title: [Physician-patient relationship: a forgotten need?].
abstract: The medical-patient relation has a big weight in the medical practice. There have been different medical codes that highlight the importance of this relation and the existence of the patient's rights; nevertheless, its repercussion has been scarce. A few time ago, this relation was established among a clear binomial: the doctor and the patient, but now this binomial is very complex and it seems to have disappeared. The main models of the medical-patient relation are: Activity-Passiveness, Guide-Cooperation, and Participation. Currently, the medical-patient relation has been deteriorated because it was interfered by external factors, such as: socioeconomic problems, those due to the technological development and those attributable to the doctor's conduct. It seems fundamental to recover this relation, as a part of the medical art. The solution is not easy and involves the need to count with legal mechanisms that protect the doctors and patients rights. Besides, it will be important to carry out deep changes in the models of health education. If the medical-patient relation is not prioritized as an important part of the medical exercise, our profession would face the risk of only becoming a technical occupation.
authors.forename: Juan Ramiro
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Ruiz Durá
mesh_terms: D004992:Ethics, Medical; D006801:Humans; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations / Q000941:ethics*