Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Tibet

  • Tibet: History and medicine

    Situated 14,000 feet above sea level, the vast Tibetan plateau has been inhabited by humans for at least 21,000 years. Adapted to extreme altitude and cold, early nomadic pastoralists hunted, herded, traded, and developed routes linking Tibet with other parts of the world. Their early religion was animistic. Mountains, rivers, and sky phenomena were regarded…

  • Rooted in exile, growing through medicine

    Tenzin TamdinConnecticut, United States I was born in a Tibetan refugee settlement in India. My parents were farmers who worked a small piece of land with a few cows. I remember my mother borrowing rice from neighbors when we had none. I remember cleaning cow dung before sunrise, my school uniform folded beside me. Out…