This course focuses on the topic of societal implications of medical advances. I will present major medical advances—past, present, and future—that have implications for societal norms. In each session, the medical advance will be presented and explained. There will be associated readings looking at the societal aspects of the issue.

In the second half of each presentation will be a moderated discussion of the societal implications of each advance following a structured analysis along the dimensions of a) access/availability; b) cost/affordability; c) government regulation; d) ethics and equity; e) standards of conduct; f) data ownership and cybersecurity. Topics include: Contraception, Weight Loss Medications, Molecular Medicine, Cancer as a Metaphor, and Genomic Medicine.

This course will combine lecture with class discussion.