Medical Anthropology MSc from Brunel University
Medical anthropology can be described as the study of cultural beliefs and behaviours associated with the origin, recognition and management of health and illness in different social and cultural groups. Medical anthropology is not simply concerned with practices of healing or systems of diagnosis and treatment such as biomedicine. It deals with the more informal systems of healthcare that exist worldwide (such as self-treatment, folk healers, shamans, and alternative practitioners), as well as those associated with professional Western science-based medicine and caring practices. Additionally, medical anthropology is also concerned with issues which relate to different cultural views of the ‘self’ in health and disease, as well as shared beliefs, images and practices associated with perceptions of the human body and mind.