Modern Media and Healthcare: Beyond Viagra and Scrubs*

News, entertainment, commercials, TV, movies, on line and social modern media is the primary source of health information for consumers. Much is credible but there is also no shortage of contradictory and incorrect health content. In this course we will examine various media forms and their influence on health perceptions, expectations, priorities, and beliefs. Using current examples we will flesh out how particular health issues break into public consciousness, change behaviors, and evolve and drive healthcare policy, as well as cite case histories where media spin led to unwarranted consumer hysteria. The course will prompt analytic skills to comprehend "raw" medical studies to compare with popular media interpretations while at the other extreme will look at content including House, Scrubs, and even mens' and womens' health commercials and their contribution to the healthcare landscape. The term culminates in hands on multi-media project to prompt a consumer response to an emerging health issue or behavior.