Find out more about studying Medical Anthropology MSc at Brunel University of London? We've gathered all the key details, entry requirements, modules, fees, and more. Take the next step by booking an open day to explore it for yourself.
MSc - Master of Science
Brunel University of London
Part Time
Sep 2026
2 Year
This course is for you if you work in medicine or allied fields and want to learn more about how illness and wellness are considered in difference cultures, anthropology is an ideal route to greater understanding.Medical anthropology is the study of cultural beliefs and practices associated with the origin, recognition and management of health and illness in different social and cultural groups.Brunel was the first university in Europe to establish a master's degree in medical anthropology and since then has continued to develop the course to reflect the changing world in which we live.The Medical Anthropology MSc will equip you with a broad, general understanding of anthropology and how it might be applied to medical and health-related problems.You will develop a deeper understanding of how people’s ideas about the world, as well as the structural constraints within which they find themselves, have an impact on their understanding and experience of health, sickness and disease.You’ll achieve this through close study of key texts in medical anthropology, the original fieldwork experiences of your lecturers, and through designing and undertaking your own research project.The course will address questions such as: 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 conditions – even when they are offered for free – despite the apparent efficacy of the medicines available?. Students take the opportunity of fieldwork to travel to a wide variety of locations across the world that have included India, Mexico, Bolivia, Papua New Guinea, China, Nepal, Peru, Morocco, and New Zealand as well as in the UK and the rest of Europe.
To bring perspectives derived from the taught modules to bear upon an issue of research interest to the student in the domain of the programme title: i.e. the dissertation should reflect a specifically ethnographic approach to research and analysis. Primary research data are to be derived primarily from participant observer study in a field site chosen by the student, supplemented by other research methods such as interviews, ethnographic tasks etc. The object of the dissertation is twofold: (i) to analyse an issue or problem that arises out of the data gathered during fieldwork; and (ii) to show how this analysis is warranted by the field data and how it relates to relevant literature in (and to other research in) this area.
To introduce students to the methods employed by anthropologists when undertaking ethnographic research and to prepare students for the field research on which their dissertations will be based.
This module aims to provide a theoretical introduction to the anthropological study of global health. It will provide students with a detailed insight into the ways in which medical anthropology can contribute towards the critique of existing interventions in the field of global health and with a detailed insight into the construction of global; health problems such as plagues and epidemics Finally, it will assess a range of ethnography and theory bearing on issues pertaining to global health, enabling students to bring a comparative perspective to familiar problems.
Delve into the contemporary texts that have contributed to the development of medical anthropology as you consider its innovations and how the application of anthropological research in the subject can contribute to improving medical practices.
Brunel University of London, founded in 1966, is a leading technology university renowned for its education and research...
