Where Does it Hurt?: Medicine and Suffering in Global Context

The relief of pain and suffering is considered one of the primary aims of medicine. However, what suffering is and what physicians must do specifically to prevent or relieve it is not well understood or explained. While suffering may be inherent to the human experience, the ways that suffering is perceived, experienced and addressed are heavily influenced by culture, beliefs and local resources. In this course, we will examine how patients and medical practitioners in different countries make meaning from the experience of pain and suffering of illness. We will draw from narratives and scholarly texts in order to explore how understandings of pain and suffering are shaped by social, cultural, economic and personal factors. Through an examination of personal, cultural and social practices related to suffering and medicine, we also develop skills for reflecting upon how one's culture and personal context influence how they make meaning of illness and suffering.