Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Cornell So Far

Cornell has truly been an enlightening experience so far. After the initial trip to get us over here and our first night at an Ithaca hotel,the entire group finally made it here to Cornell. Although we ave already ran into a couple of speedbumps in the program so to speak, the program has overall been great so far. The academic environment is pleasing to both students and teachers alike. All of the students here generally want to learn and their is an obvious drive to learn from the great professors here at Cornell. I personally am truly enjoying my experience here. The class is great and I really like both my professor and my T.A. So far in class we have learned about the medicalization of many common conditions, such as aging and balding,in order to reap the financial benefits. We have studied the true nature of lovesickness and debated its status as a disease. We have also learned of many deadly diseases known to man and thier evolution through history, such as kidney disease, tuberculosis, and influenza. I am really learning alot here at Cornell and cant wait to learn more about the historical aspects of medicine as the summer continues.

From,

Malcolm Carson

2 comments:

Madeline Kronenberg said...

Malcolm,

Sounds like a great class -- the historical aspects of medicine must be fascinating.

Also, understanding the medicalization of common conditions will, I am sure, open your eyes to many other examples.

I'm looking forward to talking to you about your class when I come next week.

Don Gosney said...

Here's a little medical history tidbit the AMA doesn't like to advertise: In 1930, you only had a 50% chance of leaving a hospital alive. The understanding of germs, diseases, bacteria, emergency rooms, testing and preventive medicine were still in their infancies. Keep in mind that it was still another 10 years or so before we had antibiotics like penicillin and simple things like the flu were killers.

If your prof ever gives you any hints about a cure for lovesickness, I hope you'll include that in your blog.