The picture above is pretty much a summary of what I have learned while taking this course. Medical anthropology is so much more than you think. I have always enjoyed anthropology because I love how it is the study of multiple things dealing with human kind. With anthropology as long as it deals with human, you can practically study it. Anthropology is a very open subject and it is enjoyable. Medical anthropology made it even more interesting because I am very interested in health and I figured that this class would be a great fit. I already knew that culture had a huge effect on a person and their health but this class made me push a little further and explore more things that culture could have an effect on. I was aware of biomedicine and the holistic approach from previous classes and experiences with biomedicine. I had some definitions of health, illness, medicine and culture but this class helped me to add onto those definitions. After taking this course I can honestly say that I am in love with medical anthropology and it is everything that I thought it would be and more. I have taken classes on culture within anthropology but it was not medical based and I have taken biological and medical classes and I love how this class is a combination of both. I enjoyed all approaches but the one that I found most interesting was the applied approach because it gave me a better idea of what an anthropologist can do and how they are very important to the world. Also, I enjoyed the intersections that were discussed during week six. I enjoyed this week the most because it was towards the end of the class and by this time I was very knowledgeable about medical anthropology and when I got to learn more about community health I became very excited. Community health is my main focus, in a few weeks I will be stating my master’s program in community health education so I felt like I was getting a little introduction to what I am going to learn more about. Overall, everything that I have learned in this course was very helpful; I can use everything in my future studies as well as in my life. The most memorable thing for me would have to be the quiz we took in week one as well as the film I watched called “Bad Sugar”. The quiz was very shocking because I thought that the United States would be in pretty good standing as far as health, but then I realized that with all of the processed food that we have and unhealthy restaurants, no wonder were not as close to the top as I expected us to be. With the film “Bad Sugar” I found it interesting how the Pima Native tribe all started to get diabetes. I once did a research paper about certain foods being accessed in certain areas in my LB 133 course and this film reminded me of the paper I wrote. In my IAH 207 course we read the book The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures by Anne Fadiman. I would recommend this book because during week 3 I read the article A Doctor for Disease, a Shaman for the Soul. While I was reading this article the main thing I could think of was Anne Fadiman’s book. I thought it was very sad that the main character in the book Lia Lee came to California seeking help at a hospital but due to her families beliefs of healing and treatment and they did not agree with the western’s biomedical approach she had passed away. The thing I found most interesting is how in this article in the same state, California, at the same hospital in the book now has Hmong healers. I would describe the value of medical anthropology being as important as air. You need air to survive, well if you know it or not you need medical anthropology just as much. Below is a YouTube video that discusses medical anthropology, this video stood out to me because everyone agreed that they used anthropology before they recognized it and i think that might be something that happens with everyone. I used to do the same thing but with all of my studies I am able to recognize when I am dealing with anthropology.
"The MacMillan Center Newsletter." The MacMillan Center Newsletter. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Aug. 2014.http://www.yale.edu/macmillan/newsletter_fall09/medanthro.html
Fadiman, Anne. Spirit Catches You and You Fall down. N.p.: United States : Farrar Straus and Giroux, 2002. Print.
"Unnatural Causes 4." ANP 204 Introduction to Medical Anthropology Summer 2014 Unnatural Causes 4 Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Aug. 2014.
http://anthropology.msu.edu/anp204-us14/schedule/unnatural-causes-4/
"UNNATURAL CAUSES | Action Center | CALIFORNIA NEWSREEL."UNNATURAL CAUSES | Action Center | CALIFORNIA NEWSREEL. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Aug. 2014.http://www.unnaturalcauses.org/interactivities_01-1.php
Brown, Patricia Leigh. "A Doctor For Disease, A Shaman For the Soul." The New York Times. The New York Times, 19 Sept. 2009. Web. 12 Aug. 2014.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/20/us/20shaman.html?_r=3&