In 2018 Iranian Studies initiated a call for papers on the general theme of Medicine and Public Health in Modern Iran. Scholars of Iranian Studies were invited to submit their contributions and new research on the general theme of the history and sociology of medicine and topics relating to public health in modern Iran.
Topics of interest included traditional medicine and medical beliefs in the nineteenth century and beyond; the introduction of modern medicine and medical reforms in the twentieth century, including topics on the evolution of medical terminology and texts, institutions of medical education and training, professional setups of healthcare (in terms of professionalization of medicine), and medical design and architecture; studies on epidemics, treatment plans, and prevention methods; issues relating to the health of the mind and institutions of mental healthcare; medicine and public health as represented in the arts, literature, and film; studies on addiction and substance abuse; surveys on family medicine, maternity wards, and public access to healthcare; the sociology of aging and geriatric medicine; pharmaceutical production and evolution in the medication market; surveys on medical laws and ordinances relating to medical and biological issues (such as birth control, gender reassignment, and stem cell research), and medical ethics (such as organ transplant and organ donation); also recent fieldwork, archival accounts, and reports on primary source material were particularly welcomed.Footnote 1
The field is vast and multidisciplinary. Most of the above topics are continuously evolving and depend on a complex range of documentation and fieldwork. An additional challenge is how to take note of diverse fields and incorporate them together. Moreover, new analysis also involves the adoption of a language and mode of argumentation that is scholarly and exact yet accessible to a wider community of readership in Iranian studies. These concerns were particularly shared by many of our respondents, among them medical practitioners who had the professional training as well as firsthand experience and exposure to social variables in medical practice.
We hope that the various contributions in the following special thematic section will promote further research and point to new interdisciplinary directions in the study of medicine and public health in modern Iran.
