Practitioners and Patients: The History of Clinical Medicine

Catalog description

How has the physician-patient relationship changed over time, and what are its possibilities for the future? This class will consider these questions using a variety of sources from 20th century American medicine including medical memoirs, patient narratives, short stories, and other media. We will identify the critical historical processes (scientific, social, and cultural) that account for the structure of medical practice today, as well as examine the ethical tensions and controversies that have resulted. Priority given to MS3 students and Armstrong Humanities Scholars; class may be taken individually or as part of longitudinal MS3 medical humanities sequence. Location to report on the first day: Conference Room, Trent Center for Bioethics, Humanities, and History of Medicine, Room 108 Seeley G Mudd Building (Medical Center Library). Classes will meet on Tuesday evenings 5:15 to 7:15. Permission of instructor is required for enrollment - students must obtain permission number from the course director. Third Year students must also obtain email approval from their mentor. The email approval from the mentor should be sent to [email protected] and the course director ([email protected]). Enrollment Max.: 14; Enrollment Min.: 8. Credit: 1, Non-Direct Patient Care credit. Offered during fall section 82. Jeffrey P. Baker, MD/PhD