Patient-physician Relationship Process Analysis in Iran in the Second half of the Qajar Era Based on the Parsons Model

Abstract

One of the most important issues in the medical and health field of the Iranian society, during the second half of the Qajar era, was the relationship between patient and physician. The nature of these relationships at that time was one of the most important things that could have a great impact on how people were health-wise examined and treated; individually and generally. Regarding the patient-physician relationship, a number of sociologists around the world have offered a theoretical model, one of which is the American sociologist Talcott Parsons. In this article, using a descriptive-analytical research method facilitating first-hand sources such as memoirs and travelogues, the relationship between upper-class patients and European physicians based on the Parsons role-oriented model is investigated. The research questions are: Did the patients of the upper classes during the second half of the Qajar era have the conditions to play the social role of the patient? Did European physicians in this era have the conditions to play the social role of the doctor? Findings indicate that in the second half of the Qajar era, both the upper class patient and the European physician were able to play their social role in the cycle of patient-physician relations. However, issues such as patients' malingering were among the influential factors that could disrupt the normal course of patient-physician relationships during this period.

Keywords

• physician
• patient
• social role
• relationships
• parsons