Published 18 March 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b1080
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;338:b1080

Views & Reviews

Personal View

A Reformation for our times

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

We are experiencing a healthcare reformation. Traditional paternalistic relationships between patients and doctors are being undermined in much the same way as the religious Reformation of the 16th century empowered the laity and threatened the 1000 year old hierarchy of the Catholic church in Europe. The Reformation had irreversible consequences for Western society; the implications of the healthcare reformation could also be profound.

Before Martin Luther it was the custom for everyone in Catholic Europe to attend church at least weekly. Although church going was an essential part of everyday life, lay people could not participate in services in any meaningful way. Services were held in Latin, not the local language. Bibles were objects of great beauty, hand written by highly skilled craftsmen in monasteries, enormously expensive—and only available in Latin. Nearly all copies of the Bible remained in the hands of monks and priests.

An educated priesthood was seen . . . [Full text of this article]

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    StumbleUpon    Technorati    What's this?

Relevant Articles

Free up the canon

Adam W Clark
BMJ 2009 338: b1375. [Extract] [Full Text]

Health care’s reformation

Fiona Godlee
BMJ 2009 338: b1140. [Extract] [Full Text]

Google needs better control of its advertisements and suggested links

Marco Masoni, Maria Renza Guelfi, and Gian Franco Gensini
BMJ 2009 338: b1083. [Extract] [Full Text]

Googling for a diagnosis—use of Google as a diagnostic aid: internet based study

Hangwi Tang and Jennifer Hwee Kwoon Ng
BMJ 2006 333: 1143-1145. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Clark, A. W (2009). Free up the canon. BMJ 338: b1375-b1375 [Full text]  

Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

Reformation and freedom of information

Karol Sikora
bmj.com, 23 Mar 2009 [Full text]

Re: Reformation and freedom of information - clarity required around older people comment

Nigel Dudley
bmj.com, 25 Mar 2009 [Full text]

Martin Luther's Protestant Reformation as a retrospective mirror for the present Internet Revolution

Felix ID Konotey-Ahulu
bmj.com, 27 Mar 2009 [Full text]

More reforming needed

Adam W. Clark
bmj.com, 28 Mar 2009 [Full text]

Young people are leading the reformation

Richard Smith
bmj.com, 29 Mar 2009 [Full text]

Medical (information) reformation

Hugh van't Hoff
bmj.com, 24 Apr 2009 [Full text]

Online poll

Find out more here>> and here>>