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George Libman Engel: The Biopsychosocial Model and the Construction of Medical Practice

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The Palgrave Handbook of Social Theory in Health, Illness and Medicine

Abstract

Pick up most medical practice textbooks published in recent decades and the term ‘biopsychosocial’ is prominent. Over this period, medical curricula internationally have been structured around the teaching of the biopsychosocial model, involving an integration of the biological, psychological and social (Neghme 1985; Suchman 2005). In a survey of 54 medical schools in 1997- 1999, Waldstein et al. (2001) found that 80 to 93 per cent used the conceptualisation and/or measurement of psychosocial factors in their curricula. The biopsychosocial approach is an attempt to redress the traditional model of biomedicine, with its predominant focus on pathophysiology and biological approaches to disease, and its lack of a comprehensive inclusion of the social and psychological aspects of health and illness.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Health and Society, School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Australia

    Marilys Guillemin (Professor and Director) & Emma Barnard (Academic Associate)

Authors
  1. Marilys Guillemin
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  2. Emma Barnard
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Sydney, Australia

    Fran Collyer (Associate Professor) (Associate Professor)

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© 2015 Marilys Guillemin and Emma Barnard

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Guillemin, M., Barnard, E. (2015). George Libman Engel: The Biopsychosocial Model and the Construction of Medical Practice. In: Collyer, F. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Social Theory in Health, Illness and Medicine. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137355621_15

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