. It helps to articulate the aspirations of a more broadly engaged profession. The charter will be valuable to those of us near the start of our careers, for whom professionalism will be as much characterised by its engagement with the future as it is by its links with the past.