Reflection
This picture is a collage of what medical anthropology is about. I thought it was cool to use this picture on the reflection page since it is kind of a wrap up of everything we learned in the course.
Before taking this class I was unfamiliar with anthropology let alone medical anthropology. I now can see that anthropology is used to more accurately determine what type of cultural practices a certain population has. By knowing more about how a person or population perceives medicine will help physicians know how to approach them for treatment. I knew that we had to consider the patients views, values, and morals when treating them because I had heard that Jehovah witnesses don’t take blood transfusions and other cultures don’t believe in resuscitation. I did not know how much we really use medical anthropology in our everyday thinking in the medical field. I realized that using the six medical approaches directly can help me when working in the emergency department to more readily identify how someone perceives the illness or disease they are coming in to be evaluated for.
I think that all of the approaches are important to use. Some may be used in certain situations more than others based on appropriateness or what information is needed. For example if you need more information about how the environment reacts with a specific disease then anthropologists are going to probably use the ecological approach to tease out that information. Before learning directly about the approaches and what they were I already used the critical approach. I did this by analyzing the facts and trying to re-analyze my thoughts and opinions of how I perceived the world and diseases like lupus to decide if my opinions were accurate.
During this course I found it to be interesting that in California they are hiring traditional medicine practitioners. I like this because it caters to many different cultures and I think that this is important. I also think that it is cool that I met a physician who worked in California for a while at a hospital that provided these services. It was interesting to have read about this and then also speak with someone who was familiar with this directly. Also as a suggestion for the class I think that it would be cool to analyze a news article or something that has to deal with Michigan and apply what we know about anthropology about it.
I would describe anthropology as being a way of thinking which helps people to think critically and open minded about someone’s views. I would also tell them that in regards to medical anthropology it helps you to recognize how a patient feels about their illness and how they make sense of it. Anthropology allows people to better identify cultural, societal, and personal expectations that a person has for themselves. Using the information obtained from thinking anthropologically can make it easier to treat patients and present preventative health to a population.
I am choosing this picture of an emergency room doctor because I will be sure to use what I have learned not only at my job now but I want to take what I have learned and apply it to my future career as a physician.
Bibliography:
Accessed August 14, 2014. http://comps.canstockphoto.com/can-stock-photo_csp11804700.jpg.
Accessed August 14, 2014. http://www.matherhospital.org/cmsAdmin/uploads/ED-Doc-and-patient.jpg.
"Welcoming Shamans." The New York Times. September 18, 2009. Accessed August 14, 2014.
Accessed August 14, 2014. http://comps.canstockphoto.com/can-stock-photo_csp11804700.jpg.
Accessed August 14, 2014. http://www.matherhospital.org/cmsAdmin/uploads/ED-Doc-and-patient.jpg.
"Welcoming Shamans." The New York Times. September 18, 2009. Accessed August 14, 2014.