By Joan Steffen
When I arrived at WashU for my freshman year, like many of my classmates I had intentions of graduating and becoming a doctor. I also had the good fortune of joining the Medicine and Society program. I still remember Professor Stoner explaining the suspicious invention of Pre-Menstrual Dysphoric Disorder just in time for Eli Lilly to re-patent Prozac as Sarafem; I had never thought that a pharmaceutical company could create a new medical condition with branding and repackaging. In Dr. Lester’s class, I saw cases where Western medicine failed inner-city communities, alienated immigrants, and undermined international aid efforts. Quickly, I learned to question everything I had always believed about biomedicine. I saw that our understanding of disease is shaped by much more than physiology and that medicine was likewise molded by subjective social forces. I wanted to learn about the societal and cultural dimensions of health and to effect change at the larger community level. I realized that I didn’t want to be a doctor and decided to major in anthropology.
I graduated from WashU in 2014 with an interest in Public Health and eventually stumbled into a job on idealist.org that let me put my anthropology skills to good use: I work as a research assistant for a physician who consults as an expert witness for toxic tort litigation. My research responsibilities include reading corporate documents, reviewing plaintiff medical records, and analyzing published literature.My work primarily involves qualitative research and inductive reasoning – you never know what you’ll find in a production of corporate documents! The “big picture,” systems approach of anthropology is invaluable for identifying patterns, connections, and contradictions across thousands of emails, memos, reports, minutes, and presentation slides. An anthropological perspective also enables me to identify and challenge my assumptions, which is essential to good research.
My anthropological background also helps me understand the beliefs, behaviors, and perspectives of the typical plaintiff or corporate decision makers. To explain my research, I have to put myself in the shoes of a “typical” American and consider their understanding of the disease at hand, how it is caused, and how it should be treated. I have to think about what most Americans believe about the clout of the FDA, OSHA, and other government bodies. I have to think about what evidence might be the most compelling and what sources hold the greatest cultural authority. For example, I’ve learned to put myself in the user’s shoes with regard to warnings: What expectations would a user already have about the product? When and where would a user likely see the warning? Where does the warning come from and what sort of authority does that source have? Does it look like a warning? Does the format, language, and background imagery support or detract from the gravity of the warning?
Anthropology gives me the tools to see the sociocultural framework for my work as a research assistant. Next, I’m planning to apply for a JD/MPH program. With an understanding of the structural forces at play, I hope to work at the policy level to address inequities and promote public health.