A PORTION OF THE ABOVE CLASS RESERVED FOR MAJORS
ABOVE CLASS COLL INTENSIVE WRITING SECTION
ABOVE CLASS OPEN TO UNDERGRADUATES AND
EDUCATION MA’S ONLY

Countries build their health systems piece by piece.  The US began
in colonial times, giving pride of place to doctors.  Over time the
US added hospitals, nurses, public health programs, medical
education (training doctors and nurses), health education
(acquainting the public with health risks), insurance, medical
technology, ways of communicating about health issues, and many
other elements.  Today the US has the largest and most expensive
health system in the world, but in 2000 the World Health
Organization ranked this system as only 37th out of 191 countries,
well behind France at the top.

This course will examine the development of the major elements of
the US health system, sometimes in comparison with other countries.
We will focus on the period since 1900, and especially since 1960,
and study these and other questions:  Why does WHO rank the US
health system so low?  In what areas does the US lead and in what
areas does it leave room for improvement.  Why have attempts to
reform the US system, which date from the 1910s, so uniformly
failed?  What are the strongest and weakest elements of our current
health system?  What should policymakers try to do, and voters push
them toward doing, to reform our current system?

This class satisfies the intensive writing requirement.  Lectures,
class analysis and discussion of important problems and issues,
interesting reading and other material.  Grades will be based on
seven papers, class discussion, and reports.

There are no prerequisites for this course.  It is meant to appeal
to students interested in the topic who want to improve skills in
writing, speaking before small groups, and working with small groups
on common projects.