Paper short abstract:

Following the claim that “improved medical training” on human variation and race “can sharpen diagnostic skills” (Braun et al.,PLOS Med.,2007,4), it is argued in this presentation that the basic instruction on human variation should be introduced in medical curricula and that anthropologists should play a significant role in this process.

Paper long abstract:

The relevance of human ancestral variation and race in medical research and practice is currently being vigorously debated. This polemic seems to be characterized by numerous disagreements and misunderstanding (some of which have already been resolved in anthropology). The reasons for these are many and of varying nature. It would appear that one of the most important reasons is the lack of adequate education on human variation that student from medical and allied medical disciplines receive during their studies. It is argued in this presentation that small but efficiently developed and implemented curricular interventions, introduced across a number of clinical and preclinical subjects, could induce positive changes in students' understanding of biological variation and race within the clinical context. It is further suggested that these changes in education should be conceptualize by an interdisciplinary team of experts in which the anthropologists should play the prominent role. While one cannot expect that proposed curricular interventions would resolve all the contentious issues relating to race, variation and their medical implications, they might constitute a decisive step in the right direction.