This course will explore social aspects of health, illness, and the health care system in the United States. We will begin with a general overview of what a sociological perspective of medicine actually means. We will then focus on various forms of inequality, particularly with respect to race, gender, and class, before moving on to study the medical profession. We will also touch on controversial topics such as medical experimentation, the role of the patient, and ethical medical decision-making. This class will give you a new perspective on medicine to see it not only as a practice for making sick bodies well, but also for maintaining social control, establishing ideas of human worth, and even a new kind of citizenship.