Brief report: What types of Internet guidance do patients want from their physicians?

Objectives: To understand what patients expect from physicians regarding information seeking on the Internet.

Design: Self-administered survey.

Setting/participants: Waiting rooms of 4 community-based primary care offices.

Primer on medical professionalism.

Medicine as a profession depends on a unique social contract between the public and health-care professionals. We define professionalism in medicine, provide examples of challenges in professionalism relevant to podiatric medicine, and offer resources on ethics and professionalism in medicine. "Medical professionalism" is the set of attitudes, values, and conduct exhibited by medical providers resulting from placing patients' and society's interests above their own.