"History of Medicine" provides an accessible historical and interdisciplinary perspective on medicine, focused primarily upon therapy and practice, to achieve better understanding of the scope, practice, and limits of medicine. Medicine is defined as the treatment of disease. Human attempts to understand and treat disease will be seen as evolving from the spiritual and mystical practices of the distant past, to the rational approach of the Classical World, and finally to the scientific thinking of the Renaissance and beyond.

The History of Medicine: Philosophy, Science, and Psychology
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The History of Medicine: Philosophy, Science, and Psychology


Instructors: Grant Hartzog
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What you'll learn
You will learn to describe historical attempts to unravel the mysteries of disease with various theoretical models.
You will learn to tell the story of the major advances in modern medicine.
You will learn to speculate on the future of medicine from an informed perspective.
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There are 5 modules in this course
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Wesleyan University

University of Pennsylvania

University of Colorado Boulder

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
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Reviewed on Jun 3, 2023
I enjoyed every moment of this course and I highly recommend it for all people interested in history of human health sciences.
Reviewed on Aug 22, 2024
Great course but the grading process for the final project is quite frustrating.
Reviewed on Apr 21, 2025
A comprehensive course covering the historical and modern landscape.
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