Thesis (M. Soc. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1992.

Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1992. / Also available in print.

Thesis (MCur. (Faculty of Health Sciences))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Summary in English. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI Company.

No description available.

This thesis traces the developments of imaging technologies used for medical diagnosis. Giddens' sociological theory of modernity serves as a basis for the consideration of the bureaucratisation of medicine and the use of the patient file as source of information about health. The importance of 'inscriptions', in relation to scientific knowledge and power, is analysed through Bruno Latour's theory. Donna Haraway's call to rethink objectivity, not as a quality of universal knowledge, but as a given point of view, also influence the approach of this discussion of diagnostic practices. / The author demonstrates the need for abstract concepts of patient and disease to achieve modern medicine. The links between theoretical notions (anatomical pathology, in particular) and diagnostic practices, as well as the concept of objectivity underlying the use of technology to gather information about health are examined. The effects of the biostatistical method used to evaluate health are also discussed. Finally, the importance of context in the experience of illness is noted.

This study evaluated the ability of subjects at 3 levels of expertise, expert physicians, residents and medical students, in the acquisition, representation, and utilization of patient information in the context of solving a complex medical problem. Each subject interviewed a volunteer medical outpatient and was subsequently requested to provide a differential diagnosis. The doctor-patient dialogue was analyzed using cognitive methods of discourse analysis. These methods were used to characterize differences in the content and nature of the history-taking process and in the development of problem representations. The study characterized differences at two levels of representation, observations and findings. Observations are the minimal semantic units of the doctor patient discourse. Findings are higher order units that derive meaning in specific medical contexts. / Differences were found between groups of subjects in the accuracy of diagnoses and in the qualitative nature of representations. These differences were manifested most clearly in terms of a series of efficiency measures designed to characterize the ability of subjects to generate findings. In general, the expert physicians were more selective in the elicitation and processing of critical and relevant findings. An attempt is made to characterize these differences in terms of the strategies used to acquire and represent patient information.

Thesis (MGeront)--University of South Australia, 1998

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Toronto, 2004. / Adviser: Helen J. Lenskyj.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Sydney, 2006. / Title from title screen (viewed 16 May 2007). Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the School of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Health Sciences. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print form.