The Sociology of Medicine
Sociology 241
Fall 2007
Professor Deborah Merrill
Jefferson 407
X7284
Office Hours:
Tuesday, Thursday
10:30 – 11:30
Wednesday 11:00 – 12:00
Course Requirements
Your grade will be based on the following:
Research Paper (25%)
Exam 1 (25%)
Exam 2 (30%)
Class Participation (20%)
Attendance is strongly encouraged. You are expected to miss no more than three
classes during the semester. Class participation is also expected. You will
get more out of this class if you participate in the discussion
Research papers receive a lower grade for each day that they are late.
will not be accepted after one week from the due date.
Papers
Course Texts
Abraham, Laurie Kaye. 1994. Mama Might Be Better Off Dead. University of
Chicago.
Chambliss, Daniel F. 1996. Beyond Caring: Hospitals, Nurses, and the Social
Organization of Ethics. University of Chicago.
Conrad, Peter. 2005 (7th ed.). The Sociology of Health and Illness: Critical
Perspectives. Worth Publishers.
Fadiman, Anne. 1997. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. Farrar, Straus,
and Giroux.
Gawande, Atul. 2002. Complications. Picador.
Martin, Emily. 1994. Flexible Bodies. Beacon Press.
Sered, Susan and Rushika Fernandopulle. 2005. Uninsured in America: Life and
Death in the Land of Opportunity. University of California Press.
Sontag, Susan. 2001. Illness as Metaphor and AIDS and its Metaphors. Picador
USA.
Course Packet available at Curry Printing in the U.C.!!
Course Outline
Aug. 28
Syllabus
I. Introduction
Aug. 30
Conrad pp. 1-6, 24-30 (Syme and Berkman), 432-442 (Zola)
Broder, “Health Care a Key Issue for 2008” (Course Packet)
________________________________________________________
II. The Social Organization of Medical Care
Sept. 4
a. Physicians
Film:
“So You Want to Be a Doctor”
Pekkanen, Chapters 1 and 3 (Course Packet)
(Suggested reading:
Sept. 6
The House of God by Shem)
Conrad, pp. 224-230 (Mechanic)
West, "The Study of Doctor-Patient Communication"
(Course Packet)
Brody, “Learning to Decipher Doctor’s Language” (Course Packet)
Kowalczyk, “Learning the Patient’s View” (Course Packet)
_______________________________________________________
Sept. 11
Conrad, pp. 189-215 (McKinlay and Marceau)
Gawande, “The Bell Curve” (Course Packet)
Collier, “Medical Mistakes: Hospitals Search for Ways to Minimize
Human Error” (Course Packet)
** RESEARCH TOPIC DUE **
Sept. 13
Complications by Atul Gawande
__________________________________________________________
Sept. 18
b. Other Health Care Professionals
Beyond Caring by Chambliss
Corbett, “The Last Shift” (Course Packet)
Sept. 20
c. Current State of Health Care
Conrad pp. 268-274 (Relman)
Conrad, pp. 234-243 (Fry et al.)
Freking, “Health Care Costs Going Sky High Over Decade” (Packet)
_________________________________________________________
Sept. 25
Where Have We Been
Conrad pp. 292-300 (Rothman)
Jill Quadagno, “Why the United States Has No Health Insurance,”
Journal of Health and Social Behavior (Course Packet)
Sept. 27
Conrad pp. 301-316 (Bodenheimer/Grumbach, Stone)
Gawande, “Piecework: Medicine’s Money Problem” (Course Packet)
** BIBLIOGRAPHY DUE **
__________________________________________________________
d. Containing Costs
Oct. 2
Discussion of the Current State of Health Care
Health Care in America pages 169-184; 218-230 (Course Packet)
Taking Care of Our Own Chapters 1-3 (Course Packet)
Kling, “Massachusetts Missed Chance to Test Single Payer” (Packet)
Oct. 4
** EXAM 1 **
_________________________________________________________
Oct. 9
Fall Break !!
e. The Uninsured
Oct. 11
Sered and Fernandopulle, Uninsured in America
(Prologue, Intro, Chapters 1, 2, 3, 7, 10, and 11)
____________________________________________________________
III. The Sociology of Health and Illness
a. The Experience of Illness
Oct. 16
Conrad pp. 133-150 (Barker)
Oct. 18
Film:
"The Doctor"
(Suggested reading: The Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy)
__________________________________________________________
Oct. 23
(Film Continued)
** OUTLINE DUE **
b. The Social Meaning of Illness
Oct. 25
Conrad pp. 107-121 (Brumberg)
Newsweek Article (Course Packet)
__________________________________________________________
Oct. 30
Susan Sontag Illness as Metaphor and AIDS and Its
Metaphor, pp. 1-87
Nov. 1
Emily Martin Flexible Bodies, pp. 21-81, 115-159
___________________________________________________________
IV. AIDS and Organizational Failure
Nov. 6
Speaker
Nov. 8
Perrow and Guillen The AIDS Disaster (Course Packet) pp. 1-67
___________________________________________________________
V. Comparative Health Systems
Nov. 13
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman
Roman, “Translation is Vital for Medical Care” (Course Packet)
Nov. 15
Conrad pp. 515-522 (Deber) Canada
Conrad pp. 522-536 (Light) Britain
(Suggested reading: Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder)
__________________________________________________________
VI. Health Care for the Elderly
Nov. 20
Readings from Estes et al. (Course Packet)
Gawande, “The Way We Age Now” (Course Packet)
Nov. 22
Thanksgiving Break!!
____________________________________________________________
Nov. 27
Debate: Should we Ration Health Care?
Conrad pp. 458-461 (Callahan)
** RESEARCH PAPERS DUE **
VII. Health Care for the Poor
Nov. 29
Mama Might be Better Off Dead
(Ch. 1, 2, 6, 8, 10, and 12 until it repeats)
____________________________________________________________
VIII. Prevention/Popular Epidemiology
Dec. 4
Conrad pp. 469-472 (McKnight)
Conrad pp. 66-73 (Brown)
Dec. 6
Wrap-Up
Final:
Friday, Dec. 14th, 6:30-8:30