"Encompasses thirty-five years of original, pioneering research in the sociology of medicine. Based on fieldwork in a variety of medical settings in the United States, Belgium, Zaire and the people's republic of China, these ethnographic essays examine chronic and terminal illness, medical research, therapeutic innovation, medical education and socialization, and bioethics. Within this framework, three empirical 'cases' have been singled out for special scrutiny--the process of becoming a physician, the development of the artificial kidney machine and organ transplantation, and the evolution of medical research in Belgium."--P. [4] of cover.