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An Appraisal of Lay and Medical Concepts of Illness

INTRODUCTION HE MEDICAL profession in recent years has been subjected to a barrage of criticisms, both from outside and from within, that has contributed to some degree of erosion of loyalty and commitment to the medical practice by the lay people. Right now the public seem to share a strange ambivalence about medical care, characterised by high and often unrealistic expectations, a strong sense of depenI dency, and a critical attitude. These popular expectations concerning the performance of the medical sector to the extent that they are unreasonable contribute to growing negative medical-care experience of patients and to their greater expressions of dissatisfaction. In point of fact, for a long time, the public have been led to expect too much by the mass media’s treatment of impressive developments in professional knowledge and dramatic achievements in medical technology. They have come to believe, though deploringly and unwittingly, in magic cures and the waving of wands. It may be a considerable psychological burden for doctors to live up to an ideal image at all times. As always, the reality is inevitably a constant disillusionment. It is probable that when public expectation has been set too high, they are most likely to suffer disappointment. Moreover, misunderstandings or, more commonly, lack of understandings between doctors and patients are sometimes unavoidable and patients will then be likely to lose their trust and confidence in the doctor. A breakdown in the traditional doctor-patient relationship accounts for the ever-increasing complaints of doctors for their poor and impersonal attitudes and the steadily growing litigation fever. The answer for this mishap on the medical profession is not hard to make and may indeed be found from the nature and the structure of the prevailing medical system as it is now.