Questions of Assimilation Vs Autonomy: Reflections on Ambiguity in 20 Years of Teaching Medical Students Sociology in South Africa.
Questions of Assimilation Vs Autonomy: Reflections on Ambiguity in 20 Years of Teaching Medical Students Sociology in South Africa.
Wednesday, 9 July 2025: 14:00
Location: FSE030 (Faculty of Education Sciences (FSE))
Oral Presentation
This paper provides an account of the curricula, content, and pedagogical changes that have occurred in the teaching of Sociology to medical students, at the case study institution in South Africa, over the last 20 years.
The context, rationale, and author's evaluations of these changes are also presented. This is accompanied by a discussion of the strengths and challenges faced at each critical juncture.
This paper is primarily reflective in nature, drawing on the author's 20 year career of teaching first year medical students. The author's reflections are supplemented by interview data with five colleagues also working in the field.
At the core of the changes within the case study institution, is the mainstreaming of social science content within the Medical School. This raises key questions such as: should one expect to do one's self out of a job if that job has been done well?
As Sociology staff, we find ourselves experiencing the classic dilemma of whether we are becoming complicit in our own exclusion as mainstreaming has effectively moved the Department's offerings from a Sociology of Medicine to a Sociology in Medicine.
Such changes have also led us to reassess the qualitative impact of our continued participation in such courses. As medical pedagogies do not lend themselves to our subject matter and at times we question whether "a little knowledge does more harm than good".
All the while, our own department tries to hold all sub-disciplines in equal standing, and thus, does not aim to reallocate our speciality internally. As such, this causes doubt, loss of a role, and institutional turnover of academics committed to the sub-discipline.
The author also questions the significance and implications of these changes within an institutional and national context beset by austerity and that drives a STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering and Medicine] agenda.
The context, rationale, and author's evaluations of these changes are also presented. This is accompanied by a discussion of the strengths and challenges faced at each critical juncture.
This paper is primarily reflective in nature, drawing on the author's 20 year career of teaching first year medical students. The author's reflections are supplemented by interview data with five colleagues also working in the field.
At the core of the changes within the case study institution, is the mainstreaming of social science content within the Medical School. This raises key questions such as: should one expect to do one's self out of a job if that job has been done well?
As Sociology staff, we find ourselves experiencing the classic dilemma of whether we are becoming complicit in our own exclusion as mainstreaming has effectively moved the Department's offerings from a Sociology of Medicine to a Sociology in Medicine.
Such changes have also led us to reassess the qualitative impact of our continued participation in such courses. As medical pedagogies do not lend themselves to our subject matter and at times we question whether "a little knowledge does more harm than good".
All the while, our own department tries to hold all sub-disciplines in equal standing, and thus, does not aim to reallocate our speciality internally. As such, this causes doubt, loss of a role, and institutional turnover of academics committed to the sub-discipline.
The author also questions the significance and implications of these changes within an institutional and national context beset by austerity and that drives a STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering and Medicine] agenda.