Dr. Hammerschlag’s experiences with the Native Americans reshaped many of his ideas on medicine and healing
The Question is : Dr. Hammerschlag’s experiences with the Native Americans reshaped many of his ideas on medicine and healing. Cite examples of how these experiences served as resources to improve his practice.
the response: One Way the experiences Dr. Hammerschlag encountered with the various Native American tribes reshaped the Dr.’s schema of medicine and healing was that Hammerschlag began to realize in order to help people different from him he needed to actively learn the culture of the people he was trying to heal. Learning the culture of the people you serve is only part of the battle, for Hammerschlag to improve his practice he also learned about the importance of the specific patient’s beliefs about Their trust in his competence to care for them, Dr. Hammerschlags race/trustworthiness, and what really is medicine/ healing. One pivotal experience for this reconstructing was when Santiago asked Dr H where he learned to heal and later offered to teach Dr. H one of his traditional ways of healing through a spiritual dance. As an aside Dr. Hammerschlag states “Santiago sounded like another mystical holy man slightly removed from the realities I had to deal with. But a seed had been planted… The seeds Santiago planted within my psyche would not sprout until I returned East.” (Hammerschlag, 1988, p.10). This quote shows that Hammerschlag began to realize the importance of culture and understanding other cultures in the healthcare field. We can see this reshaping of care provided when Dr. Hammerschlag was enrolled in Yale and working at the Connecticut Mental Health Center located next to the black ghetto in New Haven during a very racially charged time. During this time black patients were very hesitant to seek help from white physicians and nurses, thus increasing the already prevalent health disparity or aid in the creation of a new disparity. Dr. Hammerschlag applied the lesson he learned from Santiago by creating an “after-care” program for patients recently discharged from a hospital where Hammerschlag would meet with the discharged patients in bars, barbershops, and various other public places. This allowed Dr. H to work and learn directly in the black community where his patients were more comfortable and willing to interact and have a genuine conversation about their health. Through learning the culture on a hands-on level Hammerschlag could build the trust between minorities and physicians as well as be able to morph his practices to better fit this totally different culture from his own and the natives he previously interacted with.
Another example of Hammerschlags experiences with Natives that shaped his practice was his encounter with Mary. Once Mary rejoined her biological Navajo family and the welcoming ceremony was over Hammerschlag reflects on the connections between western medicine and traditional medicine by saying “The ritual of the ceremony helped to heal the rift… now she could begin to know herself, to be whole.”(Hammerschlag, 1988, p.45). This shows how Hammerschlag thoughts have progressed from when he was fresh out of medical school he would want to heal Mary with western medicine such as therapy, anti-depressants, or other practices that would ultimately not heal the rift of her wanting to belong. Now that Hammerschlag understands and accepts other forms of healing, he agrees that the ceremony was the right treatment for Mary’s multiple problems due to her need to belong somewhere. This change from only accepting western medicine as credible and useful to other forms of medicine can be just as beneficial and effective in some situations further enforces the fact that Hammerschlag evolved his practices and ideas to administer better care.
THE NAME OF THE STORY IS ; Dancing Healers.
Answer preview Dr. Hammerschlag’s experiences with the Native Americans reshaped many of his ideas on medicine and healing
APA
265 words