The Doctor-Patient Relationship (DPR) is a complex concept in the medical sociology in which patients voluntarily approach a doctor and thus become a part of a contract in which they tends to abide with the doctor's guidance. Globally, the DPR has changed drastically over the years owing to the commercialization and privatization of the health sector. Furthermore, the dynamics of the DPR has sh...

It was claimed over 50 years ago that medicine cannot do without sociology, but what impact have sociologists had on quality of health care? Most clinicians and managers would not be able to identify sociology's contribution even though it forms part of the educational preparation of healthcare professionals, including medical practitioners. Why does sociology seem invisible when it is so relev...

BACKGROUND It is clear that much of the success of health-care provision depends on the quality of interactions between health professionals and patients. For instance, it is widely recognized that patients are more likely to take medication effectively if they have been involved in discussions about treatment options, and understand and support the decision about what is prescribed (patient co...

R esearch in social epidemiology and medical sociology has consistently shown that people in lower socioeconomic status groups experience poorer health and live shorter lives than those in higher status groups. However, investigations of such differentials among people aged 65 and over is still comparatively rare. In this issue of the journal Huisman et al report on the results of their analyse...

This article has as its starting point two central ideas: textbooks as a means of production and dissemination of knowledge and narrative as an approach. After a brief review of studies on health/medical sociology textbooks, I analyze a few of these textbooks from the 1900-2012 period, produced in the United States and England. I have selected eleven textbooks which I thought were representativ...

In the wake of successive cases of fatal accidents caused by patients behind the wheel whose driving was likely to be hindered due to paroxysmal diseases, including epilepsy, there has been an outcry from victims demanding stricter criminal penalties against the perpetrators due to negligence. As a result of this action, a revised Road Traffic Act was put into effect in Japan on June 14, 2013. ...

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE The presented analysis is a reconstruction of the origins, inspirations for development, and theoretical foundations of the critical and unmasking trend in Polish and Western medical sociology. ABBREVIATED DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF KNOWLEDGE As a part of the critical medical sociology initiated in Poland by Professor Magdalena Sokołowska, a diagnosis of the (dys)f...