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This paper reviews the author's experience in becoming a medical sociologist before the field had become formalized. The contributions to medical sociology of sociologist Selden D. Bacon and physician and medical educator William R. Willard are described. The relationship of medical sociology to medical behavioral science, as experienced at the University of Kentucky, is discussed. Finally, the thesis of the author's 1957 paper on the nature and status of medical sociology is re-examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the paper on the contribution of sociology to the prognoses of the advancement of medicine by Jaroslav Kapr. The statement about the significance of sociology for prognosing the future states of medicine is being formulated in the introduction of the paper. Some relevant trends of development are also discussed and characterized by the author. Such trends are believed to have a global character and concern all developed societies. The change to cooperation in the area of health care is also believed to mean significant changes that include the attitude between the doctor and the patient.