SMA Interest Groups (home)

Meet the SMA Presidents: Hot Medanth Topics, Skills, Opportunities
Society for Medical Anthropology (SMA) & Medical Anthropology Students Association (MASA)
Thursday, March 30, 2006, Vancouver, Society for Applied Anthropology (SfAA) Annual Meeting
Session notes compiled by Namino Glantz (www.HealthandCulture.org)

In this timely session, the current president and four past presidents of the SMA shared insight about:

progress medical anthropology has made in getting organized as a legitimate and useful (i.e. employable) source of human capital;
in-demand areas of thematic expertise within medical anthropology;
where the medical anthropology jobs are (academia, public sector, private sector);
up-and-coming areas of medical anthropology practice (non-academic);
crucial skills for medical anthropologists to develop; and
suggestions as to how students can take advantage of and contribute to MASA, SMA, SfAA etc.

Interest in medical anthropology is burgeoning. About 1,800 people participated in the SfAAs this year. The SMA, with approximately 1,350 members, is the largest specialized society in the SfAA. Medical anthropology is interdisciplinary in nature, and we are working at the intersections of many up and coming disciplines.
Top Ten Picks -- In-demand areas of thematic expertise where anthropologists might profitably receive training across disciplines:
Global public health: via work in global health and development agencies (e.g. Ford Foundation), NGOs (e.g. Partners-in-Health). Helpful to have an MPH for this.
Gender studies: especially masculinity and LGBT and health.
Science & Technology Studies (STS): the study of the production and consumption of science, including science, technology & medicine. STS meetings in November.
Genetics/Genomics: e.g. Human Genome Project, genetics and assistive reproduction.
Medical history: history and social science of medicine.
Occupational therapy: how people (especially disabled individuals) work in their spaces.
Social work: was practice-based and is now getting professionalized and academic. MSW is helpful.
Bioethics: teaching medical ethics, cross-cultural moral systems. Most of those teaching currently are lawyers.
Public policy
Area studies: be an expert in a particular geographic region, learn the language, do some long-term immersive fieldwork.

Shared examples of how medical anthropology has become more organized and gained standing as a legitimate and useful (i.e. employable) source of human capital.
Let’s not lose sight of CULTURE.
William Dressler (U. Alabama, wdressle@as.ua.edu)
Students should use the SMA for professional socialization, networking
Mixed news about employment in medical anthropology:
Good news: The professorate is aging, and so many will be retiring soon.
Bad news: Tenure track trends may lose out to the business track model.
Good news: There are non-academic jobs in the public sector. Medical anthropology is gaining respect, for example in state public health departments.
Bad news: Bush.
Good news: There are jobs in the private sector.
So, there is a premium on flexible skills, interdisciplinary training, ability to integrate quantitative and qualitative, communicate across methods.

8 areas of practicing (vs. academic) anthropology by which we can not only find gainful employment but also induce productive change in society:
Translational research: translate scientific information for the public, e.g. representations of risk in public, private, and news media.
Tracking dissemination and flow of information: study networks, what information is deemed credible, etc.
Training and evaluation in schools of complementary & alternative medicine among medical technicians and alternative providers
Monitoring and evaluation: so much tax $ is spent on projects that don’t make sense. Need to evaluate behavior change intervention in real time.
Consumer behavior, marketing practice, and health outcomes, e.g. using GIS
Clinical trials: how they are done in different countries, engage ethics proactively, not just criticize.
Companies are interested in avoiding bad PR.
Occupational health: e.g. working conditions and cultures, effects of shift work on employees and their families.
Health and healthcare transition/demography, political economy, impact of changes in government programs. Be proactive!
MASA (the SMA student component) is a community of practice with camaraderie, support, resources, exchange, website, H-net listserv… BUT students have to contribute!
Suggestion: A practice-based network, e.g. do a large study, either with a large N, taking smaller samples from multiple sites, or do comparative work. (NSF would love this.)

Crucial skills for today’s medical anthropologists to develop:
Because global health is now controlled more by super-NGOs/GOs (rather than the academy), you need to be able to work on teams.
Critique dominant discourses in a “nice” way. Learn how to frame messages.
“Know lots of stuff.”
Methods, methods, methods, which are important in both academic and applied contexts.
Practice, practice, practice in an applied setting.
Understand the biology and the technological means of looking at the body.
How students can take advantage of and contribute to MASA, SMA, SfAA:
Use the AAA job market resources.
Use the SMA website (www.medanthro.net) and the Yahoo medanth group (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/medanthro_students/)
Take advantages of postdocs (e.g. Robert Wood Johnson, Kellogg).
Write, review, share experiences regarding grants.
Learn the culture of NIH, et al.
Take courses in other departments.
Develop/revamp the MASA student directory.