By Dr. Adam Rafalovich
Faculty Member, Sociology at American Public University
Introduced in the 1950s, medical sociology is the analysis of the institution of medicine, including its impact upon our greater culture and individual identity. Medical sociologists study a variety of things, including the definition of illnesses and wellness, health care policy, the debate between alternative and conventional medical treatments, and the way that race, class, and gender impact medical outcomes. Here are three major trends in medicine that are of particular interest to medical sociologists:
- Medicalization
Sociologists study the “medicalization” of a variety of personal troubles that were not previously thought to be medical problems. Beginning in the 1970s, a whole host of children’s behavioral problems, including conflict with adult authorities, and interpersonal struggles, were reinterpreted as “treatable” through medicine. Since this time, a multibillion dollar pharmaceutical industry has emerged as a result of the medicalization of these everyday troubles.
- Mobile Medical Information
Another very important trend that is of great interest to medical sociologists is the increasing availability of online medical information. With websites such as Web M.D. and the Mayo Clinic, people are now able to make more informed decisions about their own health status. As several studies have shown, this trend has had a direct impact on doctor-patient relationships. Indeed, medical sociologists have discussed how the role of the health care provider is more of a “consultant,” rather than someone who makes completely independent diagnoses.
- Prescription Drug Advertising
Medical sociologists have given special attention to the direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs, which is permitted only in New Zealand and the United States. Beginning in the mid-1990s, pharmaceutical companies lobbied very heavily to allow prescription medications to be advertised through all major consumer media channels. Today this promotion has expanded greatly to the Internet, helping stimulate a major debate as to whether or not such advertising encourages people to ask physicians directly for certain medications. If so, this begs the question of how much physicians are influenced by a patient’s desire for a particular drug.
As we can see from these three examples, medical sociology is a very exciting, and increasingly relevant, avenue within the larger sociology field and expanding province of medicine. Moving forward, sociologists will be able to offer a lot of insight into this extremely influential field of study.
About the Author:
Adam Rafalovich received his Ph.D. in sociology from the University of British Columbia. His doctoral dissertation was a social analysis of the response of adult authorities to children suspected of having Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. This research became the backbone of his first book, Framing ADHD Children (Rowman and Littlefield-Lexington Books, 2004). Dr. Rafalovich has published widely in the area of medical sociology, with articles appearing in the Sociological Quarterly, Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour and Deviant Behavior, and in issues of Sociology of Health and Illness, Symbolic Interaction and Qualitative Health Research. Dr. Rafalovich is a part-time faculty member in the Sociology program at American Public University.
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