I
will admit that I was hooked by the very first reading we were assigned. I mean, who has heard of apotemnophilia? It was a provocative first reading, and
really worked for comparing what science was saying vs. the society. This was big for me. As a science major, I am incredibly biased
towards scientific findings and haven’t really had the opportunity to look
critically at how the scientific process could be misused, or in this case, the
jump from pinpricks to a problem with the parietal lobe. As I will be going to medical school next
year, the complexities of the social/medical science interactions that we
explored were especially intriguing and applicable to my future.
After studying science for four years, it really is
hard for me to admit to the limitations and problems that occur. It is even harder for me to separate myself
from my scientific training and the respect I have for the advances made in science,
to step back and understand what is going on in the mind of someone that doesn’t
have a scientific background. I think
that taking the time to critically analyze the science involved with
apotemnophilia was enlightening and an incredibly important end to my
undergraduate education, as well as comparing voluntary amputations to transgender
surgeries, and especially looking at how I viewed the distinction. It was a very interesting lesson in how I
personally am influenced by the cultural mores despite that the surgeries
could be considered very similar when separated from their social contexts.
Medicine
is one of the professions that has to (or it should, at least) take into account both
scientific findings and the social/cultural conditions surrounding those
findings; and being so, it is important to both myself and future patients to
have an open mind about new findings and understand the limitations that are inherent
in the scientific process. Thanks to everyone
in the class for being honest about your opinions regarding science and social issues,
it has been an incredibly enlightening semester working with you.
so as a future medical professional , do you believe that in all medical matters the patient should have the final say?
ReplyDeletebringing it full circle to our debate, huh?
DeleteI totally agree with your post. Although I am not a science major, I have always been fascinated with it. One of the reasons I really liked all science in high school was because I liked the math part of it, and believed science always had a concrete answer, and that was something I really did, and still do, like. But after taking this class, I questioned whether it really does have a concrete answer. I think it is really awesome that you are pre-med and took this class and got a lot out of it. I would bet there is a lot of people out there that would take this class and hate it and all the new perspectives that it had to offer.
ReplyDelete