Miracle Workers? Why we expect doctors to do the impossible

"Even today, in our high-tech, accountability-obsessed and, supposedly at least, patient-empowered times, the oldest of all relations between patient and physician — that of supplicant to shaman — continues to exert its authority. This may not seem sensible if the only valid criterion for judging the doctor-patient relationship is the use that is made of scientific data and clinical findings. But good doctors want to treat their patients, not just their patients’ diseases, and certainly most patients want to be treated as human beings, not cases. Viewed from that perspective, the elevated expectations patients bring to the consulting room may be for the best."
From the New York Times Magazine, 17.2.2008

Includes elements of the doctor-patient relationship