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The Department of
Social Medicine is an interdisciplinary basic science department of
Harvard Medical School. Its faculty of anthropologists, sociologists,
historians, ethicists, social policy specialists, and clinicians teach
and conduct research about the social, cultural and moral aspects of
illness and health care, with a special emphasis on reducing health
disparities and improving the quality of medical care.
The Department has strong academic programs of research and training
in the social sciences basic to medicine - medical anthropology, the
history of medicine, and medical ethics. The goal of the Social Medicine
curriculum at HMS is to provide students with the intellectual and analytic
resources to recognize and respond to key social, cultural and ethical
dilemmas in contemporary medicine. The required first year medical course,
Introduction to Social Medicine, provides students with the framework
to begin thinking about health and disease in these ways. Students have
further opportunities in the Global Health Seminar and through independent
research projects guided by DSM faculty members.
Graduate training at
the M.A. and Ph.D. levels is offered through the Department
of Anthropology and the Department
of the History of Science in Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences,
and post-doctoral fellowship programs are offered directly through the
Department of Social Medicine and through the Division of Medical Ethics.
Faculty members develop basic social science concepts and conduct research
to advance our understanding of social, cultural and historical dimensions
of health, illness, and medical care.
Central to the mission of Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School
is an effort to address several of the most significant global health
problems affecting low-income societies and under-served American communities.
Members of the Department develop innovative interventions for dealing
with multi-drug resistant tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, mental illnesses,
and drug abuse in resource poor settings. Researchers, policy specialists,
and clinicians work together to develop knowledge necessary for instituting
complex responses to some of the most challenging global health problems
of our era, and innovative programs of medical services provide opportunities
for interdisciplinary research which generates new knowledge about diseases,
health disparities, and the effectiveness of new forms of care. These
activities are organized through the Program in Infectious Diseases
and Social Change, Partners in Health, the Program in International
and Community Mental Health, the Program in Urban Health, and the Center
for the Study of Culture and Medicine.
Members of the Department of Social Medicine are also committed to addressing
social, historical and ethical issues associated with new medical knowledge
and new biotechnologies. The Division of Medical Ethics has its academic
home in the Department of Social Medicine, and provides a forum for
faculty, students, and members of the Harvard community to address many
of the most complex ethical issues facing medicine today.
History of the Department
of Social Medicine
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Jim Yong Kim,
Department
Chair
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