ABSTRACT
This chapter refers the informal organization of the medical profession as the "inner fraternity." While the inner fraternity influences the practice of medicine in diverse ways it has one dominant method of functioning. Its basic activity is referred to here as "sponsorship." By sponsorship is meant simply that established members of the inner fraternity actively intervene in the career lines of newcomers to the profession. The most important dividing lines in the medical profession in the community studied were ethnic and religious, and not technical. Spot maps were prepared to determine the spatial distribution of doctors within the community studied. Two heavy concentrations of offices appeared, comprising about one-third and one-sixth of the doctors of the community respectively. Information was obtained on all the hospital connexions of all the doctors of the community. These hospital connexions were classified in order of their importance. The practice of specialized medicine hinges around the referral system.
