Course Description In this course, students will become familiar with fundamental concepts and theories in medical sociology and develop a sociological gaze for looking at the topics of health, illness, medicine and the health care system. We will examine historical changes in the organization of medical care and in the definitions of what constitutes heath and illness. The impact of current societal forces on the profession of medicine, the delivery of health care, and the phenomenon of medicalization as a form of social control will also be explored in the course. A central feature of the course will be to understand how gender, class and race/ethnicity act as determinants of health, and profoundly shape the lived experience of illness both within and outside the health care system. During the course, we will discuss a variety of sociological perspectives (e.g., functionalist, conflict, microinteractionist) on understanding health and illness. The readings include both classical and contemporary works in medical sociology that reflect the processes by which social forces, such as inequality, the professionalization of medicine and biomedicine, the organization of medical care and recent biomedical advances define our society’s approach to health and illness. |
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