ANTH Medical and Applied Anthropology 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What branch of anthropology examines how culture, social conditions, and biology interact to shape health, illness, and medical practices?
- Medical anthropology (Correct answer)
- Biological anthropology
- Applied anthropology
- Cognitive anthropology
Correct answer: Medical anthropology
Medical anthropology is a subfield that studies how biological, cultural, social, and environmental factors influence health and healing across cultures.
Question 2: What term refers to an illness as experienced and interpreted by the patient and their community, as opposed to the biomedical diagnosis?
- Illness (Correct answer)
- Disease
- Sickness
- Affliction
Correct answer: Illness
In medical anthropology, 'illness' refers to the subjective human experience and cultural interpretation of a health problem, distinct from the biomedical concept of 'disease.'
Question 3: Which concept in medical anthropology refers to culturally specific explanations for why illness occurs and how it should be treated?
- Explanatory model (Correct answer)
- Biomedical model
- Humoral theory
- Germ theory
Correct answer: Explanatory model
Explanatory models (introduced by Arthur Kleinman) are the notions that patients, families, and healers use to make sense of a particular illness episode.
Question 4: What is 'ethnomedical' knowledge?
- Traditional healing knowledge and practices specific to a particular cultural group (Correct answer)
- Modern biomedical knowledge applied cross-culturally
- Scientific knowledge about ethnic health disparities
- Pharmaceutical knowledge derived from indigenous plants
Correct answer: Traditional healing knowledge and practices specific to a particular cultural group
Ethnomedical knowledge encompasses the healing beliefs, practices, and systems developed within specific cultural traditions.
Question 5: Applied anthropology that specifically works with communities to improve health outcomes and health care delivery is known as:
- Medical anthropology in practice (Correct answer)
- Ethnopharmacology
- Clinical ecology
- Health sociology
Correct answer: Medical anthropology in practice
Medical anthropology in practice (applied medical anthropology) uses anthropological methods and theory to address real-world health problems in communities.
Question 6: Which term describes the phenomenon whereby social and cultural factors produce systematic differences in health outcomes between population groups?
- Health disparities (Correct answer)
- Epidemiological transition
- Sickness behavior
- Structural violence
Correct answer: Health disparities
Health disparities refer to preventable differences in disease burden, injury, and access to health care experienced by socially disadvantaged populations.
ANTH Medical and Applied Anthropology 1
What branch of anthropology examines how culture, social conditions, and biology interact to shape health, illness, and medical practices?