Participatory anthropology for teaching behavioral sciences at a medical school in Zambia

Abstract

To address complex health issues in our communities and society as a whole requires physicians with knowledge, practice, and skills well beyond conventional biomedical or clinical sciences. Present and future physicians need to be trained and fully equipped with competencies in social and behavioral sciences. To this effect, most medical schools in developed countries have introduced courses in the behavioral and social sciences into their curricula. In developing nations, except for a few instances, many medical schools lack even awareness of the importance of fully integrating behavioral sciences in the medical curriculum. In Zambia, the Copperbelt University School of Medicine (CBU SOM) is the only Public University that has fully integrated behavioral sciences since its inception in 2011. Reflecting on my experiences from 4 years active participation teaching behavioral sciences at CBU SOM, this chapter shows that participatory anthropology is central to behavioral sciences and medical education in general. The relevance of anthropology in medical training is grounded in the discipline's emphasis on contextual meaning and its unique methods. My reflections suggest that despite challenges faced, anthropologists have a vital role to play in medical education to ensure a continued production of doctors fit to practice in a rapidly changing society.