2025-2026

Medical Anthropology, Minor

Department of Anthropology

College of Social and Behavioral Sciences

Medical anthropology emphasizes complex relations between history, biology, experience, language, knowledge, interventions, institutions, and policy. Students in the Medical Anthropology Minor will learn to integrate scientific and humanistic approaches to the study of health and healing and apply their skills and understanding to solve real-world issues. Students are introduced to the methods and approaches medical anthropologists use to identify unique features and perspectives found in cultural approaches to health, illness, and healing around the world; gain in-depth understanding of health and healing as social phenomena, perceptions of the body, health, and healing in different places and contexts, and how to apply methods and approaches of medical anthropology to foster change. Electives allow students to focus on sociocultural, biocultural, biological, or other approaches in Medical Anthropology.

This plan is available for students as of Fall 2026

  • A minor is earned in conjunction with a bachelor's degree.

    To receive a minor (18 - 24 units) at Northern Arizona University, you must complete a planned group of courses from one or more subject matter areas with a cumulative grade point average of at least 2.0. At least 12 units of the minor must be unique to that minor and not applied to any other minor.

In addition to University Requirements:

  • Complete individual plan requirements.

Students may be able to use some courses to meet more than one requirement. Contact your advisor for details.

No more than fifty percent of the units used to satisfy minor requirements may be used to satisfy major requirements.

Minimum Units for Completion 18
Major GPA C
Study Abroad Optional

Purpose Statement

Medical anthropology emphasizes complex relations among history, biology, experience, language, knowledge, interventions, institutions, and policy. Students in the Medical Anthropology Minor will learn to integrate scientific and humanistic approaches to the study of health and healing and apply their skills and understanding to solve real-world issues. The Medical Anthropology Minor supports the NAU Anthropology Department's mission of engaging students to build cross-cultural awareness and to address contemporary challenges facing local and global communities. Medical Anthropology core courses and electives emphasize how health and healing, politics, kinship, the environment, and economics are interconnected.

In the core courses, students are introduced to the methods and approaches used by medical anthropologists to identify unique features and perspectives found worldwide in cultural approaches to health, illness, and healing. Students also gain an in-depth understanding of health and healing as social phenomena, perceptions of the body, health, and healing, and how to apply medical anthropology methods and approaches to foster change.

Elective courses allow students to participate in group and individual research projects, readings, discussions, and to gain skills in ethnographic research, mixed-methods research, policy evaluation, critical epidemiology, and community collaboration. The program trains undergraduate and graduate students to integrate theory and rigorous methods in the application of anthropology to real-world problems.

Medical Anthropology contributes to several career paths, such as providing healthcare workers with medical knowledge, cultural insights into human health, context about the spread of disease and treatment of illness, and compassion for patients. Medical Anthropology careers include health services directors, health and social policy analysts, health care consultants, data analysts, and medical scientists. A minor in Medical Anthropology also helps prepare pre-med and nursing students for successful careers in Nursing and Medicine.

Student Learning Outcomes

  • Use Medical Anthropology Methods and Perspectives (non-ethnocentrism, cultural realtivism, cross-cultural emphasis, and holism) to do the following:
    • Define, summarize, and analyze Medical Anthropology's core concepts, theories, methods, challenges, and major debates.
    • Describe how Medical Anthropology contributes to a greater understanding of the range of human health, medicine, and medical systems.
    • Identify past and present ethical issues in Medical Anthropology, Medicine, and the Healthcare System, and apply ethical guidelines in their education and research.
    • Identify their assumptions and evaluate how these assumptions affect their beliefs, behaviors, and their own health and healthcare interactions. 
    • Examine the complexities of contemporary global health challenges and evaluate how applied Medical Anthropological perspectives and methods can contribute to solutions to these challenges.
    • Practice and compare various methods and approaches common in Medical Anthropology, Medicine, and Health Professions through hands-on experiential learning.

Minor Requirements

  • Students enrolled in this minor may not enroll in or pursue the following due to the number of overlapping units:

Additional Information

  • Some courses may have prerequisites. For prerequisite information, click on the course or see your advisor.