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Biomedical Anthropology and the Team Approach to Craniofacial Surgery
Author(s) -
Ward Richard E.,
Sadove A. Michael
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
medical anthropology quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.855
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1548-1387
pISSN - 0745-5194
DOI - 10.1525/maq.1989.3.4.02a00070
Subject(s) - biological anthropology , multidisciplinary approach , sociology , medical anthropology , anthropology , identity (music) , craniofacial , craniofacial surgery , applied anthropology , multidisciplinary team , ethnography , population , value (mathematics) , engineering ethics , medicine , epistemology , aesthetics , nursing , social science , philosophy , engineering , computer science , psychiatry , machine learning , demography
In this article we describe the contributions of a physical anthropologist to a multidisciplinary team charged with evaluating, diagnosing, and treating children who have severe craniofacial defects. As an example of biomedical anthropology, it illustrates the value of the anthropologist's population‐based perspectives in a setting dominated by a focus on the individual patient. The problem of maintaining a professional identity as an anthropologist in a nontraditional setting is discussed. Estrangement occurs not only because biomedical anthropologists must adapt to the practical realities of the medical system, but also because traditional academic anthropology continues to undervalue the work of practicing anthropologists.