Areas of Research in the Department of Anthropology

Medical Anthropology

Medical Anthropology (M.A. Concentration)

Medical Anthropology is one of the most popular subfields of our discipline, and one of the few that offers job opportunities for students with M.A. degrees. Medical Anthropology is also a popular subfield for students planning to enter professional degree programs in health-related fields, including Medicine, Public Health, Nursing and Allied Health disciplines, etc.

Description

This M.A. concentration consists of 30 credits, most of these taken in formal courses, a research project, and a research paper or thesis based on that project. Students will take at least 3 semesters to complete this M.A., and the majority of students will take no more than 4 semesters.

Requirements, Electives, and Options

Students in this concentration are required to take APY 654 (Survey of Culture Theory) or APY 651 (Survey of Physical Anthropology); students may take both if they wish. In addition, all students will take APY 508 (Qualitative Research Methods). Students take at least 24 additional credits from the courses listed below or, with the approval of the advisor, from appropriate courses in the UB School of Public Health, the School of Medicine, or the School of Nursing. In any case, students may only use 6 credits from non-anthropology courses toward their M.A. degree.

Students in this Medical Anthropology track will not take a qualifying exam. Each student will undertake an approved research project, developed in consultation with the advisor, and will write a research paper or thesis based on that research. The research paper or thesis must be approved by the advisor and one other member of the Department of Anthropology. Both faculty members must be members of the Graduate Faculty. Students in the Medical Anthropology concentration may apply to the PhD program in Anthropology, and will be subject to the same admissions criteria and procedures as other PhD program applicants.

Relevant Elective Courses

Students will choose most of their courses from this list, and may take other relevant courses with the advisor’s approval.

545 Dental Anthropology

546 Physical Anthropology Topics 
548 Human Genetics- Legal and Ethical Issues

556 Religion and Society
578 Ethnomedicine
565 Gender & Healing in Latin America
576 Health Care in U.S.
584 Transcultural Psychiatry
594 Advanced Physical Anthropology
603 Applied Medical Anthropology

604 Topics in Medical Anthropology
604 Culture and Disability  [N.B. This course number will change]
606 Anthropology of Reproduction

607 Individual Readings Physical Anthropology
710 Geographic Medicine
721 Physical Anthropology Research Methods