The Code of Medical Ethics for the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry: Why Is It Important?

This article provides an overview of the developmental history and rationale of medical ethics to establish the code of ethics and professional conduct of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (KACAP). Most medical professional or-ganizations have their own codes of ethics and conduct because they have continuous responsibility to regulate professional ac-tivities and conducts for their members. The Ethics and Award Committee of the KACAP appointed a Task-Force to establish the code of ethics and conduct in 2012. Because bioethics has become global, the Ethics Task Force examined global standards. Global standards in medical ethics and professional conduct adopted by the World Medical Association and the World Psychiat-ric Association have provided the basic framework for our KACAP’s code of ethics and professional conduct. The Code of Eth-ics of the Americal Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry has provided us additional specific clarifications required for child and adolescent patients. The code of ethics and professional conduct of the KACAP will be helpful to us in ethical clinical practice and will ensure our competence in recognizing ethical violations.