A Doctor in Little Lhasa: One Year in Dharamsala with the Tibetans in ExileRequired reading for students searching for a connection between medical training and social justice. Timothy Holtz's intimate recounting of a year spent serving Tibetan refugees in India describes his struggles with being unable, as one young physician with only a year to spend, to fix the many wrongs he witnessed. Holtz concludes that "practicing good medicine-whether in a modern city or an impoverished refugee community-is far more complex than opening up a magic bag and handing out its contents." Although Holtz may not be aware of it, his memoir is a testament to the fact that he did in fact learn to practice good medicine, and he has been at it ever since. His year in "Little Lhasa" led Holtz to deepen his understanding not only of clinical medicine, but of the social roots of disease and of the indivisibility of health and human rights, broadly conceived. Students and practitioners alike will find this book inspiring. - Paul E. Farmer, Presley Professor, Harvard Medical School; and Co-founder, Partners in Health Timothy Holtz's account is no romance about the joys of practicing medicine among Tibetan exiles in northern India. It is rather about people's suffering from diseases that should easily be prevented, a doctor's efforts to provide good care without the resources he should have, and a community's struggles to cope with the consequences of torture. Even more important for the practice of medicine, it is a story of how a doctor's duty to take care of patients is quite inseparable from seeking to protect their human rights. - Len Rubenstein, Executive Director, Physicians for Human Rights Open this book to find a wonderful story about a transformative journey for a young physician. Timothy Holtz went to India with a purpose, to help Tibetan refugees in their struggle for a better life and better health. Little did he know how much his year working in a small hospital with few resources would change the trajectory of his life. Filled with stories that are both compassionate and humbling, it reminds us all that changing the world happens one person at a time. - Zorba Paster, Professor of Family Medicine, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health; and Author of The Longevity Code - Your Personal Prescription for a Longer Sweeter Life In this warm and sensitive memoir, Timothy Holtz portrays the challenges confronting the Tibetan exile community in Dharamsala as it struggles to preserve its culture and traditions. In recounting heartwarming stories of illness and healing, Holtz also reveals his own personal path of growth and discovery as a physician. The episodes he tells are sobering, but also inspiring, such as fighting drug-resistant tuberculosis in newly arrived refugees, and assisting nuns who survived torture in their native Tibet only to face the hardships of an unfamiliar country. I recommend this book for anyone interested in better understanding the lives of Tibetans in exile, as they fight to survive and to safeguard their traditional culture and human dignity. - Geshe Lobsang Tenzin Negi, Director, Emory-Tibet Partnership; and Spiritual Director, Drepung Loseling Monastery, Inc. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 57
Page viii
... community health care in international settings . I was able to study primary health care in Kathmandu , as well as ... Tibetan refugee community in India in both a medical and public health capacity . A full year would fulfill my ...
... community health care in international settings . I was able to study primary health care in Kathmandu , as well as ... Tibetan refugee community in India in both a medical and public health capacity . A full year would fulfill my ...
Page ix
... community that had suffered from decades of human rights abuses . Following ... Tibetan Government - in - Exile . In 1959 the Dalai Lama fled Tibet after ... Tibetan ) was dedicated by the Tibetan Government - in - Exile in 1971 to serve ...
... community that had suffered from decades of human rights abuses . Following ... Tibetan Government - in - Exile . In 1959 the Dalai Lama fled Tibet after ... Tibetan ) was dedicated by the Tibetan Government - in - Exile in 1971 to serve ...
Page xi
... Tibet to China . The language , culture , and social mores of Tibet are distinctly ... Tibetan gov- ernment . His Holiness the Dalai Lama now presides as the head ... community at large . I wanted to have a more lasting impact One Year in ...
... Tibet to China . The language , culture , and social mores of Tibet are distinctly ... Tibetan gov- ernment . His Holiness the Dalai Lama now presides as the head ... community at large . I wanted to have a more lasting impact One Year in ...
Page xii
... community . Third , and related to the second , I wanted to learn more about community health in the field , and put my nascent knowledge of pub- lic health to use . The Tibetan refugee community in northern India is dispersed ...
... community . Third , and related to the second , I wanted to learn more about community health in the field , and put my nascent knowledge of pub- lic health to use . The Tibetan refugee community in northern India is dispersed ...
Page xiii
... Tibetan refugees and were curious about what it was like living among them , I hope these stories shed light on a fascinating and inspiring community . I would urge you to donate time and / or money in any way possible to assist their ...
... Tibetan refugees and were curious about what it was like living among them , I hope these stories shed light on a fascinating and inspiring community . I would urge you to donate time and / or money in any way possible to assist their ...
Common terms and phrases
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