SOC-325 Medicine in America
We take for granted medicine as we know it today, yet at the turn of the 20th century, medical practice could have taken any number of directions. Why did allopathic medicine win out over its competitors to consolidate professional and cultural authority over health? How has the patient-provider relationship evolved from an asymmetric model to one characterized by patient consumerism? How do trainees learn medicine’s “hidden curriculum”? Looking forward, how will providers fare against challenges to autonomy posed by insurance companies, for-profit hospitals, politicians, and AI? To answer these and related questions, this course draws on empirical studies, historical accounts, and media to examine how the profession of medicine has been constructed, contested, and transformed over time.
Seminar (12)
Credits
1