의사직의 역사적 정체성 형성

Abstract

The question of professional identity of medical doctors is one of the main themes of not only medical history, but also medical sociology and professional sociology. Medical profession is one of the oldest professions which have existed since antiquity. However, the modes of its social existence largely depends on social, historical and cultural context in which the medical profession is placed. Among several important factors which determine the mode of social existence of medical professions, its relationship to state power may be the single most important one. The medical profession has been regarded as the exemplary free profession along with legal professions such as judges or lawyers. Here, the free profession means the profession which is relatively freed from the control of the state. However, it must be noted that the social image of medical profession as a free profession was formed during the specific historical period and it is far from being an universal entity. In particular, the medical profession has a very close relationship with the state power. This paper attempted to show various types of social existence of medical professions according to the different social and historical settings.