What is Medical Anthropology?
Medical Anthropology is a subfield of anthropology. Medical anthropologists use four approaches in studies. The first approach is called the cultural-constructivist or interpretive approach. This approach studies how different cultures look at illness, how the culture deals with the illness, and what caused the illness. This approach also studies how different cultures understand and respond to birth and death. The second approach medical anthropologists use is called the ecological/evolutionary approach. This approach studies the adaptation of human health in different environments. The third approach is called critical anthropology and the fourth approach is called applied medical anthropology (Joralemon 2010:10). The studies of critical anthropology and applied medical anthropology approaches will be defined and related to cultural competency in other pages of this website, as well as how critical anthropology and applied medical anthropology were used or were not used while providing care to Lia Lee in Anne Fadiman's book, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures.