ABSTRACT
We are in the middle of a long historical process that has robbed the professions of what once upon a time seemed to be tacit and unquestioned confidence in our judgement. All professions are involved here; no longer does the assumption reign that the professional person, on account of both calling and education, knows, and knows better than the lay public, what ails the latter, and how to cure it. Medicine is only the most prominent among such groups, but few are omitted from the scrutiny of ever more knowledgeable clients. People want to know what we do, why we do it, how well trained we are to perform it, and how we differ from others claiming the same or related skill and authority and the ability to collect money for our efforts.
