This course provides an introduction to medical anthropology, as well as a critical anthropological analysis of "mainstream Western medicine" and its role within contemporary society. The focus is on the culture of conventional Medicine, including a historical and epistemological overview of its paradigms and its dynamics, and the cultural aspects of surgical and clinical practice (as part of socio-economic systems) vis-à-vis the public health and preventive medicine perspectives. Possible avenues to improve health at the community level are explored, using the discussed topics as sources for heuristic modelling.