FALL 2007 HONORS COURSES

HONR 269D Health Policy: Important Things They Don’t Teach You in Medical School
Tuesday, 6:00-8:30 p.m.
Paul Jung, M.D., MPH, MA, Senior Lecturer in University Honors

Health care remains a contentious social and political topic, even after a decade of attempted reform resulted in the election of a U.S. Senator, helped a president win on a domestic platform, and created controversy for a first lady. Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Ted Kennedy, Harris Wofford, Bill and Hillary Clinton, and Newt Gingrich have affected the lives of patients just as much as Jonas Salk, Anthony Fauci, C. Everett Koop, and David Kessler. Yet few major reforms have been enacted since 1965.

This course will provide students with an overview of the problems which have plagued the United States health care system since 1965, with emphasis on the issues that remain important today. Policy changes will be studied in their historical and political contexts.

The major questions to be examined in this course will be: Is there anything wrong with the current health care system? If so, why is it the way it is? Who can change the system? How can/should it best be changed? And finally, what does our health care system say about us as a nation?

This course is ideal for anyone interested in politics, policy, law, and especially medicine. Classes will involve a mix of lectures, student presentations, and group discussion. Readings will come from current medical, policy, and legal journals (provided in a packet). Weekly 2-page essays will be assigned. A 5-page term paper based on an interview with a health care professional is required. Grades will be based on essays, the term paper, and class participation.

CORE–Social or Political History [SH]