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Cover image of Social Issues in Diagnosis
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Social Issues in Diagnosis

An Introduction for Students and Clinicians

edited by Annemarie Goldstein Jutel and Kevin Dew

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Understanding the social process of diagnosis is critical to improving doctor-patient relationships and health outcomes.

Diagnosis, the classification tool of medicine, serves an important social role. It confers social status on those who diagnose, and it impacts the social status of those diagnosed. Studying diagnosis from a sociological perspective offers clinicians and students a rich and sometimes provocative view of medicine and the cultures in which it is practiced. Social Issues in Diagnosis describes how diagnostic labels and the process of diagnosis are anchored in groups and...

Understanding the social process of diagnosis is critical to improving doctor-patient relationships and health outcomes.

Diagnosis, the classification tool of medicine, serves an important social role. It confers social status on those who diagnose, and it impacts the social status of those diagnosed. Studying diagnosis from a sociological perspective offers clinicians and students a rich and sometimes provocative view of medicine and the cultures in which it is practiced. Social Issues in Diagnosis describes how diagnostic labels and the process of diagnosis are anchored in groups and structures as much as they are in the interactions between patient and doctor.

The sociological perspective is informative, detailed, and different from what medical, nursing, social work, and psychology students—and other professionals who diagnose or work with diagnoses—learn in a pathophysiology or clinical assessment course. It is precisely this difference that should be integral to student and clinician education, enriching the professional experience with improved doctor-patient relationships and potentially better health outcomes.

Chapters are written by both researchers and educators and reviewed by medical advisors. Just as medicine divides disease into diagnostic categories, so have the editors classified the social aspects of diagnosis into discrete areas of reflection, including
• Classification of illness
• Process of diagnosis
• Phenomenon of uncertainty
• Diagnostic labels
• Discrimination
• Challenges to medical authority
• Medicalization
• Technological influences
• Self-diagnosis

Additional chapters by clinicians, including New York Times columnist Lisa Sanders, M.D., provide a view from the front line of diagnosis to round out the discussion. Sociology and pre-med students, especially those prepping for the new MCAT section on social and behavioral sciences, will appreciate the discussion questions, glossary of key terms, and CLASSIFY mnemonic.

Reviews

Reviews

The broad scope of Social Issues in Diagnosis makes this book not only useful for premed or medical students but also undergraduate courses in medical anthropology or public health.

Very useful, relevant, and easily approached text on an important subject.

The editors and contributors have offered a significant addition to the cultural competency discussion, whether for the student and classroom environment or for attendings thinking about their individual practice style and habits. This is a tremendous addition to every academic library.

This edited collection of works...further illuminates diagnosis, providing an insight into the workings of medicine and the difficulties and importance of diagnosis in contemporary health care...Social Issues in Diagnosis shows persuasively how diagnosis is a collaborative process of development that involves a range of stakeholders and healthcare professionals over a period of time...The editors and authors make a significant contribution to the emerging subfield of the sociology of diagnosis.

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Book Details

Publication Date
Status
Available
Trim Size
7
x
10
Pages
264
ISBN
9781421413006
Illustration Description
7 line drawings
Table of Contents

List of Medical Advisors
List of Contributors
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1. Constructing Order: Classification and Diagnosis
Chapter 2. Diagnostic Work: A Disorderly Process
Chapter 3. None of

List of Medical Advisors
List of Contributors
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1. Constructing Order: Classification and Diagnosis
Chapter 2. Diagnostic Work: A Disorderly Process
Chapter 3. None of the Above: Uncertainty and Diagnosis
Chapter 4. I Am Not a Doctor, but... : The Lay-Professional Relationship in Diagnosis
Chapter 5. When the Penny Drops: Diagnosis and the Transformative Moment
Chapter 6. Patient-Centered Care or Discrimination? Diagnosis among Diverse Populations
Chapter 7. Who's the Boss? Diagnosis and Medical Authority
Chapter 8. Is This Really a Disease? Medicalization and Diagnosis
Chapter 9. The Promotion of Marketing-Mediated Diagnosis: Turning Patients into Consumers
Chapter 10. Let's Send That to the Lab: Technology and Diagnosis
Chapter 11. Fighting to be Heard: Contested Diagnoses
Chapter 12. Lay Diagnosis: An Oxymoron?
Chapter 13. Researching the Social Aspects of Diagnosis: Answers for Clinical Practice
Chapter 14. Diagnosis as Problem and Solution
Chapter 15. When Diagnosis Goes Wrong: Connecting and Dissecting Diagnostic Errors
Conclusion
Glossary
Index

Author Bios
Featured Contributor

Annemarie Jutel, R.N., Ph.D.

Annemarie Jutel (WELLINGTON, NZ) is a professor of health and an associate dean at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington. She is the author of Diagnosis: Truths and Tales.
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