Are physicians who smoke hypocrites? Should they be allowed to smoke while practicing medicine?
1) “A medical board that consists of smokers who refuse to hire a medical candidate on the grounds that the candidate is a smoker is guilty of inconsistent norms, but not necessarily hypocrisy. In this case a norm has been established that smokers can become doctors. For example, the fact that a doctor smokes doesn’t make that doctor wrong when they advise a patient that smoking is dangerous. Also, a doctor who truly believes smoking is dangerous yet smokes is not a hypocrite simply for practicing dangerous behavior. Instead, to accurately label as hypocrite a smoking doctor who advises patients that smoking is dangerous, the doctor would have to actually believe smoking is not dangerous.” Source and further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypocrisy 2) “The term role model first appeared in Robert K. Merton’s socialization research of medical students. Merton hypothesized that individuals compare themselves with reference groups of people who occupy the social role to which t
