ABSTRACT
Medical sociology brings sociological perspectives, theories, and methods to the study of health-related situations. Areas of investigation include the social causes of health and disease, health disparities, the social behavior of health care personnel and their patients, the social functions of health organizations and institutions, the social patterns of the utilization of health services, social policies toward health, and similar topics. The American Academy of Medicine also published the Journal of Sociologic Medicine from 1895 to 1918, which featured papers on medical education and various health-related topics such as diet, sleep, cancer, and news about medical organizations and societies. Yet the tremendous growth of medical sociology, in both the United States and Europe, would have been difficult without the substantial financial support for applied studies provided by the respective governments. Hippocrates argued that medical knowledge should be derived from an understanding of the natural sciences and the logic of cause-and-effect relationships.
