00976 - History of Medicine

Learning outcomes

Outline the history of the Western medical sciences from classic times till today, focusing on the birth of morpho-functional disciplines, the concept of disease throughout the ages, and the progress of surgical and therapeutic sciences. The course will pay special attention to critical examination of the social and cultural determinants of health conditions and medical practice through time and there will be also be a significant focus on gender perspective.

Course contents

Lesson 1 – Introduction and course overview. The history of medicine as the social history of diseases: from the plague of Athen to COVID-19. Definitions, history and development of public health.

Lesson 2 – The history of Western medicine as cultural history: over time changes in definitions of body, from humoral theory to anatomical revolution to imaging diagnosis

Lesson 3 – The history of medicine as the history of a profession. The changing role of medicine and healing practices through time.

Lesson 4 – The history of medicine as the history of a science: from an “art” to the “scientific medicine”, advancements of medical technologies and therapeutics, biomedicine and its consequences.

Readings/Bibliography

Pdfs with the powerpoint presentations of the lectures will be the material to be reviewed for the written exam at the end of the course.

Teaching methods

Lectures with slides

Class Discussion

Assessment methods

Written test

The test consists of 16 questions. Only one out of 4 answer is correct. There are no penalties for wrong or blank answers.

The test must be completed in 35 minutes.

Teaching tools

Slides

Short readings and video

Office hours

See the website of Annagiulia Gramenzi