Health Professions Facing an Unequal Health Professional World:Professionalization of Medical Doctors and Allied Health Professions

This paper discusses (1) professional socialization of medical students who become medical doctors who have been dominant over other allied health professions, (2) professionalization of allied health professions as professional organizations, and (3) the possibility of achieving professional equality among health professions, in particular, between traditionally dominant medical doctors and allied health professions.

   The author’s discussion is based on (1) author’s participant observation at three Tokyo hospitals in the early 1960’s, (2) questionnaire method surveys of six medical schools in 1993 and 1999 for the same cohort, and (3) questionnaire method surveys of sampled members of eight allied health professional organizations in 1978 and those of 11 allied health professional organizations in 1996.