Course Catalogue

Innovations in Western Medicine: Social Origins & Cultural Impacts ESH4029

  • Academic Session: 2026-27
  • School: School of Social and Political Sciences
  • Credits: 20
  • Level: Level 4 (SCQF level 10)
  • Typically Offered: Either Semester 1 or Semester 2
  • Available to Visiting Students: Yes
  • Collaborative Online International Learning: No
  • Curriculum For Life: No

Short Description

Modern medicine is defined by constant change. The course will examine some of the major changes that have occurred in medicine in the last two hundred years. The innovations studied will be social, institutional and disciplinary, as well as diagnostic and therapeutic, in nature. The option will examine the origins of modern medicine, analyse the process of innovation in medicine, and scrutinise changes in the doctor/patient relationship in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Timetable

Lecture: one hour per week

Seminar: one hour per week

 

Please note this course does not run every session. For the current course list please see: http://www.gla.ac.uk/undergraduate/degrees/economicsocialhistory/honourscourselist 

Requirements of Entry

Enrolment in an MA (SocSci) or MA (Arts) Honours Programme

Excluded Courses

None

Co-requisites

None

Assessment

Primary Source Based Analysis, 2000 words (40%)

Essay, 3000 words (60%)

Course Aims

■ To analyse the process of innovation in medicine

■ To examine the origins of modern medicine

■ To scrutinise changes in the doctor/patient relationship in the 19th and 20th centuries

Intended Learning Outcomes of Course

On completion of the module students should be able to:

■ Demonstrate an understanding of how and why the medicine of the
nineteenth century differs from that of earlier centuries

■ Assess changes in the doctor/patient relationship in the 19th and 20th centuries

■ Assess the impact of technological change on the practice of medicine

Minimum Requirement for Award of Credits

No exceptions