This concentration is only offered at the PhD level for the time being.
Concentration Director: Thirusha Naidu
The Interdisciplinary Social Studies in Medicine concentration in CTM centers on understanding how psychological, social, cultural, political, and historical forces shape health, illness, and medical practice. This stream recognizes that effective clinical and translational medicine must engage not only with biological mechanisms but also with the behavioural, social and structural conditions that influence health outcomes. By bridging the social sciences and clinical medicine, this program aims to generate new forms of knowledge that improve health equity, patient care, and system-level transformation in Canada and globally.
This concentration encompasses research on behavioural and social determinants of health, health systems, professional identity formation, patient experience, and the psychological, ethical and political dimensions of medical knowledge production. Areas of inquiry include but are not restricted to the affective influences in healthcare learning and performance; the intersection of race, gender, class, and coloniality in medicine; and the role of narrative, arts, and humanities in clinical transformation.
Applicants with backgrounds in sociology, anthropology, psychology, global health, public health, or health professions education are particularly suited to this concentration. However, given the interdisciplinary and translational focus, candidates from diverse academic and professional backgrounds—including medicine, nursing, social work, and the humanities—are encouraged to apply.
The Interdisciplinary Social Studies in Medicine stream includes researchers and clinicians affiliated with the Departments of Innovation in Medical Education, Medicine, Family Medicine as well as researchers with expertise in Social Sciences, This concentration is designed ‘around the student,’ offering a curated and customizable course of study. Areas of inquiry may be studied using qualitative and quantitative approaches. Graduates will gain transferable skills applicable across the understanding of how human experiences and concerns intersect in medicine and health, equipping them to address the behavioral and social dimensions of medicine with intellectual depth and translational impact.