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January 27, 2003
UNM INSTITUTE HOSTS SEMINAR ON HOSPITALS AND HEALTHCARE
Healthcare in the modern and Middle Ages to be discussed
The University of New Mexico's 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 Room
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 our contemporary response to dangerous
diseases, including diseases endemic in New Mexico, will be examined through
the lens of the medieval experience.
The topics of the lectures:
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
the inception of Medicare: access to care in the 1960s and the early
1970s; a preoccupation with cost lasting into the 1990s; and the current
focus on quality of care, which developed out of consumer-centered market
pressure. He will describe how the complex administrative organization
of the modern hospital has evolved in response to policy shifts and
changing societal expectations, and will highlight the way in which
Albuquerque has often been perceived as being at the forefront of this
evolution.
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. She will
argue that the primary purpose of medieval foundations was - in contrast
to the underlying rationale of the modern hospital - to secure the spiritual
health of the patron as well as the patient. Hospitals and leper houses
offered rich and powerful patrons a means of "purchasing paradise"
as well as advertising their sense of civic responsibility and Christian
compassion. The emphasis on spiritual well-being should not, however,
obscure the importance that medieval hospitals placed on physical care
of the sick.
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 to care for the sick, the poor and the infirm as well as providing
shelter for pilgrims. These public hospitals offered a significant outlet
for piety and architectural patronage through the 15th century. Typically
adjacent to or within towns, and, unlike the earlier monastic hospices
and leper houses, did not develop within a preexisting religious establishment.
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. Demaitre will show that doctors'
responses were practical, focusing on the correct pathology of the disease
and on therapeutic attempts to alleviate it. He will also show how in
medieval times, the definition of leprosy developed in response to advances
in medical theory made by major Arabic doctors whose work was known
in the West.
Saturday, Feb. 8, 11:30 a.m.
Sarah E. Allen, associate professor of medicine at UNM's Health Sciences
Center, presents, "Tuberculosis: Today's 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.
After outlining the basic pathophysiology of tuberculosis, she will
explain the difference between active and inactive tuberculosis infection,
illustrating her talk with pictures showing the various organ systems
that can be infected by TB. In addition to discussing how TB is diagnosed
and treated, she will review the epidemiology of TB worldwide and show
how the TB epidemic has been exacerbated by the global HIV epidemic.
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. She will show that, while many institutions fell short of the
ideal, medieval hospitals at their best achieved a model regimen in
which the needs of body and soul were carefully balanced. There is a
lesson for the modern world in the medieval experience.
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 UNM's Department
of Internal Medicine. Experts from the UNM Health Sciences Center will
be on the panel. The audience is encouraged to take part in the 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. Scientists and humanities scholars will exchange
ideas and observations directly on the key issue of how a humane society
deals with its sick," Graham said.
For more information call 277-2252 or visit www.unm.edu/~medinst/.
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