In Class: GRAD 700R

Course Description: A university course open to all undergraduate, graduate, and professional students exploring the many aspects of the health care system with a focus on historical context, the operation of health care delivery, and its evolution. In this course, more than two dozen professors and experts from multiple disciplines and perspectives at Emory and other institutions discuss public policy, governmental and legal regulation, access to care, insurance, and the payer structure, as well as examining ethical and social aspects of health care including equity, social justice, spirituality, outreach, and international care.

Faculty CV: Coconveners Pearce Korb, adjunct professor of neurology at the School of Medicine, and Jaffar Khan, associate professor of neurology at the School of Medicine, worked with faculty across the university to develop a curriculum that would cover all aspects of health care. Korb received his undergraduate degree in business administration, with a concentration in chemistry, from the University of Florida. He graduated from Emory’s medical school in 2007 and served as a resident, chief resident, and fellow in the Department of Neurology before joining the faculty in 2012 as a clinical instructor.

Khan earned his undergraduate degree in zoology from Louisiana State University (LSU) and his medical degree from Louisiana State University Medical Center. After an internship at LSU, he did his residency in neurology at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinic, joining Emory in 1997 as a fellow in clinical neurophysiology. He joined the faculty in Emory’s Department of Neurology in 1998.

Today’s Lecture: Faculty experts discuss barriers to care among at-risk patients including children; the poor; the elderly; and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender populations.

Quotes To Note: “Historically, we have treated the vulnerable very differently than other members of the population. We need to design a health care system that is equally accessible and in which everyone is treated exactly the same regardless of who they are. We need one world that is accessible to everyone, one world where everyone is equally invited to participate and be a member.”—Ted Johnson, professor and director of the Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology and director for the Emory Center for Health in Aging

“We work in a massively complex field, dealing with providers, pharmaceutical reps, chaplains, patients, and people who have to navigate the system. This course covers many things I wish I’d known as a medical student.”—Pearce Korb, adjunct professor of neurology

Students Say: “As a premed major, learning about the overall health care system is really valuable. I think a lot of undergraduates overlook that important factor of working in medicine. It is good to know what you are getting into.”—Neil Chokshi 15C