Medicine and Culture
Before taking this course I thought biomedicine was pretty much the only approach to curing a patient. I knew other approachs such as medicinal healers and placebos were available but I did not think they had any legitimacy whatsoever. I thought that surgeries and pills were always the best way to go because the human body was “universal” across cultures and could all be treated the same way.
After taking this course I saw medicine in a whole new light! I saw evidence of placebos and a shaman at work. I saw that medicine affects people different due to their different cultural beliefs. Some people don’t believe in taking certain biomedical treatments and some medicine has even been race-specific to work differently for “black people” or “white people”. I learned how different governments make different laws due to their cultural beliefs as seen with FGM and how an “absurd” practice in the western world is necessary for initiation in other cultures.
Helpful Approaches
I hope to become a doctor in the future and I will take aspects of many of the anthropological approaches with me. I found the applied approach very interesting because I loved learning about clinical medical anthropologists. When I become a doctor someday I hope to work in rural areas. It will be very important for me to have a clinical medical anthropologist work alongside me. I want to ensure that I am providing the best care possible for my patients and that I thoroughly understand their illness experience. I want to be able to relate to my patients and make sure I can help them get the care they need.
As far as my own experience with illness goes, I feel that the experiential approach was very interesting. I felt like I learned how to better communicate with a doctor to relay information on exactly what I was feeling. It showed me that there is a “social side” to illness as well. Illness isn’t just when your body feels “off” but illness changes your interactions with the people around you. This approach also helped me understand how a patient is feeling as they express their illness narrative to me in my future endeavors of becoming a doctor.
Before taking this course I thought biomedicine was pretty much the only approach to curing a patient. I knew other approachs such as medicinal healers and placebos were available but I did not think they had any legitimacy whatsoever. I thought that surgeries and pills were always the best way to go because the human body was “universal” across cultures and could all be treated the same way.
After taking this course I saw medicine in a whole new light! I saw evidence of placebos and a shaman at work. I saw that medicine affects people different due to their different cultural beliefs. Some people don’t believe in taking certain biomedical treatments and some medicine has even been race-specific to work differently for “black people” or “white people”. I learned how different governments make different laws due to their cultural beliefs as seen with FGM and how an “absurd” practice in the western world is necessary for initiation in other cultures.
Helpful Approaches
I hope to become a doctor in the future and I will take aspects of many of the anthropological approaches with me. I found the applied approach very interesting because I loved learning about clinical medical anthropologists. When I become a doctor someday I hope to work in rural areas. It will be very important for me to have a clinical medical anthropologist work alongside me. I want to ensure that I am providing the best care possible for my patients and that I thoroughly understand their illness experience. I want to be able to relate to my patients and make sure I can help them get the care they need.
As far as my own experience with illness goes, I feel that the experiential approach was very interesting. I felt like I learned how to better communicate with a doctor to relay information on exactly what I was feeling. It showed me that there is a “social side” to illness as well. Illness isn’t just when your body feels “off” but illness changes your interactions with the people around you. This approach also helped me understand how a patient is feeling as they express their illness narrative to me in my future endeavors of becoming a doctor.
Memorable Moments
One of the most memorable things that I learned in this class was by watching the film “Placebo: Cracking the Code” (Nicholas Humphrey 2011). I found it so interesting that people had essentially fake surgeries! Even when the patients were told that their surgery had been fake, they still felt relief from their symptoms! I had no clue that such a thing was even possible. I also really enjoyed the film “Unnatural Causes: Becoming American” (UnnaturalCausesDoc 2008). I couldn’t believe that as Latino immigrants became more American they also become sicker! It was interesting to see how much a certain culture can influence health. This documentary really shed light on just how unhealthy Americans live and how maybe we should learn from other cultures. |
This graph shows the "Latino Paradox". Latinos are in general healthier than whites but as they become more "American", their health significantly declines (Medscape 2007).
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Recommendations
As far as recommendations for other material for this class, I believe that the film Babies would be a good addition to this course. This film follows the life of four babies from very different cultural backgrounds: Mongolia, Namibia, Tokyo and San Francisco. It shows how different the rearing of a child can be but how many things are universal such as a smile and a mother’s love. (Babies 2010). Another film that would be an interesting addition to this class is The Business of Being Born. This film chronicles the maternity care system, which sheds light on the issues as to how we should view births as a society. While births are generally seen as a miraculous experience they can also turn into life threatening situations. This is relevant to many topics that we have discussed throughout the course as this film also takes into concern the business side of labor and delivery itself. (The Business of Being Born 2005). |
The movie Babies is a great example of medical anthropological studies. This movie depicts how different birthing processes are across cultures and child rearing itself. With different cultures comes vastly different practices (Psychology Today 2011).
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Values of Medical Anthropology
Medical anthropology is something that the general public doesn’t know much about. Throughout this class I have learned many valuable lessons that highlight the importance of this field. Medical anthropology critiques many aspects of modern day medicine. I believe that it is through this process that certain aspects of medicine that are usually overlooks are uncovered. These aspects are vitally important. Medical anthropology helps patients receive the best care possible. It doesn’t matter if this care is through a placebo, shaman, biotechnology, race-specific medicine, or through the power of positive thinking. What is important is that the patient gets the care they need. I believe that medical anthropology is very open to many ideas, which makes it such a unique science. Medical anthropology helps to strength the relationship between patient and healer in order to fully understand the patient---a crucial part of the treatment process.
Medical anthropology is something that the general public doesn’t know much about. Throughout this class I have learned many valuable lessons that highlight the importance of this field. Medical anthropology critiques many aspects of modern day medicine. I believe that it is through this process that certain aspects of medicine that are usually overlooks are uncovered. These aspects are vitally important. Medical anthropology helps patients receive the best care possible. It doesn’t matter if this care is through a placebo, shaman, biotechnology, race-specific medicine, or through the power of positive thinking. What is important is that the patient gets the care they need. I believe that medical anthropology is very open to many ideas, which makes it such a unique science. Medical anthropology helps to strength the relationship between patient and healer in order to fully understand the patient---a crucial part of the treatment process.
Bibliography
Babies. Directed by Thomas Balmés. France: Focus Features, 2010. DVD.
"Everybody Loves Babies." Psychology Today. Last modified January 28, 2011. http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/benign-neglect/201101/babies-the-movie
"Cardiovascular Disease Prevention and Care in Latino and Hispanic Subjects." MedScape. Last modified in 2007. http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/554685_3
“Placebo: Cracking the Code,” YouTube Video, 52:38, posted by “Nicholas Humphrey,” November 5, 2011, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvbQnMvhQFw.
The Business of Being Born. Directed by Abby Epstein. United States. 2005. DVD.
“Unnatural Causes: Becoming American,” YouTube Video, 30:09, posted by “UnaturalCausesDoc”, 2008, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpL4lkoju84&list=UUt1Df8qkClmfBpctQMoFFfA
Babies. Directed by Thomas Balmés. France: Focus Features, 2010. DVD.
"Everybody Loves Babies." Psychology Today. Last modified January 28, 2011. http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/benign-neglect/201101/babies-the-movie
"Cardiovascular Disease Prevention and Care in Latino and Hispanic Subjects." MedScape. Last modified in 2007. http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/554685_3
“Placebo: Cracking the Code,” YouTube Video, 52:38, posted by “Nicholas Humphrey,” November 5, 2011, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvbQnMvhQFw.
The Business of Being Born. Directed by Abby Epstein. United States. 2005. DVD.
“Unnatural Causes: Becoming American,” YouTube Video, 30:09, posted by “UnaturalCausesDoc”, 2008, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpL4lkoju84&list=UUt1Df8qkClmfBpctQMoFFfA