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Brunel was the first University in Europe to establish a Master's degree in Medical Anthropology, and since then we have continued to develop our programme to reflect the changing world in which we live. In short, Medical Anthropology can be described as the study of cultural beliefs and practices associated with the origin, recognition and management of health and illness in different social and cultural groups. Literally hundreds of students doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, social workers and other medical professionals among them can testify to the quality of our programme, having used it either to enhance their professional practice, to change career or to develop their research interests for future studies.
Aims
The degree aims to equip students with a broad, general understanding of anthropology and how it might be applied to medical and health-related problems. Through the close study of key texts in medical anthropology, the original fieldwork experiences of your lecturers, and through designing and undertaking (with our guidance) your own research project, you will also develop a deeper understanding of how peoples ideas about the world as well as the structural constraints within which they find themselves have an impact on their understanding and experience of often taken-for-granted ideas about health, sickness and disease. If youve wondered about some or all of the questions below all of which are addressed in the degree this could be the course for you:
* How does poverty contribute to the profiles of diseases such as diabetes and tuberculosis?
* Why are some diseases, such as leprosy or AIDS/HIV, feared and stigmatized? ?
* Why do some biomedical interventions seeking to control infectious and non-infectious diseases work, and others fail?
* What might stop some patients seeking conventional treatments for cancers and other other conditions even when they are offered for free despite the apparent efficacy of the medicines available?
* How does one make the distinction between the healthy and the pathological? Is being disabled, for example, always a negative state, or might some consider it just another, equally valid, way of being?
* What are the effects of political, economic and other social conditions on peoples experiences of what, from a biomedical perspective, might be considered the same diseases?
* How and why is it appropriate to combine insights emerging from clinical and epidemiological research with ethnographic understandings of health, illness and disease?
The Brunel MSc addresses these issues and more in a lively and challenging way, through a programme of lectures, class discussions, and your own personally directed final dissertation research project.
The main objectives of the course are to provide a rigorous grounding in key topics and perspectives in medical anthropology, and to equip candidates with a range of research skills to enable them successfully to complete research.To achieve this, students need to accrue 180 credits, made up from two core compulsory modules (30 credits each) that between them cover the foundations of Medical Anthropology; a two-term module in ethnographic research methods (30 credits) that prepares students for their own research projects; a dissertation (60 credits); and two shorter modules (15 credits each) selected from a range of relevant options. Students without a background in anthropology are also offered introductory modules in anthropological theory, and many students also opt to audit additional modules without credit to enhance their skills and make the most of the learning opportunities on offer.
In respect of the dissertation, a supervisor is appointed to all students during the second term, as the project proposals take shape, and he or she will work closely with you on everything from planning and executing your research to writing up your dissertation of between 10,000-15,000 words. Students have undertaken a huge range of important studies for dissertations in Britain, Europe and worldwide. Many have been used by NGOs, primary care trusts and UN agencies to assist their work as well as giving excellent demonstrations of the anthropologist's craft. Some recent examples of students' dissertations include:
* The management of Alzheimer's disease in West London
* Maternal health and child birth in a Nepalese village clinic
* The relationship between nurses and doctors in managing primary care
* Cultural aspects of the management of premature babies
* The everyday implications of UN and WHO health care goals for people in rural Uganda
* Private experiences and public encounters: selfhood and personhood amidst the chaos of homelessness
* Life in a government-run leprosy colony in Nepal
* An exploration into the role of girls abducted during the war in Sierra Leone;
* "This time I'm going to God because it doesn't cost money": managing mental illness and madness in Uganda
Modules are subject to variation and students are advised to check with the School on whether a particular module of interest will be running in their year of entry.
Full-time
* Dissertation in Medical Anthropology (60 credits)
Term 1 (September to December)
* Ethnographic Research Methods 1 (15 credits)
* Compulsory Reading Module: Political and Economic Issues in Anthropology (0 credits)
* Medical Anthropology in Clinical and Community Settings (30 credits)
Term 2 (January to April)
* Ethnographic Research Methods 2 (15 credits)
* Global Health in Anthropological Perspective OR Disability and Difference (30 credits)
* Compulsory Reading Module: Contemporary Anthropological Theory (0 credits)
Plus 30 credits from:
Term 1 (September to December)
* The Anthropology of the Body (15 credits)
* Ethnicity, Culture and Identity (15 credits)
Term 2 (January to April)
* Anthropology of the Person (15 credits)
* Kinship, Sex and Gender (15 credits)
Part-time
Year 1
Term 1 (September to December)
* Compulsory Reading Module: Political and Economic Issues in Anthropology (0 credits)
* Medical Anthropology in Clinical and Community Settings (30 credits)
Term 2 (January to April)
* Global Health in Anthropological Perspective OR Disability and Difference (30 credits)
* Compulsory Reading Module: Contemporary Anthropological Theory (0 credits)
Year 2
* Dissertation in Medical Anthropology (60 credits)
Term 1 (September to December)
* Ethnographic Research Methods 1 (15 credits)
Term 2 (January to April)
* Ethnographic Research Methods 2 (15 credits)
Plus 30 credits from:
Term 1 (September to December)
* The Anthropology of the Body (15 credits)
* Ethnicity, Culture and Identity (15 credits)
Term 2 (January to April)
* Anthropology of the Person (15 credits)
* Kinship, Sex and Gender (15 credits)
The Brunel International Scholarship
The Brunel International Scholarship is an annual award scheme designed to promote talent and encourage excellence in scholars coming to Brunel from around the globe.
For more details please visit:
Cecil Helman Scholarship Fund
The Cecil Helman Scholarship Fund was set up to honour the life and work of Professor Cecil Helman (1944-2009), a leading light in international medical anthropology. The scholarship aims to provide fieldwork support for between two and four students currently enrolled in the MSc in Medical Anthropology at Brunel University. At Brunel, all our Masters degrees (whether full- or part-time) combine intensive coursework, year-long training in ethnographic research methods, and up to two months fieldwork leading to a dissertation.
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