With the presidential primaries in full swing, much attention is being paid to health care in America.
Some candidates favor bolstering the nation’s private health care system, but others want to see a universal government-assisted program.
A new course, titled “Health Care in America: Past, Present and Future,” offered at the U Fall Semester 2008, will examine these issues along with the medical, legal, economic, political and ethical aspects of health care.
“I think there’s a lack of knowledge of how all these pieces fit together in the health care system,” said Howard Kadish, one of two professors teaching the course. “All of these components affect the delivery of health care, and it’s important for students to understand them.”
Kadish will focus on the business aspects of health care, and co-instructor William McDonnell, a professor in pediatric medicine, will focus on the legal ramifications of health care.
The idea for the new course came about when Kadish and McDonnell realized that health care will affect students for their entire lives and that as undergraduates, students need to understand the health care industry for their own benefit.
“The health care industry is a massive sector of the American economy…comprising 16 percent of (the) GDP in 2006,” McDonnell said in a statement. “It has profound ramifications for individuals across the country…and this course will allow (students) to understand, interact with and hopefully shape the health care system in the future.”
As part of the yearlong course, Kadish and McDonnell will bring in speakers from politics, ethics, business and other fields affecting health care.
The course will also study the beginnings of the health care industry in America, addressing the reasons the system works the way it does and what roles insurance companies, hospitals and physicians play in the system.
Students will also look at health care systems around the world and compare it to the U.S. system. The professors said they don’t have answers, but they have ideas and will use those ideas to create a dynamic course.
“We’re excited to work with undergraduate students and we expect the class to be a highly interactive course filled with discussion,” Kadish said.
Several months ago, the College of Humanities asked for proposals to grant a new interdisciplinary course. Kadish and McDonnell took their proposal to the college and their idea was chosen by an advisory committee. The professors said they are creating the course from scratch and this specific course has never been taught at the U before.
“I wanted to create…a yearlong class that would speak to some important current issues and would bring together a collaborative pedagogical experience that would benefit undergraduate students,” said Robert Newman, dean of the College of Humanities.
The yearlong course is designed for students in any major and will be listed under IDST 3100 and 3101. The health care course will be taught Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12:25 p.m. to 1:45 p.m.