Physician and society A study of people's perception of the social role of physicians in a region of Yugoslavia

Abstract

The subject of this study was the physician's broader role beyond his professional interest in medical matters. The part of the study here reported concerns people's perception of the physician's normative and actual role in community affairs. It is based on interviews among a representative sample of the general adult population of Istria and Coastal Region of Croatia, Yugoslavia. The sample consisted of 509 respondents aged 15 years and over. The results show that people in urban areas and the more highly educated are more demanding in regard to the social participation they expect from the physician. The same applies to the younger and more highly educated, but older respondents in urban areas also were more demanding than the same age groups in rural areas. As to their perception of the physician's real role in community affairs, more rural people and also the younger ones consider the physician more active in the society. The findings have implications both on the education and training of physicians, and on the education of the public.