For doctors' eyes only: Medical records in two Israeli hospitals

"Scientific" and "craft" representations of medical diagnosis can be regarded as complementary discursive systems used by physicians in order to legitimate and monopolize their professional power. This paper examines the medical record as a context for the interplay of these two discourses. During interviews conducted with 78 Israeli physicians, 94% have refused to give patients access to their medical records. This refusal is discussed vis-à-vis a reading of the actual contents of medical records, which are shown to contain many errors, inconsistencies and ambiguities. The paper concludes by offering an alternative, anthropological model for medical records as fieldnotes.