I mean that we expect patients to provide "informed consent" to medical treatment, something which is impossible because the vast majority of patients are not p

I mean that we expect patients to provide "informed consent" to medical treatment, something which is impossible because the vast majority of patients are not physicians, and even those who are will usually not be experts in the relevant specialty. Most of the time, patients have the sense to trust and listen to their doctors. However, sometimes they do not, and the fact that the option exists means that a vital skill for physicians has become the ability to persuade patients into accepting the right treatment, a skill which is largely orthogonal to the one of deciding what the right treatment is. For a concrete example, all you have to do is look at the recent outbreaks of measles due to parents choosing not to vaccinate their children.