This project will allow a student studying for an MD as well as a PhD in Anthropology from the University of Illinois to study how medical professionals talk about AIDS. the project will take place in several locations in the US and one hospital in France where AIDS research is advanced. Methods will consist of ethnographic "participant-observation" as a medical worker in some clinics, and intensive interviewing. This research is important because AIDS is one of the most important medical facts of life in the modern world. Increased understanding of how the medical model of the disease is created and modified in the daily practice of hospitals and clinics will help us understand how to disseminate accurate understanding of the disease in the population at large.
