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The University of Edinburgh: Medical Anthropology

Institution The University of Edinburgh View institution profile
Department School of Social and Political Science
Web https://www.ed.ac.uk/studying
Study type Taught

Summary

Medical anthropologists explore a wide range of medical practices, including both performative forms of healing (e.g. shamanism) and the newest biomedical technologies. Medical anthropologists are working in diverse fields:

  • academic research

  • global health organisations

  • health-focused NGOs

Concepts and methodologies from medical anthropology have become essential in all areas of global health research.

Our MSc in Medical Anthropology will allow you to engage with the field's distinctive approach to health and medicine. It takes you away from the idea that there is only one standardised 'best practice' by showing an astounding diversity of therapeutic methods, ideas of disease causation, healer personalities, and spaces for healing.

This programme studies health, illness and healing from a cross-cultural perspective.

With a focus on the understanding of health, illness and medicine in a globalised world, this programme allows you to engage with contemporary debates about old ills and emerging diseases. You will explore both traditional forms of healing and modern medical technologies.

You will examine key questions in current medical anthropology from the perspective of both medical and social sciences, and address relevant issues, such as:

  • the way encounters between patients and professional healers are negotiated in varied cultural settings

  • the importance of political, economic and historical analysis to an understanding of the body

  • the health-related effects of globalisation

The programme works in close collaboration with the Global Public Health Unit and other subjects in the School of Social and Political Science. It is also affiliated with the University's Global Health Academy.

Who this programme is for

Intended for a diverse range of students, this distinctive and interdisciplinary programme will complement your background in anthropology or health sciences.

The programme also acts as a conversion MSc for those without training in anthropology who wish to progress to a research career.

MSc

Edinburgh University

Edinburgh. Extraordinary futures await.

The University of Edinburgh is one of the world's top universities, consistently ranked in the world top 50, and placed 34th in the QS World University Rankings 2026.

Our position as one of Britain’s leading research universities was reaffirmed by the results of the 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF). The University of Edinburgh is one of the world’s top research-intensive universities, ranked 4th in the UK for research power (Times Higher Education, Overall Ranking of Institutions), with 90% of our research activity classified as world leading or internationally excellent in the 2021 Research …

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