RESUMO
There is a growing dissatisfaction among physicians towards their professional practice. This article tries to identify causes of this dissatisfaction and to explain the fears that physicians experience during their practice. The authors pose the hypothesis that physicians have non resolved internal problems with the application of technological advances and that medical practice has not changed along with the dramatic social changes that have occurred in the last decades. Medical organizations work in a confusing environment. Considering the main characteristics of medical work, the causes of difficulties and the reasons to explain the slowness of physicians to identify the problems and react, are analyzed. Finally some solutions are proposed to overcome this crisis.