A Cognitive Research On Doctor Metaphor And Doctor-patient Relationship Metaphor

Medical disputes between doctors and patients have won widely social concerns.In recent years,the frequent occurrence of the doctor-patient conflicts has often made the headline,which develops it as a focused issue.As the research frontier,cognitive science,combined with various disciplines,has produced fruitful achievements.Cognitive linguistics,among which conceptual metaphor is the focus of academic research.However,little attention has devoted to linguistic research on doctor occupation and the the doctor-patient relationships in a cognitive way both at home and abroad.From the perspective of “conceptual metaphor” in cognitive linguistics,eleven kinds of doctor metaphors,and six types of the doctor-patient relationship metaphors are reached by pilot study.Based on nearly 300 questionnaires and interviews with 20 doctors and patients,the thesis discusses and analyzes: 1.the current situation of the the doctor-patient relationship;2.the understanding of “doctor metaphor” and “the doctor-patient relationship metaphor” from both perspectives of doctors and patients,and finds out the similarities and differences;3.the collection of doctor’s description of doctor occupation and patient’s description of medical experience.With the combination of 1.and 2.,the thesis suggests the measures to alleviate the medical disputes.Through comparative analysis,we find that: 1.in general,the current relationship between doctor and patient is not bad;2.however,20% of patients chose negative doctor metaphor “killer” and “butcher”,which indirectly reflects that the relationship between some doctors and patients is in danger;3.doctors and patients are consistent in the perception of “the doctor-patient relationship metaphor”,but there are significant differences in understanding of “doctor metaphor”;4.most doctors choose “agree” or “fully agree” with any positive “doctor metaphor”,such as“lifeguard”,“health engineer”,“artist”,“living god”,etc.In contrast,the choice of patients is more objective;5.doctor metaphor “service provider” tops the second on patients’ decision,but ranks eighth on doctors’.Combined with interviews,it shows that doctors’ attitude in the the doctor-patient relationship is more arrogant and they don’t view themselves as service providers like waiters;6.in the description of medical practice,doctors tend to use negative words as “tread as if on thin ice”,“tired”.Also in the description of medical experience,patients are likely to use negative words such as “time-consuming”,“indifferent” and so on;7.besides the efforts of doctors and patients,the medical policy formulated by the government,the construction of medical ethics by the hospitals,the humanistic education of medical schools and the positive guidance of media are equally crucial.Medical conflict is a perpetual and intricate social issue,which involves doctor,patient,hospital,government,etc.So it can not be solved in a short time,which requires the endeavor of generation after generation.What we can do is to behave ourselves and give more understandings to others.The thesis has limitations due to various reasons,nevertheless,on the basis of the questionnaire analysis and hospital field surveys and interviews,some effective results are obtained,which providesolutions and theoretical basis for medical disputes.As for the further study,many various doctor metaphors and the doctor-patient relationship metaphors can be discussed and analyzed.Also,more in-depth field study with more advanced analysis is required.