Healthcare
in modern, middle ages topic for free lectures
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| The
doctor's visit manuscript page from the Canon Malor by Aviccnna.
Copyright Scala/Art Resources, NY; Biblioteca Universitaria,
Italy. |
UNMs
Institute for Medieval Studies presents a weekend of free lectures
and discussion on Medieval Hospitals, Leper Houses, and
Leprosy, Friday and Saturday, Feb. 7-8, in rm. 122 of
Northrop Hall on the UNM campus.
The seminar
will analyze how hospitals and healthcare evolved during the
Middle Ages and how contemporary healthcare measures up when
viewed through the lens of the medieval experience.
The lecturers
include distinguished medical history experts from other universities
and members of the Albuquerque medical community.
The
topic is especially relevant at this time when healthcare is
such a political hot potato, when many feel that
healthcare in America is in crisis, Timothy Graham, institute
director, said.
The
lecturers will discuss how hospitals first evolved in the Middle
Ages, how medicine and architecture interacted in the medieval
hospital, and how medieval doctors responded to leprosy, a disease
that carried the kind of social stigma now attached to tuberculosis
and AIDS, Graham said.
The aims
and achievements of the medieval hospital will be compared with
those of the modern hospital, and the contemporary response
to dangerous diseases, including diseases endemic in New Mexico.
The speakers and topics of the lectures are as follows:
Friday,
Feb. 7, 7 p.m.
Dr. Paul T. Cochran, Albuquerque cardiologist and medical director
of Presbyterian Healthcare Services, presents, 2003
Is It the Best of Times or the Worst of Times To Be Sick?
Cochran
will identify three phases in American healthcare policy since
Medicare.
Friday,
Feb. 7, 7:30 p.m.
Professor Carole Rawcliffe, professor of Medieval History at
the University of East Anglia presents, A Word from Our
Sponsor: Patrons and Patronage in the Medieval Hospital,
a lecture describing how hospitals and healthcare first developed
in the Middle Ages. She will analyze the motives of the men
and women who built hospitals and examine the art, architecture
and topography of the medieval hospitals.
Saturday,
Feb. 8, 9 a.m.
Lynn T. Courtenay, professor emerita at the University of Wisconsin,
presents, Medieval Hospitals: Architecture of Charity,
a description of the emergence of public hospitals in 12th century
northern Europe and their evolution during the 13th century
into multi-purpose places.
Saturday,
Feb. 8, 10:15 a.m.
Luke E. Demaitre, visiting professor of the history of medicine
at the University of Virginia, presents, Beyond The
Disease of the Soul: Medical Definitions of Leprosy
a description of how the Middle Ages responded to the leprosy,
a disease that carried a strong social stigma, much as AIDS
does today.
Saturday,
Feb. 8, 11:30 a.m.
Sarah E. Allen, associate professor of medicine at UNMs
Health Sciences Center, presents, Tuberculosis: Todays
Disease and Treatment in the United States and the Third World,
a discussion of the modern response to tuberculosis, which,
like leprosy, carries a stigma.
Saturday,
Feb. 8, 2 p.m.
Carole Rawcliffe, second lecture, Patients and Practice
in the Medieval Hospital examines the varied expectations
of sick paupers and lepers in the Middle Ages, as well as those
of the nurses who tended them.
Saturday,
Feb. 8, 3:15 p.m.
Panel Discussion: The Role of the Hospital and the Response
to Dangerous Diseases, Past and Present, moderated by
David A. Bennahum, professor in the Division of Gerontology
at UNMs Department of Internal Medicine. Health Sciences
Center experts are among panelists and the audience is encouraged
to add to discussion.
The
special value of this seminar lies in the opportunity it offers
for direct communication between the humanities and the sciences,
and between past and present, Graham said.
Call 277-2252
or visit www.unm.edu/~medinst/.