Undergraduate Course: Medicine and Society in Modern Britain (MBBM10016)
Course Outline
| School | School of Biomedical Sciences |
College | College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine |
| Course type | Standard |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Credits | 10 |
| Home subject area | Medical Biology (Biomedical Sciences) |
Other subject area | None |
| Course website |
None |
Taught in Gaelic? | No |
| Course description | The course aims to introduce students to the history of medicine, using methods drawn predominantly from social and cultural history. Students are expected to acquire a firm understanding of the social, clinical and political forces that have shaped medical thought and practice in modern Britain (c 1750 onwards). Given the breadth of the field, it is not intended to give a comprehensive overview of the history of medicine, but to focus upon themes of historical and historiographical significance. Geographically, while focusing on Britain, the course will occasionally draw upon Europeon and American studies as a source of comparison.
Students will be encouraged to examine a range of historical interactions between doctors and patients, and to relate them to broader processes of social change. Students will be introduced to a range of primary sources in the history of medicine, including films, the collections at the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, the collections at the Anatomical museum and the holdings of the Lothian Health Services Archive (University of Edinburgh's Centre for Research Collections). |
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | none |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
Students who successfully complete the course will be able to:
1. engage critically with the key historical debates, approaches and sources encountered in the history of medicine
2. develop an understanding of the changing relationship between doctors and patients throughout the period, and in relation to broader processes of social change
3. demonstrate the ability to locvate, analyse, compare and contextualise evidence in order to assemble a structured, coherent and supported argument
4. employ sensitivity and nuance in dealing with potentially difficult and emotive issues relating to bodies, illness and death |
Assessment Information
| 100% in course assessment (one essay 3000 words) |
Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
Not entered |
| Syllabus |
The course will be structured thematically as follows:
Week 1: Introduction to the History of Medicine; Caveat Emptor; The Georgian Medical Marketplace
Week 2: Extending the Medical Gaze; The Rise of the Hospital and Disappearance of the Sick Man; The Anatomical Tradition; From Burking to Plastination
Week 3: Guinea Pigs and the Elephant Man; The Ethics of Experimentation; Resisting the Biological Straitjacket: Women as Doctors and Patients
Week 4: Laboratory versus Clinic; The Art and Science of Medicine; The Medicalization of Death; From Premature Burial to Premature Dismemberment
Week 5: Mediating Motherhood; Infertility, Pregnancy and Reproductive Technologies; Patient Power; Pressure Groups and the rise of the New COnsumer |
| Transferable skills |
Not entered |
| Reading list |
Not entered |
| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
Not entered |
| Keywords | History of Medicine |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Martin Simmen
Tel: (0131 6)51 1773
Email: |
Course secretary | Ms Lisa Ketchion
Tel: (0131 6)51 1629
Email: |
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