Social and Behavioral Science for Health Professionals

Now in its second edition, Social and Behavioral Science for Health Professionals has been revised to further emphasize the ways in which medical, nursing, and allied health education are increasingly integrating social and behavioral science into their curricula. The expansion of courses in various professional programs to include fields like sociology and psychology attests to this shift, as do the most recent core competencies and content standards articulated by the major accrediting bodies in these fields.

Among a range of insights from medical sociology, the authors have also included a chapter on bioethics; a summary of the history of medicine and the emergence of modern health care practice; a discussion of interviewing strategies that emerge from the counseling literature; and detailed material on behavior change that more typically resides in psychology. Together, these cross-disciplinary social science insights respond to the needs of both current and future practitioners who are increasingly seeking this material in their fields of study and practice.

In recognition of the shift to include the social and behavioral sciences in medicine, nursing, and allied health curricula, this edition provides information directly related to the core competencies articulated by the following accrediting bodies:

AAMC (allopathic medicine)

AACOM (osteopathic medicine)

ADEA (dentistry)

CODA (dentistry)

ARC-PA (physician assistants)

AACN (nursing)

ACPE (pharmacy)

CCE (chiropractic)