Modern medicine has been largely concerned with understanding and treating specific diseases. And it has also diminished the attention paid to the patients' experience. Doctor is in a position of power, with privileged knowledge, authority, and professional status. These inequalities of power define the doctor patient relationship. As medical knowledge and technology have expanded, public expectations of doctor's expertise and caring have become higher than ever before. But nowadays, there is growing recognition of rights that patients may exercise in the medical care context. Patient was no longer inherently subordinate in virtue of the lack of adequate knowledge.
Informed consent is based on the principles of patients' autonomy and self-determination. And implementing a right of selfdetermination has tremendous consequences for medical practice. Once determined, doctor and patient can work together toward mutually agreed upon health goals. Then with informed consent, patients are more than ever the leader of their own treatment. And many voices that are more sympathetic to various patients' appeals begin to be heard. However, social connection often takes on heightened importance for patient. Patient is also an actor wrestling with a di$cult challenge as described in "illness narratives". It starts with a belief in the importance, uniqueness, and dignity of the individual. Every person has certain individual rights and it is important that the respect for individual rights is lived out in medical practice.

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