PAM 3500

Contemporary Issues in Women's Health

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2015-2016.

Deals with the history of women in medicine and the historical and cultural treatment of women's health problems. Also addresses health care research and the exclusion of women from research trials and protocols. Reproductive issues, alternative approaches to treatment, medical problems, ethical issues, cancers, factors that contribute to post-traumatic stress disorders, health promotion behaviors, political issues, and routine medical recommendations are also discussed in depth. Students may take the course for a fifth credit, which requires attending a discussion section every other week and observing 12 facilities (e.g., birthing center, mammogram, and ultrasound center, wellness center, hospital labor and delivery units, La Maze class, women's self-defense class) that provide a variety of women's health care. Some of these visits will be virtual visits available through the course web site, others will require in-person attendance.

When Offered Fall.

Course Attribute (CU-CEL)

• Understand the specific health care needs of women and why specific delivery practices are often necessary to provide effective health care for that population.
• Identify the ways in which traditional medical education fails to effectively prepare health care providers to identify, treat, and take the needs of women seriously.
• Understand the impact specific types of medical education and training have on the assessment, diagnosis and delivery of health care for women.
• Understand the role that the culture of the provider and the patient plays in the effective delivery of health care to women.
• Become familiar with the current controversies in the field of women's health.
• Evaluate the wisdom of establishing a medical specialty in the field of women's health.
• Explore complementary alternative therapeutic approaches to women's health needs.

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