What is Medical Anthropology?
Medical Anthropology consists of four concentrations: 1. Interpretive 2. Ecological/Evolutionary 3. Critical Medical Anthropology 4. Applied Medical Anthropology. The Interpretive approach looks at how different cultures view and deal with disease. It attempts to answer questions such as: How does a particular society or group of people view the beginning and end of life, how does the human body work, and what causes bad health and illness. The Ecological/Evolutionary anthropology is the study of cultural adaptations to environments.
This website focuses on critical anthropology and applied medical anthropology. As you click and look deeper into the pages, you will learn just what these two approaches are, the history and important influences to the fields of study, and widespread organizations, at home and abroad, in which they work for. In addition, we relate Ann Fadiman's book, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, And The Collision of Two Cultures, to the two fields of medical anthropology. In addition, the idea and practice of cultural competency is discussed in relation to the two fields. Enjoy!
This website focuses on critical anthropology and applied medical anthropology. As you click and look deeper into the pages, you will learn just what these two approaches are, the history and important influences to the fields of study, and widespread organizations, at home and abroad, in which they work for. In addition, we relate Ann Fadiman's book, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, And The Collision of Two Cultures, to the two fields of medical anthropology. In addition, the idea and practice of cultural competency is discussed in relation to the two fields. Enjoy!