Introduction to Social Medicine
Introduction to Social Medicine provides analytical tools for examining the social, cultural, political, and economic determinants of health conditions and medical practice globally.
Summary
Past student reviews · Pablo Gomez
Assessment included two major papers and six quizzes. Grading was generally smooth if students followed directions, though participation counted toward the final grade.
What you’ll be able to do
Identify and analyze within their social, cultural and economic contexts key historical issues, and their significance, in the history of healing practices and public health.
Develop an understanding of the mutually shaping interactions between perceptions of health, illness and medical practices and culture and society.
Analyze the role of social factors, race, gender, ethnicity, class, among others, in shaping cultural realities related to body normativity, health, medical practice, public health and medical education.
Identify the role that patients, healthcare providers, institutions and the state play in modeling medical practice, ideas about the body, public health policies, and medical education.
Discern the impact of programs of global health as they intersect with international politics in the shaping of ideas about human rights, race, medical hierarchies and public health policies.
Source: UW Guide 1· UW Guide 2
Grade history
↗All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors
Prerequisites
Course mapNone
- None
This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.
Prerequisite text tree
- None
Professors
Spring 2027No instructors recorded for this selection.
Historical instructors & teaching patterns
PABLO GOMEZ is recorded teaching in Fall 2017, Fall 2018, Fall 2020. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
Calendar & sections
Spring 2027Schedule loads here as you scroll.
| Section | Mode | Enrolled / capacity | Waitlist |
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Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections.
Meeting source records
Student experience
the class
Past student reviews · Pablo Gomez
Students described a participation-heavy course where completing readings and attending class was key to success. The class focused on critical thinking about health care systems and required active engagement in discussions.
Recent recorded grades — Fall 2017: 3.78 GPA, 96.6% A/AB (n=29 letter grades); Fall 2018: 3.93 GPA, 97.1% A/AB (n=35 letter grades); Fall 2020: 3.83 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=23 letter grades).
difficulty & workload
Past student reviews · Pablo Gomez
Assessment included two major papers and six quizzes. Grading was generally smooth if students followed directions, though participation counted toward the final grade.
Past student reviews · Pablo Gomez
The workload involved timed mini-essays based on provided guides and take-home essays with extended deadlines. Students noted that showing up and doing the readings was sufficient to earn high grades.
Topics
- Patient and provider experiences of disease, treatment, and health care policies.
- Structural violence and inequality as determinants of health in a globalized world.
- Social factors including race, gender, ethnicity, and class in shaping health and medical practice.
Skills
- Critical examination of social, cultural, political, and economic determinants of health.
- Understanding interactions between health perceptions, medical practices, and society.
- Analyzing the intersection of global health programs and international politics.
Grades
Latest available · Fall 2020— not enough history to project Spring 2027.
Grade distribution · % of letter grades
Grades over time
Through Fall 2020
More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data
Not enough comparable courses for Spring 2027 in UW–Madison.
Sources & history
Catalog & offerings
Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.
Catalog observation history
Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.
Selected offering source records
No offering records for the selected term.
Raw records
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Student reviews
Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.
Read original reviews
Grade history
Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.
Explore recorded gradesRecorded 2026-10-14
Model outputs & technical records
LLM outputs across runs
Full model traces
Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.
Model & dataset provenance
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"requirements_status": "valid",
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"observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
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