ABSTRACT
Medicine is seen to be an inter-human event of mutual consent, a craftsmanship of healing within the imbalanced relationship, and a didactic relationship to eliminate physical suffering. Medicine involves values in three ways: it combines knowledge and skill about healing; its theory is a structure of principles about practice; and, it is intrinsically linked to human purposes. The central act of medicine is therefore the act leading to its end, the right healing action for a particular patient. If the central act of medicine is the act of profession, it becomes necessary to examine the way in which the promise can be and is fulfilled. As medicine became imbued with 'scientism' and objectivity in diagnosis, less reliance was placed on the patient's description of his own symptoms, and correspondingly more importance was placed on the medical man's evaluation of the physical signs of disease.
