Masters Program in Medical Anthropology and Cross-Cultural Practice

This graduate program awarded by Boston University School of Medicine is designed to train new generations of interdisciplinary scholars and clinicians to study and engage with the growing cultural and medical pluralism that characterizes the United States, as well as other countries around the world. Coursework goes into depth in both the theories and methods of medical anthropology and cross-cultural practice, while supporting students’ own research interests and career goals.

Medical Anthropology, Health Care Diversity, and Globalization

Human experiences of affliction, suffering, and sickness are deeply influenced by the historical and cultural contexts in which they arise. Medical anthropology is the interdisciplinary branch of anthropology that addresses all such aspects of health, illness, and disease. Medical anthropology formulates and addresses both theoretical and applied problems, with the goal of conducting research that will contribute to the social sciences, and to the different domains of healthcare. This application of anthropology to the study of illness and health brings the field into dialogue with scholars and practitioners in the medical sciences.

Drawing on the various methods and types of data from the different branches of anthropology and other disciplines, medical anthropology examines relationships between biological and cultural factors that contribute to  the epidemiology of disease. It explores the meanings that cultural groups assign to these experiences, along  with the different healing traditions, healers, and health care practices and systems in different cultures that have  arisen in response. Common analytical frameworks include social, cultural, political, economic, gendered,  racial/ethnic, and other analytical strategies, particularly in relation to the effects of globalization.

Relation to Boston University's Graduate Medical Sciences

The Boston University School of Medicine (MED) Masters of Arts (MA) program in Medical Anthropology and Cross-Cultural Practice is offered through the Division of Graduate Medical Sciences (GMS) and has been designed to meet the requirements and standards of the Graduate Division for Masters training.

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( Pending final program approval: for further information, please contact Dr. Linda L. Barnes )