I believe that it is the task of social science to produce nuanced and people-centered forms of knowledge, correcting asymmetries of information and helping to promote, to the best of our ability, informed consent, human protection, and safety in medical and research settings.”
― Adriana Petryna, When Experiments Travel: Clinical Trials and the Global Search for Human Subjects
Pre-Medical Anthropology Class
Medical anthropology is very intriguing and interesting. Before taking this class, I had worked with a medical anthropologist here at MSU on a research grant focusing on type II diabetes and hypertension within ethnicities. My involvement was very basic (transcribing patient/doctor interviews) so I was unaware of the depth of the application. It did, however, get me interested in anthropology in general. It made me question how our society handles illnesses and diseases. Before taking this class, I found myself asking how do we make health care applicable to different cultures within our country and doing it ethically? It seems with all of the political issues going on right now, it was a realistic question to ask that very much so effects our daily lives.
Post-Medical Anthropology Class
Throughout this quick but informational class, I’ve learned how important the relationship between culture and medicine truly are. It seems that anthropological approaches to illness can enhance a person’s experience and create trust and understanding.
Anthropological Preferred Approach
I am partial to the ecological approach. I think it’s helpful because it incorporates how humans deal with their illnesses in their environment. All aspects of life are included because every ecosystems' goal is to maintain balance and the ecological approach enables us to evaluate what happened and how things got out of sync. I think this approach is most helpful because changes in environment can really impact a person’s health and can help with diagnosis and/or treatment. For example when there are negative changes in the environment like natural disasters or pollution or positive changes like irrigation systems, we can collect information on how that has affected the surrounding population and go from there when diagnosing. When looking at PTSD, one would definitely focus on the environment to determine what can be done to improve quality of life. PTSD is a result of a traumatic experience so ensuring the sufferer removes themselves from a negative environment is an important part of coping.
Most Shocking and Memorable
The most shocking aspect of this class was learning about eugenics in our country. Eugenics being defined as the study or belief in the possibility of improving the qualities of the human species or a population, especially by such means as discouraging reproduction by persons having genetic defects or presumed to have inheritable undesirable traits or encouraging reproduction by persons presumed to have inheritable desirable traits (dictionary). After watching the video below, I was appalled by the procedures being practiced for such a long time on citizens that were unknowing and un-consenting. Situations like these are what gives people such poor trust with their health care professionals and their government. In North Carolina, they were sterilizing young girls based on what social workers reported. They decided whether or not a child or adult, man or woman, should be sterilized to control the poverty and use of welfare. It is unconscionable to think that this happened less than 50 years ago in the 1970s. Recently, North Carolina budgeted 10 million dollars to compensate living victims (Compensate). Our history is very checked, much like other countries, but it’s just so sad to think that people have gone through this for so long.
Medical anthropology is very intriguing and interesting. Before taking this class, I had worked with a medical anthropologist here at MSU on a research grant focusing on type II diabetes and hypertension within ethnicities. My involvement was very basic (transcribing patient/doctor interviews) so I was unaware of the depth of the application. It did, however, get me interested in anthropology in general. It made me question how our society handles illnesses and diseases. Before taking this class, I found myself asking how do we make health care applicable to different cultures within our country and doing it ethically? It seems with all of the political issues going on right now, it was a realistic question to ask that very much so effects our daily lives.
Post-Medical Anthropology Class
Throughout this quick but informational class, I’ve learned how important the relationship between culture and medicine truly are. It seems that anthropological approaches to illness can enhance a person’s experience and create trust and understanding.
Anthropological Preferred Approach
I am partial to the ecological approach. I think it’s helpful because it incorporates how humans deal with their illnesses in their environment. All aspects of life are included because every ecosystems' goal is to maintain balance and the ecological approach enables us to evaluate what happened and how things got out of sync. I think this approach is most helpful because changes in environment can really impact a person’s health and can help with diagnosis and/or treatment. For example when there are negative changes in the environment like natural disasters or pollution or positive changes like irrigation systems, we can collect information on how that has affected the surrounding population and go from there when diagnosing. When looking at PTSD, one would definitely focus on the environment to determine what can be done to improve quality of life. PTSD is a result of a traumatic experience so ensuring the sufferer removes themselves from a negative environment is an important part of coping.
Most Shocking and Memorable
The most shocking aspect of this class was learning about eugenics in our country. Eugenics being defined as the study or belief in the possibility of improving the qualities of the human species or a population, especially by such means as discouraging reproduction by persons having genetic defects or presumed to have inheritable undesirable traits or encouraging reproduction by persons presumed to have inheritable desirable traits (dictionary). After watching the video below, I was appalled by the procedures being practiced for such a long time on citizens that were unknowing and un-consenting. Situations like these are what gives people such poor trust with their health care professionals and their government. In North Carolina, they were sterilizing young girls based on what social workers reported. They decided whether or not a child or adult, man or woman, should be sterilized to control the poverty and use of welfare. It is unconscionable to think that this happened less than 50 years ago in the 1970s. Recently, North Carolina budgeted 10 million dollars to compensate living victims (Compensate). Our history is very checked, much like other countries, but it’s just so sad to think that people have gone through this for so long.
Recommendations
I don’t have many recommendations of other films. I think more involvement from medical anthropologists on campus and their research would be interesting. Some interviews from them or documents of their data and findings would be interesting, especially because it will be so local and students would be directly impacted from these findings. Otherwise, I really enjoyed most of the readings and videos.
Medical Anthropology
I would describe medical anthropology as marriage between the medical world and culture/society. Although, not laden with too much medical terminology, it is very much a scientific class that isn’t easy but involves more than just big words and biology. I think that medical anthropology should be required for doctors to take in general to see how important the cultural aspect is when treating people.
I don’t have many recommendations of other films. I think more involvement from medical anthropologists on campus and their research would be interesting. Some interviews from them or documents of their data and findings would be interesting, especially because it will be so local and students would be directly impacted from these findings. Otherwise, I really enjoyed most of the readings and videos.
Medical Anthropology
I would describe medical anthropology as marriage between the medical world and culture/society. Although, not laden with too much medical terminology, it is very much a scientific class that isn’t easy but involves more than just big words and biology. I think that medical anthropology should be required for doctors to take in general to see how important the cultural aspect is when treating people.
REFERENCES
"Dictionary." Dictionary.com. Accessed August 13, 2014. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/eugenics.
Eugenicist Movement in America: Victims Coming Forward. video. Rock Center with Brian Williams. 2011.
Lombardo, Paul, and Peter Hardin. "Compensate Eugenic Sterilization Victims: Column." USA Today. August 21, 2013. Accessed August 13, 2014. http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/08/21/eugenics-north-carolina-column/2662317/.
Petryna, Adriana. When Experiments Travel: Clinical Trials and the Global Search for Human Subjects. No ed. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2009. 258.
"Dictionary." Dictionary.com. Accessed August 13, 2014. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/eugenics.
Eugenicist Movement in America: Victims Coming Forward. video. Rock Center with Brian Williams. 2011.
Lombardo, Paul, and Peter Hardin. "Compensate Eugenic Sterilization Victims: Column." USA Today. August 21, 2013. Accessed August 13, 2014. http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/08/21/eugenics-north-carolina-column/2662317/.
Petryna, Adriana. When Experiments Travel: Clinical Trials and the Global Search for Human Subjects. No ed. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2009. 258.