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Introduction
Taking Stock of Medical Dominance
Evan Willis
School of Social Sciences, La Trobe University, VIC
Abstract
More than 20 years have elapsed since the book that is the subject of this special edition was published.
The aim in this scene-setting introductory paper is to undertake a stock-taking of status of doctors, doctoring and professionalism as we head into the 21st century.
It considers the various challenges to medical dominance of health systems including neo-liberalism and economic rationalism, a growth in consumerism and associated litigiousness, the change from a cottage industry basis to mass markets as medicine has been industrialised, the rise of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and changing roles of other health care professionals.
Keywords
medical dominance, sociology, professionalism, autonomy, authority, sovereignty
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