Indigenous Knowledge and Development Monitor, November 2001

Courses, studies

A new IK-related international MSc degree course
On 26 November 2001, the first Interdisciplinary MSc Programme in Medical Anthropology & Ethnobotany (MSc. MAE) will start in Bandung, Indonesia. It will be an international study programme directed towards Community Health Care Development, and will be jointly organized and taught in Bandung (Indonesia) and Leiden (The Netherlands) by Padjadjaran University and Leiden University, respectively. The subjects taught include Primary Health Care, Community Medicine and Health Management, Traditional Medical Systems, Herbal Medicine, Forest Conservation and Intellectual Property Rights.

The new study programme is a result of the long-term collaboration (since 1987) in indigenous knowledge systems between Universitas Padjadjaran and the LEAD programme of Leiden University. It is a major breakthrough in the joint Netherlands-Indonesian training and education programme at the postgraduate level.

More than half of the world population relies on traditional systems of medicine for their primary health care, and clients/patients increasingly rely on natural herbal medicines and drugs. This is also recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO), which encourages the integration of traditional healers and alternative empirical therapies within national and local health care development programmes. Recently, WHO has established an integrative Programme of Traditional and Herbal Medicine. The WHO Global Regional Offices, in their Centres for Traditional Medicine in individual countries, are now concentrating on the evaluation and integration of traditional, transitional and modern health care systems.

As it has become clear that all efforts directed towards improving the country's health status should also include the social, cultural, educational, environmental, economic and political aspects of the development process, health care development has become an interdisciplinary endeavour. As a consequence, the focus on health care improvement has shifted from basic health services to community participation, interdisciplinary teamwork and special manpower training.

These developments, as well as the international call from the practical field of community health care development and the conservation of bio-cultural diversity for interdisciplinary training and education in the Medical Social and Botanical Sciences to achieve 'Unity For Health' (WHO 2000), contributed to the joint efforts to organize this advanced international MSc course at a postgraduate level. Students were asking for it too.

Objectives of the course
The general aim of the MSc programme is to provide a new cadre of health specialists with broad theoretical, methodological and practical training in the newly-developing interdisciplinary field of medical anthropology and ethnobotany for both research and interventions. Objectives of the course are:

• To provide advanced students, staff and professionals from the medical, social and natural sciences and other health-related disciplines with tailor-made interdisciplinary knowledge, skills and research proficiencies;
• To prepare participants to contribute to solutions in health-related problems at the community level through relevant interdisciplinary research, analysis and the formulation of policy-based recommendations for practical applications in developing countries; 
• To enable students to engage in fieldwork or vocational training and participate in multi-disciplinary teams.

The programme consists of two interconnected training components: one in Bandung, Indonesia, (10 months) and one in Leiden, the Netherlands (the last two months of the course). The graduation ceremony will take place at Leiden University (December 2002).

Requirements
In compliance with the standard admission and graduation requirements of Leiden University, applicants should have at least completed an international bachelor's degree (or its equivalent) in one of the related disciplines. Language requirements include proficiency in the active use of English (TOEFL test 500 or comparative British Council test).

The tuition fee for the compete 12-month MSc programme is USD 6,500 and includes a two-month fellowship for Leiden University. The fee should be paid to the International MSc Course Registrar at Universitas Padjadjaran in Bandung, Indonesia.

PhD Programme
After successful completion of the MSc degree programme, it is possible to enter a four-year PhD programme at Leiden University.

For more information, please contact:
Indonesia:
Professor Dr Ponpon Idjradinata,
Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs
Universitas Padjadjaran
Jalan Dipati Ukur 35
Bandung 40132
Indonesia
Tel.: +62-22-250-3271.
Fax: +62-22-250-3275.

The Netherlands:
Professor Dr L.J. Slikkerveer,
Director of the LEAD Programme at Leiden University, the Netherlands
Dept. CA/SNWS
P.O. Box 9555
2300 RB Leiden
The Netherlands
Tel.: +31-527 34 69.
Fax: +31-527 36 19.
E-mail: Slikkerveer@fsw.leidenuniv.nl

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