2 RISP Honor Code
Embarking on a career in the life sciences, medicine, and other healthcare professions is a privilege that carries lifelong moral and ethical responsibilities and begins the moment an individual becomes a member of the academic medicine community.
To achieve its vision to lead the transformation of health care through quality, innovation, and education to make Indiana one of the nation’s healthiest states, the IU School of Medicine (IUSM) must recruit and nurture exceptional individuals who are equipped to learn, teach, practice, and conduct research in challenging and diverse settings. IUSM expects its community members to treat one another respectfully and facilitate an atmosphere of cooperation and collegiality. The School demands excellence and expects community members to always act with integrity. Recognizing the damaging effects that bias, discrimination, and exclusion have on the work environment, patient care, medical research, medical education, and healthcare outcomes, IUSM strives to be a place that is diverse, welcoming, and inclusive for all and commits to identifying and dismantling hate, oppression, systemic racism, and discrimination in academic medicine. IUSM expects all in its community to reflect on these values and ensure that their views, beliefs, actions, and inactions do not, intentionally or unintentionally, perpetuate the problem of healthcare inequity.
To this end, the IUSM Honor Code outlines the core values governing research, education, and clinical practice that all IUSM community members, including students, faculty, and staff, are expected to uphold. These include:
- Excellence reflected in the innovative conduct and advancement of education, research, and patient care.
- I will strive for excellence in all I do, including advancing my field and/or providing the highest quality of care to all patients at all times. I commit myself to lifelong professional development, continuous improvement, and advancing research and the practice of medicine. I will recognize my limitations, be open to feedback, and seek help when appropriate.
- Respect for all individuals affiliated with, or come in contact with, Indiana University School of Medicine: students, residents, fellows, faculty, staff partners, communities, patients, and families.
- I will respond to societal needs with competence, altruism, and morality, reflecting the expectations of the social contract with my community. I will respect the dignity of others, display cultural humility, and act with civility and compassion. I recognize that a career in the life sciences, medicine, and other healthcare professions requires me to subordinate my own interests to the interests of those I serve.
- Integrity that embraces the very highest standards of ethical behavior and exemplary moral character.
- I will take responsibility for what I say and do in my personal and professional activities, maintaining the highest standards of honesty and civility. I will conduct and present myself professionally in the presence of patients, learners, amongst peers, and in any professional setting. I will be dependable and ethical in meeting my professional obligations so that I inspire confidence and earn the trust others place in me.
- Diversity and Inclusion that is reflected in actions that appreciate and value all individuals and a commitment to being an inclusive and equitable community.
- I will contribute to creating a safe, inclusive, and supportive atmosphere for teaching, learning, caring for patients, and conducting research. I commit to listening to and respecting the perspectives of others, aiming to learn from them what actions, practices, and policies, and structures they experience as racist, discriminatory, exclusionary, or otherwise detrimental to the community. I will champion healthcare equity in both medicine and society and be committed to transforming the way research is conducted and care is provided in order to eliminate health disparities.
- Cooperation that is manifested in collegial communication and collaboration.
- I will exhibit professionalism in all interactions and work to resolve conflicts in a manner that preserves the dignity of every person involved. I understand that medicine and science are team-based and will foster an espirt de corps through my interactions with others, respecting the importance of all members’ contributions to the medical community’s shared goals.
All members of the IUSM community, including students, faculty, and staff, must commit to enacting and embodying these Core Values in order to warrant the trust placed in them by patients, families, peers, and society at large and to begin to address the existing disparities in healthcare. By becoming part of the IU School of Medicine community, you are expressly dedicating yourself to this commitment. Violations of the Honor Code may result in discipline as provided by the Honor Code Policy and System.
Honor Code Pledge
I understand that it is a great honor and privilege to study, work, and serve in the life sciences, medicine, and other healthcare professions.
As a member of the Indiana University School of Medicine community, I promise to uphold the highest standards of ethical and compassionate behavior while learning, interacting with and caring for others, conducting research, participating in educational activities, and/or otherwise representing IUSM or supporting its missions. I will remain aware of my responsibilities to improve the standard of health in my community, to increase access to care for the underserved, to work toward the elimination of health disparities, and to advance research and the field of medicine.
Knowing my own limitations an those of science and medicine, I commit myself to a lifelong journey of learning how to cure, relieve, and comfort with humility and compassion.
I make this pledge solemnly, freely, and upon my honor.
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