Anthropologists in Medical Education in the United States: 1890s to the Present

For the past 130 years, anthropologists have worked in diverse roles in medical schools including teaching, curriculum development, community engagement, research, planning, and administration with the goal of training practitioners and changing health outcomes. However, the history of anthropology in medical education and the training of physicians has not been published in one place and are often unknown to anthropologists entering the field of medical education, as well as physicians and medical school administrators. While a comprehensive history of anthropologists in medical education is beyond the scope of a single chapter, we identify the phases, trends, and continuous themes of how anthropologists have engaged in the training of physicians, medical school curriculum, and management. We touch upon major time periods in this history, including 1892 through the 1960s which saw a shift from physical to cultural anthropology. Foundations of theoretical models and community studies were developed in the 1970s. The 1980s focused on clinical anthropology, leading to diverse contemporary roles and engagements. We situate the contributions of anthropologists in the larger context of the political, economic, and technological developments of health care systems. Understanding historical changes in medical education provides a foundation for the book chapters which offer contemporary examples.