CULTURE IN MEDICINE, CULTURE OF MEDICINE
Tuesdays, 5:30-7:00pm (NET Seminar Room 7)
Instructor: Szilvia Zörgő (email: zorgoszilvia@gmail.com)
Objectives and outcomes
The aim of the course is to sensitize dental students to the sociocultural aspects of dentistry, as well as the health and illness behavior of their future patients. Classes will also focus on various initiatives that address social inequality in dental care, dental anxiety, and technological advancement. By the end of the course, students will have engaged in activities (discussion, autonomous research, presentation, etc.) concerning these themes and will be able to implement acquired knowledge in their future practice.
Topics and schedule
Feb. 16
Introduction to topics and themes; getting to know each other; overview of course requirements
Feb. 23
Healthcare systems, sectors of healthcare, complementary and alternative medicine
March 2
Lay explanatory models of illness, health literacy
March 9
Sociocultural aspects of pain, dental anxiety
March 16
Illness behavior, postponing treatment, risk factors
Interview(s): postponing seeking care
March 23
Initiatives: Remote Area Medical (USA), CBN dental charity (Mexico),
Initiative(s) and Interview(s): charity, reducing inequality, health literacy
March 30
Roadside dentists (India), Experimental dentists (Iran)
Initiative(s) and Interview(s): poverty and practice, license and reliability
March 24
Invited speaker: Health Education Program in Balassagyarmat
April 6
New technologies in dentistry
Initiative(s) and Interview(s): technology and innovation
April 20
Placebo and hypnosis
Initiative(s) and Interview(s): alternatives in treatment
April 27
Doctor-patient communication
Interview(s): good and bad communication, strategies, practical advice
May 4
Summary and wrap-up
Course requirements
Overall attainable points in course: 100 points; your grade depends on the sum of 1) attendance/participation and 2) your project.
1) Attendance and participation (maximum 40 points contributing to overall grade)
Attendance is mandatory and constitutes part of the overall grade.
40 points: missed 0-1 class + moderate-active participation
30 points: missed 2 classes + moderate-active participation
20 points: missed 3 classes + moderate-active participation
10 points: missed 1-2 classes + low participation
0 points: missed 3 classes + low participation
Students missing more than 3 classes will fail the course entirely.
2) Project (maximum 60 points contributing to overall grade)
Students should choose between: “interview” and “initiative”; students not completing either assignment will fail the course entirely.
Interview: choose a dentist in your social environment; he or she can be from your home country or from Hungary. Conduct an interview with them, lasting at least 30 minutes, on the topic of your choice (see topics above). You must have a prepared list of questions or specific topics for the conversation; send these to the course instructor at least 24 hours before the interview. During the interview, make notes on each topic (or sound record the interview with the participant’s permission). After you have conducted the interview, prepare a short (10-15-minute) presentation on the information you gained. Furthermore, hand in a one-page summary (font 11, 1.5 spacing) of the interview itself. For this assignment, you must work alone.
60 points: thorough interview, engaging and coherent presentation of all subtopics, provides context for topics, employs visual aids (e.g. Prezi, ppt, pictures), exhaustive one-page summary
50 points: full interview, coherent presentation of all subtopics, employs visual aids (e.g. Prezi, ppt, pictures), exhaustive one-page summary
40 points: non-exhaustive interview, presentation incoherent and lacking, employs visual aids (e.g. Prezi, ppt, pictures), one-page summary
30 points: non-exhaustive interview, presentation incoherent and lacking, one-page summary
20 points: non-exhaustive interview, presentation incoherent and lacking, no one-page summary
Initiative: present about a medical initiative that targets a population at risk for poor dental hygiene or developing oral diseases. You have two options: you can either choose an existing initiative or you can design one of your own. In both cases, your presentation should include: description of target population, description of risk factors and their underlying reasons, detailed account of potential diseases and/or consequences, real or proposed initiative that addresses these problems, and (potential) outcomes of the initiative. Prepare a short (10-15-minute) presentation on this information and hand in a one-page summary (font 11, 1.5 spacing) of what you talked about. For this assignment, you can work alone or with a partner.
60 points: thorough research/design process, engaging and coherent presentation of all subtopics, provides context for topics, employs visual aids (e.g. Prezi, ppt, pictures), exhaustive one-page summary
50 points: mostly complete research/design process, coherent presentation of all subtopics, employs visual aids (e.g. Prezi, ppt, pictures), exhaustive one-page summary
40 points: non-exhaustive research/design process, presentation incoherent and lacking, employs visual aids (e.g. Prezi, ppt, pictures), one-page summary
30 points: non-exhaustive research/design process, presentation incoherent and lacking, one-page summary
20 points: non-exhaustive research/design process, presentation incoherent and lacking, no one-page summary
Point-to-grade scheme
grade 5: points 80-100
grade 4: points 60-79
grade 3: points 40-59
grade 2: points 20-39
grade 1: points 0-19