ABSTRACT
The medical consultation provides a stage for a multidimensional view of biomedicine in action and how diagnoses are made and treatment courses devised by different physicians. The stage for the presentation of the follows verbatim transcriptions of medical encounters by the various physicians to reveal the nature of biomedical practice and its nuances as it unfolds during the medical consultation. Arthur's case is significant because it illuminates the unfolding drama of a consultation even when the physician combines a folk and biomedical orientation. Medical consultations, like all dramas, provide with insights into ideologies, in the case, about heredity and about male sexuality. Esperanza's case suggests the drama that is plays out both in the doctor's struggle with himself and vis–a–vis the patient. Thelma, typical of consultations, exemplifies the inherent drama of a clinical encounter when guides by the biomedical script.
