BWS 201 1 - Comparing Medical Professions Cross-Nationally

1.00

Is medicine dying as a profession/ How is the professional power of physicians developed in different kinds of societies? Are the forms taken to strengthen or limit professional power different in societies with different contrasting political economies? Is state power central in the analysis of professional power? What is the relationship between the state and the medical profession and where are doctors better off? In this seminar we will examine the changing status of the medical profession in six countries - the United States, Britain, Sweden, Germany, Netherlands and Canada. We will explore the extent to which nation states have singled out the profession guilds for control. Readings will include Mckinley and Hafferty, The Changing Medical Profession, Kruase’s, Death of the Guilds, and OECD’s Internal Markets in the Making. Honors Seminar. Open to first or second year honors students only. No prerequisites.