A new taught postgraduate degree: M.A. in Health, Medicine and Society explores the intersection between the medical world, the social context and social relations. The programme will be of particular relevance to graduates in social science, health/medical science, social wellbeing and the arts, and will appeal to individuals working in health or medical settings in the public, independent, or voluntary sectors.
The Department of Sociology in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Malta is offering this programme which includes both taught components and a research based dissertation. It will run on a part-time evening basis, over 5 semesters starting in October 2017. Taught study-units will place the practice of medicine and the experience of health and illness within a broad historical, geographical and socio-cultural framework and will offer the opportunity to critically engage with topics as varied as the impact of gender on health and illness experience, to power dynamics within the medical context, to chronic illness, stigma and self.
Although rooted within sociology, synergies across disciplines and faculties will augment the scope and breadth of the programme which includes study units on anthropology of the body, health geography, the history of medicine, health psychology, social policy, medical epistemology and bioethics. The multidisciplinary academic grounding offered in the taught units will then inform the empirical research carried out at the dissertation stage.
The programme of studies is recognised by the Nursing Services Directorate as a postgraduate degree that is relevant to the professional advancement of nurses.