Doctor-Patient Relationship

The subject is crucial because every individual--even every doctor--must sooner or later be a patient in such a relationship and must deal not only with issues of life and death but with the feelings of helplessness and fear that accompany such a situation. The doctor, too, must face his own tendency to feel superior in such a situation. This has likely been the state of the doctor-patient relationship since such a relationship first occurred between a recognized healer and a sick or injured person: the patient is afraid and is generally ignorant about what is happening to him and/or what must be done to stop the pain or to save his life, and the doctor is in a position of great power. Dr. Martin Broder refers to this as "white coat hypertension," with the white coat a symbol fo

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he doctor-patient relationship. Marxism holds that one class, rising up through controlling means of production and imposing division of labor upon those in their employ, gather unto themselves the wealth and power in the society. The other class, increasingly alienated by an ever-increasing division of labor, and struggling to merely survive, is inevitably placed in an inferior position to the first class. It does not require much analysis to see which class the physician fits into and which the patient fits into. To extend the Marxist perspective, the doctor is the property-owner, the capitalist, and the patient is the worker, or less--the property itself, the "machine" which needs maintenance in order to continue its work so that its labor will bring the owners more profits. Insofar as this parallel is appropriate, it is no wonder that the patient enters the relationship in a position of fear and dependence, just as a worker enters the relationship with his boss with the same fear and dependence. It is also no surprise that the doctor, whether he is a good man or woman or not, will inevitably tend to take on the role of the one with knowledge and power. A theme connects the worker-owner and patient-doctor relationships, sup
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Durkheim Parsons, Martin Broder, Talcott Parsons, Whereas Marx, Jay Katz, doctor-patient relationship, division labor, durkheim parsons, white coat, , University January, London Collier-Macmillan, douglas 1973, Douglas Jack, medical corporations, social relations, london collier-macmillan, capitalist society, Martin MD, shed light doctor-patient, labor eliminated, broder 1999, parsons hand superior-inferior, relationship study examine, light doctor-patient relationship,
Approximate Word count = 1819
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)

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