M.A. in Anthropology: Medical Concentration

Medical anthropologists conduct research, teach and engage in practice relating to health and the ways in which health is maintained, experienced, promoted and threatened in groups past and present throughout the world. Wayne State's Master of Arts in Anthropology with a Concentration in Medical Anthropology explores the intersection of culture, biology and healthcare, focusing on how social, economic and environmental factors influence health outcomes. Students gain expertise in topics such as global health, epidemiology, medical ethics and healthcare systems, using ethnographic methods to study the lived experiences of individuals and communities.

About the program

The medical anthropology program at Wayne State is the oldest in the country and the past editorial home of "Medical Anthropology Quarterly: The International Journal for the Analysis of Health." The faculty and students in medical anthropology at Wayne State share a common commitment to documenting, understanding and addressing how health and illness are produced in different communities, cultures and societies. They study how health problems, health inequalities and health systems are shaped by and reflect specific historical, geographic and political-economic contexts and change over time.

Why study Wayne State's medical anthropology graduate program?

Wayne State's medical anthropology program:

• Trains students in interdisciplinary scholarship and service that is grounded in ethnographic theory and practice.
• Encourage students to explore the social, cultural and political practices shaping health and illness, including health disparities.
• Fosters collaborative and interdisciplinary scholarship and policy initiatives that lead students to engage with both public and private health institutions, NGOs, advocacy and activist groups and a range of researchers across the disciplines.

We achieve this through:

• Qualitative perspective: By documenting individuals' experiences and understandings of health and illness, medical anthropologists shed new light on the complex meanings of suffering and well-being.
• Critical perspective: By asking questions about how personal experiences are related to large-scale aspects of political economy and culture, medical anthropologists offer critical insights on rethinking and improving policy, treatment and care.
• Holistic perspective: By considering how health and illness relate to other aspects of life (like labor, politics, kinship and religion), medical anthropologists provide holistic understandings that go beyond diagnostic categories.

Areas of specialization: aging and the life course, care and caregiving, chronic illness, culture and disability, death and dying, environmental health, global health, health and human rights, health care organization, health disparities, infectious disease and urban health.

Courses

Medical anthropology courses provide students with a deep understanding of the complex relationship between culture, health and illness. Wayne State's curriculum covers topics such as global health, medical systems, epidemiology, health disparities and the social determinants of health. Students gain practical skills in ethnographic research, data analysis and health intervention strategies, preparing them to address real-world health challenges. These courses equip students to work in diverse healthcare settings, develop culturally appropriate health programs and advocate for equitable healthcare policies.

Explore anthropology courses

Career outlook for medical anthropology students

Medical anthropology graduates are well-equipped to pursue careers at the intersection of healthcare, culture and global health. Career paths often include roles in public health organizations, government agencies, international development, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and healthcare systems management. Medical anthropologists also work in research, education and health policy.

Real-world applications include tackling global health issues like infectious diseases, health disparities and the social determinants of health. Graduates contribute to designing culturally sensitive healthcare programs, improving access to healthcare in underserved populations and informing public health policies. Their ability to apply anthropological insights to complex health issues allows them to address challenges in a diverse range of settings, from local communities to international health organizations, making them valuable assets in efforts to improve global health outcomes.

Research

Using methods drawn from ethnography, biomedical and epidemiological research alike, faculty and students work to generate empirically grounded, conceptually sophisticated, analytically powerful accounts of people's words and deeds, their aspirations and struggles, their suffering and efforts to address it. They situate these experiences with health and illness within the increasingly interconnected global environment. Funding from NIH, NIMH, CDC, EPA, MDCH and a range of local foundations has supported research by the Wayne State medical anthropology program.

A key focus of attention at Wayne State is public anthropology. By this, we mean a commitment to translate scholarship to address social problems. To this end, we engage in research that focuses on problems of immediate social significance as well as those whose relevance engages scholarly debates and issues. We encourage student involvement in community issues. In pursuit of this goal, we offer a joint doctoral degree in anthropology and social work. The joint social work/anthropology (SWAN) Ph.D. program draws on the strengths of these disciplines to create a single doctorate degree with a global and urban emphasis.

The public focus of medical anthropology is enriched by our location in Detroit. Urban settings and Detroit, in particular, are important centers of innovation and problem-solving for health-related issues. At a global level, international policy and humanitarian organizations, governments and a variety of funding agencies are increasingly focused on issues raised by the rapid urbanization of the world's population. Detroit exemplifies some of the challenges of growing urbanism. Detroit is undergoing changes that are garnering national and international visibility. Long known as an iconic city of postindustrial decline, Detroit is increasingly seen as a frontier for experimentation in urban recovery, particularly in areas such as land and water use and food security.

Explore our research in medical anthropology