Premium
Exclusive, idiosyncratic and collective expertise in the interprofessional arena: the case of optometry and eye care in The Netherlands
Author(s) -
Stevens Fred C.J.,
Diederiks Joseph P.M.,
Grit Fieke,
Van Der Horst Frans
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
sociology of health and illness
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1467-9566
pISSN - 0141-9889
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9566.2007.01001.x
Subject(s) - foundation (evidence) , professional boundaries , affect (linguistics) , public relations , professional association , work (physics) , psychology , medical profession , professional services , eye care , medical education , medicine , political science , law , optometry , engineering , mechanical engineering , communication
This paper addresses expertise as the foundation of professional boundaries and domains through a comparative study of four eye care occupations in the Netherlands. Claims of expertise are explored with an analysis of whether practitioners believe that expertise is exclusive to their profession. Results show that (a) established professions display a stronger sense of the ‘exclusiveness’ of expertise; (b) idiosyncratic expertise is more common among encroaching professions than among established ones. These findings substantiate trends towards professionalism, as jurisdictional disputes on professional domains and boundaries usually occur between more established medical professions seeking to protect their knowledge area, and encroaching ones trying to expand theirs. The study next addresses the ways in which claims to expertise influence practitioners’ attitudes towards professional status and professional practice. Attitudes to expertise are influenced by age, and affect professional work in the workplace. Practitioners who considered expertise as a collective characteristic were younger, undertook more examinations, more diagnoses, gave more treatments, referred less, and perceived more problems regarding inter‐professional recognition of their professional status.