Medical Anthropology
What is medical anthropology?
Medical anthropology focuses on how culture, society, history, economics and biology all work together to influence health, the experience of illness, healing processes, and the prevention and treatment of sickness.
Dr. David Fazzino has a good explanation (15 minute video).
But if you don’t have 15 minutes, here’s a shorter 4-minute video from the University of Washington.
Stanford University‘s SCOPE has an interview with two physicians who are MD/PhDs in medical anthropology. They articulate their thoughts on the benefits of being both clinicians and medical anthropologists.
How do you get formal training in medical anthropology?
There are some colleges and universities internationally that offer medical anthropology as an undergraduate minor or major, but from what I understand focusing on medical anthropology as a field is usually done at a postgraduate level with a Masters or PhD degree. Most medical anthropologists have their career based in a university setting.
Medical anthropology can be offered as a stand-alone field of study, or combined with elements of global health or public health. I am currently working on one of those multidisciplinary degrees – the Master of Culture, Health and Medicine (MCHAM) at the Australian National University. Yes, I anticipate getting additional letters after my name (“post-nominal”) but I don’t know what those letters are yet – MCHM? MCHMed? MA? We’ll see.
