PRESENTATION OF GLOBAL MEDICINE

Science is a social construction and there might not be any other science with more social implications as Medicine. The medicine doctor has been a respected member in the community/or in communities across time thanks to his knowledge of health and disease which gives him the power to heal.
In current times, one of the most relevant fields of scientific research is Medicine. Several places like universities, hospitals and research institutes work in the development of various tools, practices, techniques, therapies, etc. They are discovering new vaccines, studying risk factors related with diseases, such as geography, polluted waters, radiations, alimentation, genetic and even social factors which could improve factual knowledge in this area.
The production of medical knowledge is a business with big amounts of money flowing and this is the reason why the advances in the field of medicine do not reach the entire global community. Indeed, only a small part of the world has access to modern health programs. Thanks to the initiatives of private foundations and institutes and to the efforts of NGO’s such as the Red Cross, Médecins sans Frontières, or the World Health Organization, developing countries are improving their health conditions and receiving the knowledge and the help to improve their life conditions.This course talks about Medicine and its relationship with modern life in a global context. We will study the sciences of the body, like human anatomy and physiology; discuss relevant topics like health and disease, scientific instruments natural disasters, pandemics or bio-ethic. A social and historical perspective will help us in the understanding of the evolution of concepts and the different cultural approaches to the knowledge in the health practices and to build an idea of the role of medical sciences in a global context.