Medical Sociology (SYO 4400)
Summer A, 2008
Course Description:
The purpose of this course is to introduce you to the sociological perspective
in the study of health, illness, and our medical system. A major goal of this
course is to provide the conceptual tools needed to understand the social and
cultural dimensions of health and sickness, in addition to the biological
factors. Among the questions we will explore are who gets sick and why? What
determines access to health care and the quality of that care? What
alternatives are there to our current system of health care? What issues will
shape the future of health and health care?
Notices:
The results of the third test and course grades are now available.
Contact Information:
Chuck W. Peek, Ph.D.
Department of Sociology
Office: 3229 Turlington Hall
Office hours: Tuesdays and Wednesdays 11:00am - 12:00noon, and by appointmentVoice: 392-0251 x253
FAX: 392-6568
Course Materials:
Instructions for Annotated Bibliography
assignment
Interesting and Relevant
Links:
News
report (KHOU in Houston) on the stress.
Follow this
link to information on the Superfund (CERCLA) sites: www.epa.gov/superfund
For
information on workplace fatalities, injuries, and illnesses follow these
links:
www.osha.gov (OSHA's home
page)
www.bls.gov/iif (BLS page on workplace
health statistics)
http://www.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/osh/os/ostb1753.txt
(Industries with the highest rate of nonfatal injuries/illnesses, 2005)
www.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/osh/os/osch0024.pdf
(Graphs on recent trends in workplace illness/injuries)
National Center for Health Statistics
Census Bureau:
Report: 65+ in the
United States, 2005
For more
information on the health effects of stress, see: Article on allostatic Load
For more information on
depression and other mental disorders, go to the National Institute for Mental
Health Public Information page. Here is a link to a page on depression
maintained by the National Institute of Mental
Health.
For more information on Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other
forms of dementia, follow these links:
National
Institute of Mental Health news release on Intermittent
Explosive Disorder
To learn
more about poverty in the U.S. (definitions, trends, calculations), follow
these links:
Department of Health and Human Services poverty information
page
Census Bureau poverty information page
Recent Census Bureau report on
poverty
Note: This page is a course
supplement to assist students who attend class. It does not substitute for class attendance
because it includes only part of the material presented in class. The web material is properly used
only for review by students who have attended class. In addition, some slides
presented in class will not be placed on the web for technical or other
reasons. No notice will be given that material has been omitted.