Announcement for an Elective Course
Course Title:
Culture and the Practice of Medicine
(Course # ELEC xxx)
Health care practitioners have become increasingly aware of the significant impact of cultural beliefs
and practices on health, illness and disease. This course is designed for both human and veterinary
medical students. The goal of this course is to enable students to identify cultural beliefs and practices
that impact disease burden in human and animal populations and the practice of human and
veterinary medicine. Students will understand the concept of "One Health-One Medicine" and will
incorporate cultural aspects and interdisciplinary approaches to health care problem solving. Students
will use cultural knowledge, including an understanding of their own cultural beliefs and practices, to
improve their ability to effectively practice medicine.
 1-credit course available to veterinary, medical and MSc students
 Limited to a maximum of 10 students
 Can be taken pass/fail or a letter grade.
 The course and pass/fail or grade will appear on your transcript but the grade will not
contribute to your GPS.
 3-weeks, starting January 17, 2011 through February 3rd.
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The course will be taught in the evenings from 5-6:30 pm on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays
and Thursdays
The deadline for registration is Friday, November 12, 2010
Obtain registration forms from Cherry-Ann Lumpress, our secretary in the trailer
behind Sugar Shack.
If questions, contact Dr. Diana Stone ext 3681 or email: dstone@sgu.edu
Instructors:
Dr. Linda Stone PhD Brown University (Visiting Professor):
 Medical anthropologist; Professor; Dept. of Anthropology at Washington State University
 Consultant for FAO on health projects in Nepal
 Consultant for the World Health Organization in Indonesia, Thailand, Nepal
Dr. Diana Stone MPH, DVM PhD, SVM faculty
Course content:
The content of this course includes information and discussions on the relationship between culture,
illness and disease and the cultural environments of both bio-medical and traditional healers. The
ways in which cultural beliefs and behaviors influence the emergence, spread, incidence, prevention
and control of diseases are emphasized. Culture-specific and culture-impacted disease problems are
used as examples and focus on, but are not limited to, infectious diseases that influence the practice of
both human and veterinary medicine, such as Ebola, SARS, Chagas Disease and Avian Influenza.
Course Format:
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The course will consist of assigned reading materials in preparation for classroom didactic
lectures and discussions. Students will prepare 2 short written assignments and give oral
presentations based on their written assignments. For example, students will interview
someone from a cultural background different from one’s own and identify differences in
perceptions of illness, disease and treatments and discuss their findings.
Students will select a particular disease problem within a specific geographic and cultural
setting and investigate cultural aspects of the disease problem by a review of the literature.
Students will identify the cultural beliefs and practices that influence the disease problem they
selected and will propose solutions which incorporate health-related beliefs and practices of
both patients (clients) and health care providers.
Approximately 65% of the class time is devoted to didactic lectures and discussions.
Approximately 35% of class time is devoted to student presentations with discussions. 60% of
the student's grad is based on their written material, 30% on their oral presentations, and 10%
on their participation in discussions.