Fall 2019

Sociology 365 - Health and Society: Sociology for Health Professionals

Health care providers play an important role in our society, but their interactions with patients are only one piece of the broader structure that determines the health of their patients. Sociology provides the tools to understand the structural factors enabling or impeding their patients’ success, specifically the subfield of the sociology of health and illness (medical sociology). Our primary objective will be use the sociology of health and illness as a lens to learn about topics related to health services, ranging from the history of medicine to medical ethics. To fulfill this objective, we have the unique opportunity to step outside of the classroom to engage with the local community in Bloomington, spending time at Jill’s House Memory Care (assisted living facility). What is community engaged learning? By devoting our classroom experience to community engaged learning, we commit to a partnership with Jill’s House. Our learning process is on equal footing with the residents and staff at Jill’s House, and we have as much to learn as we have to offer. Given this perspective, our time in the classroom and at Jill’s House will reflect an iterative process where we will adapt based on our experiences in both locations. Finally, these aims will also help students prepare for social portions of the Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior section that are included in the new Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT). 

Sociology 101 - Social Problems: Medicine in America

The primary objective of this course is to teach you to how to develop the analytic skills to think critically about social problems. We will use a sociological lens to achieve this aim, while focusing on the sociology of health and illness. More specifically, during this course we will:

  • Outline the historical and current role of biomedicine, public health, and alternative medicine;

  • Explore classic and current medical sociology research in the areas of illness experience, health behavior, and health care utilization;

  • Examine the cause and societal impact of socioeconomic, racial/ethnic, and gender inequalities in health;

  • Consider the role of social context on health;

  • Understand the implications of current health policy in the United States; and

  • Help premedical students prepare for social portions of the Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior section of the new MCAT Exam

Spring 2020

During the Spring 2020 semester, I will teach two sections of Sociology 101 - Social Problems: Medicine in America.