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A grant from the National Institute of Mental Health
supports a program of research training in 'clinically relevant medical
anthropology' in the field of culture and mental health services at
the Department of Social Medicine. Post-doctoral fellows (physicians
or social scientists - most often psychiatrists and anthropologists,
but also psychologists or sociologists) are supported for one year each
to participate in research and associated specialized educational activities
with the possibility of renewal for an additional year.
Candidates must be U.S. citizens or have resident alien status. Professors
Byron Good, Arthur Kleinman, and Mary-Jo DelVecchio Good are Co-Directors
of the Program, and Professor Mary-Jo DelVecchio Good is Academic Director
of the Program.
All fellows are expected to develop competence in three areas:
• basic theory and research methods in medical and psychiatric
anthropology
•the conduct of research in clinical settings (in particular,
those treating persons with major mental illness or more broadly defined
mental health problems), combining medical and anthropological perspectives
•one selected substantive area of interest in culture and
mental health services.
Fellows participate in a weekly seminar in medical anthropology with
faculty and graduate students in the medical anthropology program, as
well as take Harvard courses relevant to their interests. They select
at least one clinical setting in which they participate regularly and
develop research. They collaborate in research with faculty advisors,
and develop their interests in a particular substantive area, reviewing
relevant literature and conducting projects of their own. They may take
advanced courses in research methods or data analysis. And in some cases,
fellows may participate in teaching relevant courses.
Previous fellows have conducted research on a number of topics relevant
to the cultural patterning of psychiatric illnesses and the delivery
of mental health services, including studies of:
• Anxiety disorders, dissociation, and ataques de nervios
among Puerto Ricans
• Schizophrenia, depression and family expressed emotion
in Hispanic communities
• Post-traumatic stress disorders of Salvadoran and Guatemalan
refugees in Cambridge
• Catholic charismatic healing
• Chronic fatigue syndrome
• The narrative structure of illness experience and clinical
work
• The sequelae of violence in the black community
• An intervention project to provide housing for the severely
mentally ill homeless
• The impact of managed care on mental health care for the
poor
• Mental health problems of Vietnamese immigrants to the
United States
• Ethnicity, class, and the provision of care for demented
elders
•The influence of culture and ethnicity on psychiatric diagnosis
• Evaluation of an NGO-based program for domestic and gendered
violence among SE Asian immigrants in Boston
• The sequelae of trauma experienced by Haitian women
• Responses to September 11 by Middle Eastern immigrants
to the United States
• The psychological context of the development of post-partum
depression
• Depression among Chinese immigrant men in Boston
• The role of ethnic-specific clinics in providing mental
health services
Fellows have gone on to research and academic posts in major universities
and research institutions. Interested persons should send a c.v., examples
of writing, a letter outlining research interests and experiences, and
have three letters of recommendation sent to Laura Delano, Dept. of
Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School, 641 Huntington Ave., Boston,
MA 02115, by January 15, 2007. Inquiries should be made to Laura Delano,
at laura_delano@hms.harvard.edu.
Funding for this program is under review. We are not currently
accepting applications. New information will be posted by March 1, 2009.
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Additional
information about NIMH Fellows and Research
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