Participant observation and change of perspectives: Medical Anthropology and the encounter with socially marginalised groups. First experiences with a new teaching concept

This paper examines the new teaching concept “Providing medical care on the fringe of society: Participant observation and change in perspectives” in the context of the interdisciplinary field of Querschnittsbereich 2/Q 2 (the transdisciplinary section under AOÄ, the German Regulations for licensed physicians) that explores the history, theory and ethics of medicine. The disciplinary approach usually adopted in Q 2 is supplemented with concepts from medical anthropology; in addition students will be exposed to people in extreme social situations. The aim is to make students aware of and invite them to reflect upon: 1. the importance of participant observation in the specific on-site setting of medical thinking and acting; ; 2. the importance of the subjectivity of all those involved in doctor/patient interaction; and 3. the fact that key medical terms (such as the “need” as seen by the physician vs. the need as seen by the patient) are essentially context-dependent in their interpretation. . At a more general level students will learn how to put themselves in the position of different protagonists in a range of medical settings, and practice the skill of reflecting critically upon putative conceptual/theoretical and normative-ethical assumptions in medicine.