136-225 Medicine and Society

Note

Available as 136-325 at 3rd-year level.

Credit Points

Coordinator

Prerequisites

12.5 points of first-year HPS, or 75 points of first year Science subjects.

Semester

Contact

Subject Description

This course is a survey of biomedical science and medical practice over the past 2-3 centuries, emphasizing the setting of medical care and the experience of health and disease in broad social and cultural contexts. Topics include the social impact of epidemic disease; the character of epidemiological and demographic change; the framing of diseases such as chronic fatigue and AIDS; the development of medical sciences; therapeutics and technologies; the growth of health care institutions; the rise of the medical profession; alternative medicine; and the health of women and aborigines. The course evaluates the role of medicine in addressing social needs, as well as the social and economic determinants of health and disease.

Assessment

Written work of up to 5000 words.