It's not at all off topic. In my mind, this thread exists largely for the conversation about the quotes. I appreciate your post, it's great perspective.

I'm not a medical student, but if I may be a bit facetious for a moment, I would consider myself a student of medicine. I'm an undergrad pursuing medical research administration, but I do not plan on going to med school. I understand I am more than a little bit of an idealist in this particular regard. I'm a cardio patient, have been for a while and I have a good summary of my condition here so I definitely have an unusual perspective on the matter. And I definitely cope with my condition with knowledge. I plan on working in a hospital for most of my life, and have already spent a lot of time in them, so I have a deep and personal interest in medical ethics.

In my own view, we have swung too far on the opposite side of the pendulum in pursuit of the "patient-centered decision-making" model

I happen to agree with you on that point, but I think it's a failing of the methods of disseminating and interpreting information. There's also the point that the reason we pay doctors so much is because they learn all this stuff so that the average person doesn't have to. But I believe that society advances as we increase peoples ability, personal utility and capacity to self-actualize, and we need to be constantly working towards that goal wherever possible.