On the Outside Looking In

Clearly this class was an extremely relevant and interesting for all involved. There were many ideas that were presented, and it was important to see them presented through real life examples and studies. Often possessing the most....dissenting opinion on the issues discussed, I felt like this class was amongst the most challenging ideologically for me in college. While it was obviously a sociology course, political structures and values are entwined in health and illness and that often forced me to adjust the way I spoke about issues.

There were a few major themes that stood out for me. One was that most people around the world, including the United States, don’t know nearly enough about the health care systems that they are involved with. And, given this relative ignorance, most are either not bothered or confused about the results. T.R. Reid’s “Healing of America” was personally my favorite reading in the course, because it showing the systems across the world, and didn’t just say one was better than the other. He showed that all systems have flaws, but there should be some baseline questions answered about how to rank health care systems.

Another trend that emerged for myself personally was that U.S. systems are under a hot microscope and it’s becoming pretty mainstream to bash America. I think that many of the points are valid, and my classmates and professor argue them soundly. Clearly, everybody in the U.S. believes health care needs to be reformed, the disagreement takes place in how we solve the issues at hand. Nearly every week...yeah I think every week...at least one of the readings was taking the position of why “Western” medicine needs to change. Sometimes, however, I feel that we spend too much time using labels and broad generalizations to make conclusions, rather than truly break down why outcomes occur and how decisions are made.

Finally, the third trend I found that I think everyone would agree on is that economic systems play a huge role in health care outcomes and decisions regarding health care reform. Clearly, most in the class have given capitalism it’s fair share of criticism; which is good, and I enjoyed hearing ideas that were radically different than my own. I tried to, without offending others, defend some principles of capitalism, and I can only hope that this defense did not compel others to put me in some category or label.

These trends have allowed me to better understand all aspects of health and illness. I will certainly be able to criticize and defend opinions in a stronger fashion after our readings and discussions. As somebody who hasn’t had to worry about health for most of my life, it was important to comprehend ramifications and side effects of health care decision making. Overall, I think I’ll come out of this class having (barely) held on to some core values, while better understanding criticisms and facilitating discussion. I am firm believer in questioning your own opinion, and this class certainly did that for me.