Just in case you missed it, Dr. Paul Farmer on 60 Minutes

[teachmed27]

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Most of us have read Mountains Beyond Mountains or his books that he's written. He continues to inspire us all. He was profiled on 60 Minutes. http://www.pih.org/inforesources/news/60_Minutes_May_2008.html

 

[Doublecortin]

Most of us have read Mountains Beyond Mountains or his books that he's written. He continues to inspire us all. He was profiled on 60 Minutes. http://www.pih.org/inforesources/news/60_Minutes_May_2008.html

i haven't read any of his books, and don't find him inspiring

 

[taponthecloud]

i haven't read any of his books, and don't find him inspiring

why not? actually, not many have read books by him. Mountains beyond Mountains is a book about him written by someone else.

 

[SB100]

How about you read some of his own works? Those may be more inspiring than MBM. I highly recommend Infections & Inequalities. He draws a lot of conclusions about how diseases affect people of different cultures (in this case, Haiti vs. Western society) unequally, often due to forces we cannot control or that require change at a population level.

 

[squirrelking]

I was pretty moved by Mountains Beyond Mountains. I think I'll read some of his own works... thanks for sharing the link.

 

[Little Etoile]

Thanks for posting that! I loved being able to finally put images to the words I read. 🙂

A truly amazing man.

 

[metalgearHMN]

i haven't read any of his books, and don't find him inspiring

Do you even know what he does? His ethics and beliefs should be admired by all aspiring physicians

That being said, WTF is wrong w/ Haiti?

A 45 year old woman giving birth to her 11th child?
8 children living in that 10' x 5' shack?

I admire Dr. Paul Farmer's work, and that of those around him, but there are some serious cultural...let's say "issues," that need to be addressed here. They need to use some form of birth control. There is absolutely NO reason for people so impoverished to be having 6-10 children. People in the U.S. can't even afford that.

 

[In Vino Veritas]

teachmed27, thanks for the link!

I think regardless of whether or not you find him personally inspiring, Dr. Farmer certainly has an interesting philosophy on what physicians should be, and I think he contributes significantly to the dialogue of medical ethics. Even if you don't read Mountains Beyond Mountains or any of his own books, I think it's worth it to read some of his essays or at least watch the 60 minutes piece. Like him or not, he's a very visible presence in the field.

 

[SAvoodoo]

Most of us have read Mountains Beyond Mountains or his books that he's written. He continues to inspire us all. He was profiled on 60 Minutes. http://www.pih.org/inforesources/news/60_Minutes_May_2008.html

thanks

 

[apricotattack]

...WTF is wrong w/ Haiti?

A 45 year old woman giving birth to her 11th child?
8 children living in that 10' x 5' shack?

I admire Dr. Paul Farmer's work, and that of those around him, but there are some serious cultural...let's say "issues," that need to be addressed here. They need to use some form of birth control. There is absolutely NO reason for people so impoverished to be having 6-10 children. People in the U.S. can't even afford that.

Wrong, it's POVERTY that needs to be addressed. You think they can just go down to the pharmacy and pay their $7 copay for a month's worth of ortho tri cyclen? Sorry, that's not really how it works in Haiti! There's no doctors in most cases, no pharmacies, no drugs, and no money even if there were drugs available. Educate yourself before you say something so ignorant in the future.

 

[135892]

Farmer is an amazing guy, no doubt. But I must say, that book "Mountains Beyond Mountains" was terribly boring. I haven't gotten around to reading any of the books he himself wrote though, maybe they're better

 

[SB100]

Wrong, it's POVERTY that needs to be addressed. You think they can just go down to the pharmacy and pay their $7 copay for a month's worth of ortho tri cyclen? Sorry, that's not really how it works in Haiti! There's no doctors in most cases, no pharmacies, no drugs, and no money even if there were drugs available. Educate yourself before you say something so ignorant in the future.

Yep. Also don't forget that the reason they have 10-15 babies is because with poverty and disease so ubiquitous, they "expect" that some children will not survive to adulthood. It is a truly sad situation because a part of the world so close to the U.S. in location faces this plight.

 

[Little Etoile]

Yep. Also don't forget that the reason they have 10-15 babies is because with poverty and disease so ubiquitous, they "expect" that some children will not survive to adulthood. It is a truly sad situation because a part of the world so close to the U.S. in location faces this plight.

Also, don't forget that children=free labor/source of income for the family. Not to reduce children down to this by any means, but they can be- and often are- seen as a commodity for a family. Hence why many children are pulled out of school or never go in the first place so they can instead work for the family and contribute their income to the household. Similarly, without funds for/availability of the security of "assisted living" type communities, the support of children are a necessity for surviving as the parents get older and become sick/cannot care for themselves.

 

[SB100]

Also, don't forget that children=free labor/source of income for the family. Not to reduce children down to this by any means, but they can be- and often are- seen as a commodity for a family. Hence why many children are pulled out of school or never go in the first place so they can instead work for the family and contribute their income to the household. Similarly, without funds for/availability of the security of "assisted living" type communities, the support of children are a necessity for surviving as the parents get older and become sick/cannot care for themselves.

Yep, something this family won't have to go through: http://www.duggarfamily.com/

 

[MattD]

Also don't forget the power inequalities that exist, such that women do not have a say or feel that they do not have a say in the details of their sex life/reproductive health in many cases. Or the fact that latching oneself to a soldier or other "wealth" individual sexually may seem to be a good way to get a leg up, even if that person won't use condoms and is also sleeping with 6 other women. The issues behind the large number of children in Haiti are multifactorial, just like the issues behind most of the other problems there.

I don't want to get into a discussion of Dr. Farmer's methods or philosophies as it always turns into a flamefest "liberal vs. conservative" BS, but it's worth learning what they are and giving consideration to what you think about them. Agree or disagree, he's a man who has the convictions of his beliefs and has dedicated his life to them in ways most people would not be willing to, which is certainly admirable.

As far as reading the books by Dr. Farmer... if you found MBM boring, you're definitely going to find HIS books boring. They're written in a narrative format to be sure, but even so it reads about as easily as a doctoral thesis. I sometimes wonder if the guy is simply too intelligent to write effective prose. If you can manage to get through it though, there are many gems tucked in throughout, heartbreaking tales of individual patients and how his concept of 'systemic violence' has affected their lives. The focus on individual patients is also quite indicative of his philosophy towards patient care-- while he works in the public health sector and focuses on those topics, he holds to a rule of rescue approach to actually treating patients in which whatever resources he has available will be used to treat the patient sitting in front of him, even if that means (in at LEAST one case) flying someone to the U.S. He gets a lot of flak from the more utilitarian types in the public health community for this, but it's certainly an interesting and different way of looking at the issue.

Anyway, if you're interested in public health or the underserved, it's worth checking out, but i wouldn't limit myself to ONLY reading Dr. Farmer's work. Others have different opinions that should be considered as well 🙂

 

[MattD]

That being said, WTF is wrong w/ Haiti?

A 45 year old woman giving birth to her 11th child?
8 children living in that 10' x 5' shack?

I admire Dr. Paul Farmer's work, and that of those around him, but there are some serious cultural...let's say "issues," that need to be addressed here. They need to use some form of birth control. There is absolutely NO reason for people so impoverished to be having 6-10 children. People in the U.S. can't even afford that.

You can find both of those situations in many parts of the U.S. No flight to Haiti needed if you want to see it.

If you truly admire Dr. Farmer's work, then you should go and actually read some of it. Learn about the situation in Haiti before assuming they're all flushing their OCPs and leaving their condoms in their wallets. There are certainly issues that need to be addressed there, but they aren't the 'issues' (those dumb ignorant 'insert adjective of choice here') you seemed to be implying...