The terms profession, professional, professional identity and professionalism are quoted many times in medicine and are often used interchangeably. This can lead to confusion as to what the concepts really are, and we therefore need to be careful what we mean when we quote them, and more importantly what we understand about how they relate to our personal clinical practice. Medical students and doctors are constantly being told in lectures, tutorials and workshops that they need to demonstrates professionalism in their future careers, so what is vital in their professional development is that they understand not only how everybody else defines professionalism but most importantly what it means to them that they have got it right, and they keep getting it right throughout their careers.