Medical Anthropology MSc

The University of Edinburgh

Medical anthropologists explore a wide range of medical practices, including both performative forms of healing (e.g. shamanism) and the newest biomedical technologies. Medical anthropologists are working in diverse fields:academic researchglobal health organisationshealth-focused NGOsConcepts and methodologies from medical anthropology have become essential in all areas of global health research.Our MSc in Medical Anthropology will allow you to engage with the field's distinctive approach to health and medicine. It takes you away from the idea that there is only one standardised 'best practice' by showing an astounding diversity of therapeutic methods, ideas of disease causation, healer personalities, and spaces for healing.This programme studies health, illness and healing from a cross-cultural perspective.With a focus on the understanding of health, illness and medicine in a globalised world, this programme allows you to engage with contemporary debates about old ills and emerging diseases. You will explore both traditional forms of healing and modern medical technologies.You will examine key questions in current medical anthropology from the perspective of both medical and social sciences, and address relevant issues, such as:the way encounters between patients and professional healers are negotiated in varied cultural settingsthe importance of political, economic and historical analysis to an understanding of the bodythe health-related effects of globalisation

School of Social and Political Science