Serving as an introduction to medical sociology for undergraduate and graduate students it also presents a summary of the field for medical sociologists and for public health scholars and practitioners a highlight of the text is its emphasis on the social roots of health and disease and on the impact of social inequality on health disparities and the quality of health care the book also . Health illness and society an introduction to medical sociology barkan steven e 9781442235007 books amazonca. If sociology is the systematic study of human behaviour in society medical sociology is the systematic study of how humans manage issues of health and illness disease and disorders and health care for both the sick and the healthy medical sociologists study the physical mental and social components of health and illness major topics for medical sociologists include the doctor patient . The sociology of health and illness requires a global approach of analysis because the influence of societal factors varies throughout the world diseases are examined and compared based on the traditional medicine economics religion and culture that is specific to each region