1 | What is Social Medicine? | Michael Westerhaus

Social Medicine On Air

Michael Westerhaus (@socmedmjw) teaches the history of social medicine and what social medicine means. He explains the difference between social medicine and public health, the value of storytelling and social position in medicine, the relationship between inequality and health, and addresses if it is right for healthcare practitioners to "get political."

Michael Westerhaus MD is a primary care physician for refugees at the Center for International Health in St. Paul, Minnesota. He is also an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota and an active social medicine educator with SocMed and the Social Medicine Consortium.

His recommended resources:

• 1. Porter, Dorothy. 2006. “How Did Social Medicine Evolve, and Where Is It Heading?” PLoS Medicine 3(10): e399. Full text.

• 2. Fanon, Frantz. 1994. “Medicine and Colonialism.” In: A Dying Colonialism. Grove/Atlantic Press. PDF. (MR Press is rights-holder and has approved this usage).

• 3. Anderson, Smith, and Sidel. 2005. What is Social Medicine? Monthly Review. Full text.