An Introduction to Medicine

The course aims to provide students with the understanding of: i) the historical dimension as synthesis of human and natural sciences as requisite to deal with the challenges of modern medicine; (ii) the evolution of the concepts of health and disease from how the great epidemics have been faced in the past to the WHO definition of health and over; (iii) an introduction to the concept and principles of global health; (iv) an introduction to the quantitative method in the biomedical field (biometry); (v) the ethical dimension of professional behavior also in the field of clinical research.

Students:
i) know and reflect upon the main issues referred to health, health care provision and bioethics in an historical and social framework considering also their quantitative aspects;
(ii) acquire a good understanding of socio-economic, cultural, bioethical complexity of medical problems;
(iii) understand the need of integrating the whole amount of knowledge and competence acquired during the academic path with the relevant methodological and cultural aspects in order to act and behave as competent and mature professional;
(iv) understand the meaning of the new cross-discipline of global health