Solidarity in medicine: the role of medical students and young doctors.

The descriptions of medical caring and of highly technical specialism and science utilize different vocabularies and language. Medical caring has an ancient glossary of words, gestures, and behavior which is rapidly being transformed by specialization and advances in the technology of communication. The technologic capabilities of intensive care have, for example, exceeded the human life span and forced redefinition of the meaning of being olive. There are risks for the contemporary profession as linguistic and technical evolution proceed at a faster pace than the evolution of human health and illth. The accentuation and acceleration of generational disparity between the young and the old diminishes the solidarity of the profession and the quality of care that it provides.