Medical Anthropology

Medical Anthropology is one of the most highly developed disciplines in Anthropology. A subfield of both social and cultural anthropology, it examines ways in which culture or society is centered around, influenced, or organized by issues of health, healthcare, or medicine. Anyone that has been to a hospital could easily observe the difference in societal interactions from everyday life. There is a definite established hierarchy, from administrators and physicians, to nurses and assistants. But aside from modern day medicine, historically, healers have held certain status and respect among various populations. Observing these present and past interactions, anthropologists in this discipline focus on several major areas.

First, the development of systems of medical knowledge and medical care. Secondly, the doctor and patient relationship. Thirdly, the integration of alternative medical systems into culturally diverse areas. Fourth, the interaction of social, biological, and environmental factors which influence health and illness in individuals and in communities as a whole. And finally, the impact of biomedicine and biomedical technologies in non western civilizations.

Medical anthropology is concentrated on mainly by western (namely American) researchers and methodologists. Though studies have been made by our foriegn counterparts, the majority of this type of study is conducted right here in the U.S.