Course Descriptions

Required Courses

IDMD 100: First-Year Convocation

The McCollough Scholars cohort gathers to converse with speakers on various aspects of the medical profession. (1 hr.)

IDMD 101: Medical Foundations I

The practice of medicine is as old as civilization. This course studies fundamental questions about the shifting conceptions of health and disease, and how that affects our conception of physicians, remedies, mental sickness, and societal responses to sickness. The course will address these questions from an interdisciplinary perspective drawing on key texts from a wide variety of perspectives. The course is divided into three sections: history & philosophy of medicine, medicine & society, and medicine & culture. (3 hrs.)

IDMD 102: Medical Foundations II

The practice of medicine is as old as civilization. This course deals primarily with study of human behavior in the context of medicine and the social and cultural aspects of medical practice. The course addresses large scale questions about the psychological and sociological factors that affect medical judgement, the complex interplay between culture, race, and medicine; and the multifaceted personal, interpersonal, and organizational questions relating to aging and death. (3 hrs.)

IDMD 400: Senior Convocation

Senior McCollough Scholars gathers to converse with speakers on various aspects of the medical profession. (1 hr.)

IDMD 401: Capstone Seminar

The Capstone Seminar is an intensive study of an aspect of the medical profession followed by a presentation of McCollough Scholars’ senior projects. The topics will vary depending on the professor’s area of expertise. (3 hrs.)

Electives

Students must take three of the following courses on aspects of the practice of medicine (total of 9 credit hours):

ANT 225: Introduction to Global Health

This course covers the biological, cultural, social aspects of major international health issues, especially in the areas of infectious disease, nutrition, and environmental health. The course will also explore the integration of anthropology in global health work. Other topics include population groups with special risks, policies and programs designed to reduce health inequalities, and basic methods used to study global health. (3 hrs.)

ANT 411: Culture, Health, & Healing

A cross-cultural overview of medical systems, and the health, illness, and healing experiences within them. Patients and healers will be studied through the lens of etiology, help seeking, diagnosis and treatment. Writing proficiency is required for a passing grade in this course. A student who does not write with the skill normally required of an upper-division student will not earn a passing grade, no matter how well the student performs in other areas of the course. (3 hrs.)

HY 346: Epidemics! A History of Medicine

The history of medicine is the history of disease. Plague, bloody flux, yellow fever, the flu, cholera, ebola, smallpox, AIDS — at one time or another, each of these terms inspired terror. They’ve entered our otherwise flourishing civilizations and, like a wildfire, cut down men, women, children, rich, poor, religious, non-believers, even the healers themselves. Like phantoms, they disappeared as fast as they came; but once introduced to these mysterious visitors, no society remained unchanged. In this history of medicine, we examine six major epidemics over the last three thousand years. We’ll then turn to three epidemics of the present: cancer, healthcare-associated infections, and bioterrorism. How have humans responded to these threats? How has medicine adapted, if it has? What are our triumphs and when have we been unable to stop our invisible adversaries? (3 hrs.)

PHL 223: Medical Ethics

This class provides an introduction to the philosophical study of applied ethics by way of a discussion of topics related to the practice of medical and biological science. Topics of discussion will include abortion, stem cell research, cloning, the allocation of scarce or limited resources, animal experimentation, and patient autonomy, among others. Along the way, other important topics in moral philosophy will be discussed. (3 hrs.)

PHL 423: Advanced Seminar in Medical Ethics

This course provides an in-depth examination of some of the central ethical issues encountered by physicians and other medical professionals. Students will acquire breadth in the field of medical ethics as well as engage in an in-depth examination of specific issues. Possible topics include: The physician-patient relationship, the role of physicians and other medical professionals, end-of-life decision-making (advance directives, do not resuscitate orders, palliative care, the definition of death), beginning of life decision-making (genetic counseling and prenatal screening), and the ethics of clinical research, and bias and unequal treatment in healthcare practice. The course is specifically aimed at students who are considering a career in healthcare but will be of interest to anyone who has a special interest in biomedical ethics. This course carries a W designation. Writing proficiency is required for a passing grade in this course. A student who does not write with the skill normally required of an upper-division student will not earn a passing grade, no matter how well the student performs in other areas of the course. (3 hrs.)

PHL 489: Philosophy of Medicine

It is difficult to overstate the significance of medicine, in that it affects each of us from birth through death; or the complexity of medicine, in that it involves scientific, conceptual, economic, ethical and philosophical issues. We will here look at three of these issues from a philosophical standpoint: 1) the ways that we conceptualize health and disease; 2) the relation between medicine and science, and the patterns of reasoning associated with medical thinking; 3) the challenge posed by evolution to how we think about medicine, health and disease. Writing proficiency is required for a passing grade in this course. A student who does not write with the skill normally required of an upper-division student will not earn a passing grade, no matter how well the student performs in other areas of the course. (3 hrs.)

PSC 464: Politics of Health Policy

We examine health policy at all levels of government, with particular focus on the interdependence of the national, state, and local governments to provide health services. The political environment of health policymaking and implementation is explored. Health policies such as Medicaid, Medicare, and the Affordable Care Act will be examined, as well as other policies that impact health. We examine the policymaking process in general, applying health policy to the concepts and theories. We compare the US health care system with systems in other industrialized democracies. (3 hrs.)

PY 358: Psychopathology

This course will provide an introduction to the field of psychopathology. This course will cover clinical descriptions of psychological disorders, factors that contribute to the development and progression of psychological disorders, and treatment for psychological disorders. (3 hrs.)