Medical sociology

Medical sociology is the study of individual and group behaviors with respect to health and illness. Thus "medical" is a misnomer, as the focus is not on medical professionals or their behaviors, but on human behavioral responses to health and illness.

Medical sociology is concerned with individual and group responses aimed at assessing well-being, maintaining health, acting upon real or perceived illness, interacting with healthcare systems, and maximizing health in the face of physiologic or functional derangement. It also analyzes the impact of the psychological conditions resulting from our environment on our health.