Medical Sociology (SY0025)

? Credit Points : 20 ? SCQF Level : 10 ? Acronym : SPS-3-SYMS

This course will look at medicine as a series of interlocking social institutions, with particular attention to how these structure the social relations between doctors and patients. Topics will include: expertise and the medical profession; sickness as a social institution; doctor- patient interactions; medicine and social control; gift relations in medicine; the growth of patient power; the rise of 'alternative' medicine.

Entry Requirements

none

Subject Areas

Home subject area

Sociology, (School of Social and Political Studies, Schedule J)

Delivery Information

? Normal year taken : 3rd year

? Delivery Period : Semester 2 (Blocks 3-4)

? Contact Teaching Time : 2 hour(s) per week for 10 weeks

First Class Information

Date	Start	End	Room	Area	Additional Information
09/01/2007	14:00	15:50	Room 11.01, David Hume Tower	Central

All of the following classes

Type	Day	Start	End	Area
Lecture	Tuesday	14:00	15:50	Central

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

- the nature and role of professional organisation in medicine;
- the nature and significance of medical expertise;
- the social factors that shape the experience of sickness and disease;
- the micro- and macro-social factors that influence the interactions between doctors and patients;
- the nature of current challenges to medical power;
- the processes of medicalisation and demedicalisation and their role in modern social life