The Medical Anthropology master’s program at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine admitted its first cohort in the Fall of 2009. It is our mission to educate and support students to develop their strengths as reflective, resourceful medical anthropologists and individuals, through in-depth training in the theories and methods of medical anthropology and cross-cultural practice, as well as through faculty investment in students’ own research commitments and career goals.
We pride ourselves in providing the following features. Together, they make our program unique.
Highly personalized mentoring and support
Our program provides students with:
Focused, personalized advising tailored to students’ individual career goals;
High faculty-to-student ratio with easy access to advisers and other faculty;
Core faculty who teach required seminars and many of the program’s electives;
Close-knit program community, with periodic whole-program gatherings organized by faculty and students.
I think the biggest reason this program is so great is how small and personalized it is. I’m already amazed by how much I’ve been in personal contact with the various faculty members and how willing everyone is to be helpful and ensure that each student is extracting and growing from the program in the way they want. – Program Alumnus
Dedication to student career and professional development
Our program is geared toward professional-development and career planning, beginning at the point of admission, during the program and after graduation.
Over the summer before you start your coursework, your advisor will work with you to identify potential sites for your service-learning internship. We will draw on our contacts and connections throughout the Medical Center and the city to help you develop your placement and design a learning agreement.
We will help you identify and select elective courses that will support your specific objectives. Additionally, in the required courses, you will focus your projects in ways that enrich your expertise in your chosen area. We will think together with you about the role each choice might play in your career development and the building of your professional portfolio. You will be expected to meet with your advisor once a month.
The program faculty meet weekly. We review the needs of each individual student, so that we can work effectively as a teaching team to address the different facets of students’ needs.
We make the development of a professional portfolio and network a program requirement, and we run a closed Facebook group for all faculty, current students, and alumnae/i as a rich resource for networking and the ongoing sharing of knowledge, experience, and opportunities across cohorts.
We remain committed to ongoing mentoring and career support for program alumnae/i throughout their careers.
Anthropologists have a wide range of career options. The versatility of our program allows you to prepare for the one you choose
The American Anthropological Association points to four broad career areas for anthropologists: Academic, Corporate and Business, Government, and Non-profit and Community-based.
Our graduates have successfully entered and advanced their careers in every one of these fields. For specifics, check out our Graduate Outcomes page.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics provides employment data that you may want to review to assess the job market.
Emphasis on Applied Anthropology, Community-Based Participatory Research, and advocacy work
We prioritize Applied Anthropology, along with Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR), and advocacy work.
Applied Anthropology involves using your training to address practical problems. You can do this in the context of local communities, advocacy agencies, consulting groups, government services, NGOs, and businesses, among others.
Training in Applied Anthropology will prepare you to do research and project management, program evaluation and needs assessment, community advocacy, cultural brokering, consulting, or policy analysis.
Community-Based Participatory Research is a “collaborative approach to research that equitably involves all partners in the research process and recognizes the unique strengths that each brings. CBPR begins with a research topic of importance to the community, has the aim of combining knowledge with action and achieving social change to improve health outcomes and eliminate health disparities.” — WK Kellogg Foundation Community Health Scholars Program
The Applied Anthropologist is a change agent. We train you to take your commitments and build the skills necessary to working with others to bring about these kinds of change.
The two leading professional organizations for Applied Anthropology are:
The 2020 U.S. News & World Reportrankings of the nation’s best graduate schools place Boston University School of Medicine at No. 38 in primary care and No. 32 in research.
As a world-class research university, Boston University has graduate schools and programs in Communication, Engineering, Global Studies, Medical Sciences, Arts & Sciences, Business, Law, Public Health, Social Work, and Education. Our program lets you take advantage of these academic resources: You can take up to 12 elective credits anywhere at the university. That’s one-fifth of your whole program!
In addition to working closely with program faculty on your thesis research, you can engage faculty from anywhere in the university as mentors and thesis advisers.
You can customize your interdisciplinary track to prepare you for a career in academia, or in fields like non-profit and community-based organizations, healthcare consulting, business, and/or government.
The program also provides the option of interdisciplinary training in the cross-cultural study of religions, medicines, and healing, with faculty (Barnes and Laird) who are leaders in the field.
The wide range of our students’ thesis titles illustrates the customized and interdisciplinary nature of their training.
The prioritizing of experiential training through a service-learning internship, fieldwork, and original research
Service Learning Internship: Our campus is at a juncture between the neighborhoods of Roxbury and Dorchester, home to many of Boston’s historic minority and more recent New American immigrant communities. The cultural richness of our location is illustrated by the number of languages spoken in the surrounding neighborhoods—Spanish, Chinese, Haitian Creole, Portuguese and Vietnamese, for example.
Our long-term relationships with local neighborhood health centers, agencies, and advocacy groups support identifying site prospects directly related to your research and career commitments.
You will do a volunteer service-learning internship with a local community, organization, or clinical setting related to your own research commitments and career goals during your first year. You will spend at least 250 hours at this site.
Your internship provides an opportunity to learn how to conduct Community-Based Participatory Research.
We prioritize research that promotes engagement and activism, and that empowers individuals, families, and communities.
Intensive Summer Fieldwork: The internship program is followed by a mentored intensive three-month summer fieldwork experience at your field site.
Together, the internship and fieldwork can let you spend at close to a year engaged in your field site.
If you conduct your internship and fieldwork with local group or community—including refugee and immigrant groups—you will learn the local dimensions of global health.
Original Research: You will study research methods, develop an original research question, write an Institutional Review Board research protocol, interpret your data and apply theoretical analysis, write up your findings as a master’s thesis, and as a manuscript that you can submit for publication.
