The Role of Anthropology in Medical Accreditation – Presentation by Dr. Jerome Crowder, April 23, 2025
Mapping Competencies in Medical Education: Visualizing the Role of Anthropology in Accreditation
The American Anthropological Association Society for Medical Anthropology’s Health Professions Education Special Interest Group (AAA SMA HPE SIG) will host a presentation on April 23, 2025, titled Mapping Competencies in Medical Education: Visualizing the Role of Anthropology in Accreditation, presented by Dr. Jerome Crowder, Associate Clinical Professor at the Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine, University of Houston.
This session addresses the often-overlooked cultural and institutional dimensions of accreditation in medical education. Drawing on long-term ethnographic involvement in an allopathic medical school undergoing a multi-year accreditation cycle, Dr. Crowder examines how accreditation criteria shape the selection of applicants, the delivery of curricula, the construction of professional competencies, and the formation of clinical identity. The presentation will highlight how anthropological tools -particularly ethnographic analysis and visual mapping- reveal the value systems embedded in accreditation and the ways these systems impact the everyday training of health professionals. The case underscores the necessity of including anthropologists in accreditation processes and the wider implications for medical education reform.
Date: April 23, 2025
Time: 11:00 AM US Eastern Time (ET)
5:00 PM Central European Summer Time (CEST)
Presenter: Dr. Jerome Crowder
Zoom link: https://csulb.zoom.us/j/87599588171
Meeting ID: 875 9958 8171
The AAA SMA Health Professions Education Special Interest Group was formally approved by the SMA Executive Board on November 11, 2022, as an initiative within the American Anthropological Association. The SIG was established to formalize and expand the presence of anthropological perspectives in medical and health professions education. It engages in sustained efforts to integrate anthropology into teaching, policy, professional accreditation, and curriculum development across the entire educational continuum.
The group maintains a global and inclusive approach to membership. Students, faculty, health practitioners, and others interested in applying anthropological methods and frameworks to health professions education are welcome. Membership is open, without fees, and not limited to members of the SMA or AAA.
https://medanthro.net/interest-groups/hpe/
The SIG’s mission is to support anthropologists in making a lasting impact on medical and health professions education by providing an organizational structure that promotes professional identity, career development, and public visibility. Activities are organized through Working Groups focused on strategic priorities including teaching, accreditation, policy, and representation on professional boards and examinations. The SIG also advocates for structural reforms that legitimize anthropology as a core component in the education and certification of health professionals.
Current leadership of the SMA HPE SIG includes Dr. Richard A. Gonzalez, Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences, and Henning Garcia Torrents, Professor in Training and PhD Researcher. The SIG continues to build on the foundations set by the 2021 volume Anthropology in Medical Education: Sustaining Engagement and Impact, edited by Dennis Wiedman and Iveris Martinez, which documented the global contributions of anthropologists to physician training and informed the SIG’s initial priorities. Further information and updates are available via the SMA’s official communication channels.