Formation of the Physician: A Case Study at UNC-Chapel Hill and South Asia (2012)

Undergraduate: Sathyaprya Mandjiny

Faculty Advisor: Sara Smith
Department: Asian and Middle Eastern Studies

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Physicians are part of the elite of society and their work is one that intimately impacts each individual who seeks health care. A physician uses their skills and knowledge to help a patient feel better and yet it also has the ability to have a profound impact on a patient’s life either positively or negatively. For this reason, this profession has certain expectations that are set by the public as well as by physicians themselves. Yet, due to structural constraints, individuals have a difficult time meeting these high standards.
This thesis attempts to address the question of how physicians view their job, while investigating some of the structural constraints that impact the way in which they practice. It also addresses how physicians come to embody their identity as a physician through a case study look at narratives of students and professors at UNC School of Medicine. This question of how physicians view their practice of medicine is further extended to physicians working abroad, and how this impacts them as individuals as well. This second question is investigated through a case study of narratives of physicians who work in the US and provide medical care in South Asia as well.