The medicine man or woman has two functions.
The primary one is that they are the keepers of wisdom and healing power. You turn toward this archetype when you need to face great change or heal something at a profound level. They are also the part of you that perceives change before it happens, as these shamanic figures possess a heightened level of intuition and energetic sensitivity.
If such a figure appears in a dream, you are having an aspirational experience at a very high spiritual level. In the case of a male figure, you are connecting to the masculine principle of taking action. In the case of a female figure, you are connecting to the feminine principle of stillness and receptivity. [1]