Doctors (medical), lawyers (legal), accountants (accounting), engineers (engineering), project managers (project management) and other occupations are true professions.  They have established the requisite boundaries, the descrete body of knowledge, the national certifications and licensing, and the ethical codes that can be enforced.  Yet, can we call Management Consulting a profession?  Based on the criteria above, I would say there is much work to be done but where do we start?  As we look at the disciplines that the IMC USA describes, Strategy is where I think we could start.  Why?  Because strategic planners/managers have the potential as a discipline to achieve the criteria to be called a profession. In the mean time, I submit that we are professionals, but not part of a true profession.