title: [Have you met Mao?].
abstract: What is a clinical discourse, and what elements of the patient-doctor encounter are most important for the outcome in medical practice? I approach these questions by using the notion of narratology and some key concepts from discourse analysis: interaction, transaction and context. Traditionally, clinical discourse is either consultative or psychotherapeutic. I argue for a third approach to the patient-doctor discourse, a "narrative dialogue". In the narrative dialogue, the patient-doctor-interchange is supposed to be less structural, more flexible, more individualistic than what has traditionally been the case. The doctor is supposed to be visible as a person more than as a professional persona, and the patient is encouraged to participate in the dialogue with his or her own personal narrative as a substantial contribution to the consultation.
authors.affiliation: Institutt for samfunnsmedisinske fag Universitetet i Bergen. john.nessa@isf.uib.no
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nessa
mesh_terms: D002681:China; D003142:Communication; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D006801:Humans; D009664:Norway; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D012017:Referral and Consultation
vernacular_title: Har du møtt Mao?