Traditional Chinese medicine and modern Western medicine use distinctive approaches in healing and have distant modes of doctor-patient interaction. Despite their contrasting healing practices and cultures, they share a number of similarities and differences with regard to aspects of doctor-patient relationship or professional authority of doctors.
To start with, traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine show both similarities and differences in the degree of formality of doctor-patient relationship. Similarly, doctor-patient relationship tends to be formal in both types of medicine, yet doctor-patient relationship in traditional Chinese medicine is less formal than that in modern Western medicine. The relationship is formal in both …show more content…
A commonly observed culture among traditional Chinese doctors in the past was that they visited their patients’ homes to perform medical work rather than staying at their own homes or offices. From To Taste A Hundred Herbs (1984), role of Chinese doctors in local Chinese communities is not confined to healing only as the Chinese doctor participated as an officiating guest in a wedding ceremony of a couple. These show the close doctor-patient relationship in traditional Chinese medicine and patients’ (or general public’s) respect towards traditional Chinese medical practitioners (mostly in local communities). Again, cultural influences on doctor-patient relationship depend on cultural context; for instance, ethnic groups understand illnesses in their traditional medical concepts instead of concepts given by the physicians (Lam, 2001), thus patients with different cultural backgrounds would listen to their doctors to different extents, forming different forms of doctor-patient …show more content…
Traditional Chinese medicine is based on its own theoretical frameworks while modern Western medicine is evidence-based and a branch of science. Theoretical frameworks of Chinese medicine tend to be less credible than evidences used in Western medicine since the latter are more accessible to general patients under the common science education. Patients would find Western medicine safer and more believable as there are solid evidences rationalizing Western medicine. An example is the nature of therapeutics used: Chinese medicine uses a wide array of therapeutics including shed skins of cicadas, dried scorpions and dried snakes shown in To Taste A Hundred Herbs (1984), which appear to be less scientific and effective than synthetic drugs used in Western medicine. As patients generally find Western medicine more scientific and convincing, they would be more willing to listen to Western physicians, leading to higher professional authority of Western physicians. Other factors that lead to higher professional authority of Western physicians may include the ability of Western physicians (and inability of traditional Chinese medical practitioners) to diagnose and treat complicated yet common diseases using advanced medical technology (such as by
To start with, traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine show both similarities and differences in the degree of formality of doctor-patient relationship. Similarly, doctor-patient relationship tends to be formal in both types of medicine, yet doctor-patient relationship in traditional Chinese medicine is less formal than that in modern Western medicine. The relationship is formal in both …show more content…
A commonly observed culture among traditional Chinese doctors in the past was that they visited their patients’ homes to perform medical work rather than staying at their own homes or offices. From To Taste A Hundred Herbs (1984), role of Chinese doctors in local Chinese communities is not confined to healing only as the Chinese doctor participated as an officiating guest in a wedding ceremony of a couple. These show the close doctor-patient relationship in traditional Chinese medicine and patients’ (or general public’s) respect towards traditional Chinese medical practitioners (mostly in local communities). Again, cultural influences on doctor-patient relationship depend on cultural context; for instance, ethnic groups understand illnesses in their traditional medical concepts instead of concepts given by the physicians (Lam, 2001), thus patients with different cultural backgrounds would listen to their doctors to different extents, forming different forms of doctor-patient …show more content…
Traditional Chinese medicine is based on its own theoretical frameworks while modern Western medicine is evidence-based and a branch of science. Theoretical frameworks of Chinese medicine tend to be less credible than evidences used in Western medicine since the latter are more accessible to general patients under the common science education. Patients would find Western medicine safer and more believable as there are solid evidences rationalizing Western medicine. An example is the nature of therapeutics used: Chinese medicine uses a wide array of therapeutics including shed skins of cicadas, dried scorpions and dried snakes shown in To Taste A Hundred Herbs (1984), which appear to be less scientific and effective than synthetic drugs used in Western medicine. As patients generally find Western medicine more scientific and convincing, they would be more willing to listen to Western physicians, leading to higher professional authority of Western physicians. Other factors that lead to higher professional authority of Western physicians may include the ability of Western physicians (and inability of traditional Chinese medical practitioners) to diagnose and treat complicated yet common diseases using advanced medical technology (such as by