Electives - Humanities in Medicine

Public Health in Fiction and Film

Elective Number: (Oasis E18p) 3517

Course Supervisor: Ruth Gaare Bernheim, J.D., M.P.H.

Designated Signer: Dr. Marcia Childress, 5361 Barringer

Evaluation should be given to: Professor Bernheim

Available: Rotation 9 - Class of 2008; 10 - Class of 2009

Time to Report: TBA

Place to Report: Center for Biomedical Ethics and Humanities, Barringer 5

Attendance: Attendance at elective activities is mandatory.

• Anyone who is ill or has a personal or family emergency must contact Student Affairs and the course director.
• Students are allowed to take off up to 1 day per week to interview between November 1 and February 1.
  • Specific days missed must be approved by the Attending on Service.

Number of students per rotation: Minimum of 4, Maximum of 8

Physicians increasingly are challenged to understand individual patients as situated within families, cultural communities, larger politically and economically defined populations, and the natural and built environments. Public health is the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting the health of populations through collective efforts, often government interventions. This humanities-based course focuses on the health of populations (as distinguished from medicine's traditional attention to the health and care of individuals) and on the issues and challenges of public health but does so chiefly through the lenses of classic and popular literature and film. Specific topics may include, but are not limited to, health promotion, smoking/tobacco use, nutrition, environmental pollution, sexually transmitted infections, immunization, response to epidemic or pandemic disease, and the role of the individual physician vis-à-vis the public health system..

The goals of the course are to:

• provide an overview of the complex determinants of the health of populations, including not only biological but also social, behavioral, environmental, and cultural factors;
• examine the conceptual underpinning of policy in public health;
• consider the work of governments to influence policymaking and practice and to implement procedures both to safeguard human health and protect the environment;
• explore the interrelationships of traditional medicine and public health;
• examine legal and ethical tensions that arise when the state, in the interest of community health and safety, limits the liberty interests of citizens or private-sector corporate entities;
• consider how awareness of public health perspectives can become part of a physician's practice, professional life, and civic responsibilities.

The course is a series of twelve seminars of two to three hours each in which there is generous time for discussion of readings, films, and issues. Texts include fiction (short stories, novels, plays) and films. Regular class participation is essential. Each student prepares a final project for presentation to the class. When applicable, students also attend Medical Center Hour.

This description is a general overview. The schedule and particular requirements for the course will be established by the instructor(s) at the time of the course.