Paper short abstract:

Teaching anthropology to health professionals has resulted in job opportunities for many anthropologists over the last ten years. The purpose of the presentation is to share experience and strategies (using clinical cases) involved in making anthropology relevant for health professionals.

Paper long abstract:

Health profession training institutions in Europe have shown increased interest in how the concepts, theories and methods of anthropology can contribute to health professional development (including continued education). This interest opens potential new opportunities for anthropologists. However, making anthropology relevant for health professionals is challenging, and requires adapting one's language, teaching styles and teaching methods to the needs and interests of health professionals.

The content, methods, duration and place in the curriculum of such teaching can vary widely, and evaluation of such teaching is rare. Regardless the professions, cases from practice with an intense reflection process have shown the biggest, positive impact in teaching. Cases from countries with different health systems and life conditions can hardly be used without adaptation and need a careful evaluation. Involvement of directly affected people, such as refugees or people with special needs, have demonstrated positive effect on learning outcomes. We strongly advocate internships in health care institutions for teachers in order to acquaint themselves with this work reality and to be able to respond to questions more adequately.