Dictionary of Medical Sociology.

Cockerham, William C. & Ferris J. Ritchey. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc., 1997.

As a sociological specialty, medical sociology has a distinct history and literature spanning more than four decades. Since its inception in the years following World War II, medical sociology has attracted significant funds for research, provided extensive employment opportunities within and outside the academy, and produced an increasing number of professional publications. The Medical Sociology Section is the largest specialty represented in both the British and German Sociological Associations and is the second largest among American sociologists. Unlike other, more theoretically oriented branches of sociology, medical sociology was expected by funding agencies and policy makers to produce social knowledge that could be readily applied in medical practice, public health campaigns, and health policy formulation. Thus medical sociology is of interest not only to sociologists, but also to physicians, nurses, psychologists, social workers...