Medical Anthropology

Medical anthropology is a subfield of social and cultural anthropology. It is a term which has been used since 1963 (Scotch, Norman A. (1963) Medical Anthropology. Introduction. Biennial Review of Anthropology) as a label for empirical research and theoretical production by anthropologists into the social processes and cultural representations of health, illness and the nursing/care practices associated with these. Furthermore, in Europe the terms “anthropology of medicine”, “anthropology of health” and “anthropology of illness” have also been used, and “medical anthropology”, was also a translation of the nineteenth century Dutch term "medische anthropologie". This term was chosen by some authors during the 1940s to refer to philosophical studies on health and illness (See Laín Entralgo, Pedro (1968) El estado de enfermedad. Esbozo de un capítulo de una posible antropología médica. Madrid, Moneda y Credito