{"id":13524,"date":"2013-07-12T10:19:27","date_gmt":"2013-07-12T14:19:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/?p=13524"},"modified":"2013-07-25T09:51:51","modified_gmt":"2013-07-25T13:51:51","slug":"spotlight-on-faculty-dr-barnes-and-dr-laird","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/2013\/07\/12\/spotlight-on-faculty-dr-barnes-and-dr-laird\/","title":{"rendered":"Spotlight on Faculty: Dr. Barnes and Dr. Laird"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Dr.<\/a>Medicine is not always about hospitals and biomedical research.\u00a0 For this reason, Dr. Linda Barnes and Dr. Lance Laird worked to create the Medical Anthropology and Cross Cultural Practices (MACCP) program here at BUSM.\u00a0 A \u201cprogram by design,\u201d students in this program experience a new way of examining medicine and the process of health and healing in cultures from around the world, particularly as these cultures have entered the United States.<\/p>\n

Can you tell me a little about the MACCP program?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dr. Barnes<\/span>: Medical Anthropology is a branch of cultural anthropology.\u00a0 The field focuses on how cultures view and respond to sickness, suffering, healing, and medicine.\u00a0 The MACCP program highlights four areas:\u00a0 1) We take students through the practical skills required to practice medical anthropology after graduation.\u00a0 They design a fully detailed study, participate in field work, and learn how to write for various audiences, in addition to receiving training in specific professional skills. 2) The students also gain solid training in theoretical analysis and its application to their data.\u00a0 3) Our program teaches students how to develop a study within a local community or group.\u00a0 While medical anthropology often focuses on global health overseas, our program teaches students to relate global health to Boston.\u00a0 4) Finally, this program offers students the chance to customize their program.\u00a0 In addition to core required courses, students choose their electives from offerings throughout the university, to fulfill their long-term goals.\u00a0 Because the program is so customized, it is a small program, ensuring a lot of one-on-one interaction with the faculty.<\/p>\n

Dr. Laird<\/span>:\u00a0 MACCP is not only about how cultures view health issues, but also how they define health.\u00a0 It is important to remember that a culture does not have to be foreign or ethnic.\u00a0 Our program examines the cultural views of mainstream biomedical science to understand the people who work in healthcare within the local community.\u00a0 After studying world-view assumptions of medical sciences, we can better understand how a culture influences professions and professionals.\u00a0 For instance, what beliefs, values, or norms is a physician considering when he or she prescribes the HPV vaccination or an anti-depressant to a patient?\u00a0 We study the cultures of the clinic.<\/p>\n

What kind of career do students in the MACCP program pursue after earning their degree?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dr. Barnes<\/span>: Our students have a variety of backgrounds and experiences.\u00a0 The element that ties them together is their willingness and ability to \u201csee outside the box.\u201d\u00a0 Some students have completed pre-medical tracks during their undergraduate education and want to continue on to medical school with a different perspective.\u00a0 Others have an anthropology background, but want to focus in on medical anthropology.\u00a0 Some students have heard about the field of medical anthropology but don\u2019t yet have the necessary knowledge and experience to pursue a Ph.D. program.\u00a0 Others are drawn to public health kinds of careers, but want to focus on a more localized population using anthropological methods.<\/p>\n

Dr. Laird<\/span>: It is important to recognize that the program focuses on cross-cultural practices as well as medical anthropology.\u00a0 Students will learn how medicine is practiced in many different cultures.\u00a0 We often have public health students enrolled in our classes.<\/p>\n

How did you become an educator?\u00a0 Is there any research in your field you are working on?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dr. Barnes<\/span>: I was trained at Harvard in an interdisciplinary program that combined medical anthropology and world religions.\u00a0 My research focuses on Chinese medicine and healing traditions, how these came to Boston, and how they have spread throughout the United States.\u00a0 I have worked extensively with the Boston Healing Landscape Project, which was the basis for our Masters program.<\/p>\n

Dr. Laird<\/span>: As a graduate student at Harvard, I studied Islamic Studies and Christian-Muslim Relations, and I also received training in anthropology to better understand religious boundaries.\u00a0 I taught out West after completing graduate school, and it was the interdisciplinary class \u201cBody, Mind, and Soul,\u201d taught by a ballet instructor, psychologist, and myself, a comparative religion instructor, that I became interested in how religion is expressed through the body.\u00a0 It was a profound experience to watch as students danced to express a serious illness.\u00a0 After five years, I moved to Boston with my family, and Dr. Barnes invited me into the BU community.\u00a0 Currently, I am researching the Muslim community, focusing on the healing practices and spiritual needs of Muslim patients and providers and reaching out to improve the overall health of this community.<\/p>\n

What advice would you give to GMS students regarding courses, or in general?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dr. Barnes<\/span>: You can pretty much do anything you really want to do, as long as you find someone to sign off on it.\u00a0 If you have a good idea, there should be a way to do it.\u00a0 Take the extra steps and jump through the hoops if that is what it takes.\u00a0 Such a philosophy provides an approach for an interesting life and career.\u00a0 Similarly, be passionate about the field in which you are working.\u00a0 There is a difficult job market right now, and life does not always go in straight lines.\u00a0 Nothing happens immediately, and you will need the passion to carry you through the difficult times.\u00a0 Work closely with your advisor, your peers, and the faculty to take full advantage of your education.\u00a0 Be sure to think long-term, particularly when choosing your electives.<\/p>\n

Dr. Laird<\/span>: Be prepared to work hard, and challenge yourself to see the world through others\u2019 eyes.\u00a0 Examine your blind spots and think outside the box of traditional medical sciences.\u00a0 Find support in the BU community, the program, and among your faculty and peers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Medicine is not always about hospitals and biomedical research.\u00a0 For this reason, Dr. Linda Barnes and Dr. Lance Laird worked to create the Medical Anthropology and Cross Cultural Practices (MACCP) program here at BUSM.\u00a0 A \u201cprogram by design,\u201d students in this program experience a new way of examining medicine and the process of health and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3330,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1535],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13524"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3330"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13524"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13524\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13529,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13524\/revisions\/13529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}