Health education and medicine: competition or cooperation?

Shifts in the expectations of the public, in the practice of medicine, and in the state of the art of health education call for an examination of the nature of the relationship between the health education and medical professions. Their relationship can be characterized in terms of competition or cooperation. This paper examines a number of issues related to these shifts and discusses the potential and pitfalls of this relationship. It is concluded that power is a fundamental issue to be recognized and addressed by health education specialists.