General Information
The Medical Anthropology program provides you with training in contemporary theory and method in medical anthropology, including
sociocultural, biological, psychological, and historical features which shape illness experience
patterns of disease and health behavior
access to health care services
professional medical constructions of disease and medical care
The program is designed for individuals seeking a M.A. or Ph.D. in Anthropology or a joint degree in Anthropology and Medicine (M.D./M.A. or M.D./Ph.D.). It, therefore, trains medical anthropologists, physicians, nurses, and other health professionals to (1) recognize and deal with the complex relations between the biological, social, cultural, psychological, economic, and techno-environmental determinanats and concomitants of sickness and health on both theoretical and practical levels and (2) analyze and evaluate how health resources are organized and delivered.
The program emphasizes the need to understand issues of health and sickness cross-culturally in the Unites States, other industrialized states, and less developed coutnries. As a student, you are free to focus your research interets in either domestic or overseas settings.
You will be prepared for positions in teaching and research institutions and for "non-traditional" positions which are now appearing in clinical and other health-related settings.
Consult the Case Western Reserve University General Bulletin for more information.
Emphases
If you would like to narrow your study in Medical Anthropology from the broad emphasis, the program provides you with four emphases to choose from.
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Urban Health
Focus your graduate study on health and illness among urban populations
Cross-Cultural Aging
Focus your study on health and the processes of agin throughout the world in both theoretical and applied perspectives
International Health
Focus your study on the evaluation of international health projects and receive training in international health research
Psychological Anthropology
Focus your study on human emotion, thought, and behavior and the life course from birth to death
Training
As a student in the Medical Anthropology program, you are trained in research design and quantitative methods for conducting studies, including ethnographic, qualitative, and statistical approaches.
In this program, your level of analysis can range from a focus on the human individual and lifespan (childhood, adolescence, aging) to local social settings to population contrasts to globalization.
Faculty Expertise
Specific faculty topics of interest include international health and development; epidemiology; urban health; racial disparities in health and nutrition; HIV and AIDS; culture history and the nation-state; feminist and culture theories; ethnic conflict; violence (political violence; violence against women, children, and the elderly); human adaptability bioethics; gender and sexuality; ethnopsychology of self and emotion; death and dying; religion and healing; cultural phenomenology, embodiment; ethnopsychiatry; gerontology and dementia studies; population studies; reproductive health; political economy; cultural studies of biomedicine, psychiatry, and technology.
Geographical areas of expertise include China, Tibet, Mongolia, Native America, Western Europe, Africa, Mozambique, North America, and Latin America.
The Curriculum
As a student in medical anthropology, you will concentrate on the methods and perspectives of either social-cultural or physical anthropology in your studies and research.
The curriculum covers a broad range of medical anthropoligical interestes -- ethnomedicine, human adaptation and disease, nutrition, international health, urban health, psychiatric anthropology, social demography, psychological anthropology, problems and processes of aging, to name a few.
Resources and Facilities
Once enrolled in the program, you will have access to the following resources.
Facilities and courses in the School of Medicine,
the School of Dentistry, the Weatherhead School of Management, the School of Applied Social Sciences, the Francis Payne Bolton Schoool of Nursing and other departments in the College of Arts and Sciences
The School of Medicine's complex of departments, institutes, hospitals, clinics, and laboratories
The Center of International Health, located in the School of Medicine
Geriatric programs in the Schools of Medicine, Nursing, and the Applied Social Sciences
CWRU's Center on Aging and Health
The Kelvin Smith Library's depository for documents and literature collated by the U.S. National Center on Aging
The Health Sciences Library of the Schools of Medicine, Dentistry, and Nursing
The Allen Memorial Library
The Department of Anthropology's computer lab linked to the university wide ocmputing network
Cleveland: A Diverse City
Northwestern Ohio is one of the most ethnically diverse regions in the United States. There are local communitites of people originating from easter, central, and southern Europe, the Middle East, the Caribbean, and South Asia.
The region also has a large Amish opoulation and has attracted many transplants from the Southern Appalachians.
Economically, the area is a remarkable mixture of heavy inducstry, agriculture, financial institutions, and corporate headquarters. It is also the location of internationally important health centers, including University Hospitals and the Cleveland Clinic.
The metropolitan area includes long established and vital working class communities, world famous cultural institutions (e.g. the Cleveland Orchestra and Severance Hall, the Cleveland Museum of Art) and some of the country's most affluent suburbs, while a large part of Cleveland's inner city suffers the economic, social, and health problems that now afflict this country's older cities.
Admission to the Medical Anthropology Program
Applicants to the M.A. and Ph.D. programs in Medical Anthropology should apply for admission directly to:
Department of Anthropology
Barbara Reebel
238 Mather Memorial Building
Cleveland, OH 44106-7125
An application for admission into the Medical Anthropology program will not be considered until it is complete. A complete application includes three letters of recommendation, transcripts of all previous undergraduate and graduate courses, and the results of the Graduate Record Examination (general test only). All foreign applicants must submit TOEFL scores (the minimum score necessary for acceptance, as set by the university, is 550).
There are three exceptions to these requirements: (1) Students who received an M.A. degree in Anthropology from Case within the last three years should write letters of petition to the Chair of the Department of Anthropology. (2) Students wishing to enroll in the joint M.D.-Ph.D. program should apply directly to both the School of Medicine and the Office of Graduate Admissions. (3) Students wishing to enroll in the joint M.A./MSN program should apply directly to the Francis Payne Bolton School of Nursing, stating their interest in the joint degree.
Although an undergraduate major in Anthropology is desirable for admission as a first year graduate student in the department, it is not required of applicants. Students entering the Ph.D. program are required to have satisfactorily completed the M.A. degree in Anthropology or a satisfactory equivalent (see Requirements for the Ph.D.).
The graduate program in Medical Anthropology normally demands a student's full concentration on his or her degree work. Ordinarily, a student should be prepared to take at least nine credit hour per semester. Students who desire to enroll for part-time graduate work (which means a minimum of three credit hours per semester) may, however, petition to the Department of Anthropology.
Financial Aid
Various forms of aid are available to students in the Medical Anthropology Program. Students can indicate their interest in financial aid in the space provided on the application form for admission to the graduate program. Applicants who wish to be considered for the Department of Anthropology assistantships (see below) must submit their completed applications by March 1st.
Funding support from the University includes:
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Department of Anthropology Assistantships
- Generally, these are intended to cover all or part of the recipient's tuition. In some cases, a stipend is included. Students should apply for an assistantship before entering the Department by indicating their wish to be considered for financial support on the application for graduate study. Assistantships may be held up to three years.
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Work-Study Assistants
- Students who qualify financially may be employed as work-study assistants. Payments to work-study assistants do not include tuition remission.
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Research Assistants
- Employment opportunities for research assistants fluctuate from semester to semester, and is generally impossible to predict what opportunities will be available in any given academic year. Because of the unpredictability of this employment, incoming students should not depend on a position being available.
Students are also encouraged to seek funding from sources other than Case. Most universities and colleges maintain files on granting agencies and foundations. Applicants may find it to their advantage to consult the financial aid offices of the institutions in which they are currently enrolled to learn about fellowships and loan support for their intended graduate studies. You can also consult our Department's own Grant Library.
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