Healing words

Visiting professor’s lecture series bridges standard, traditional health systems

Juan Almendares Bonilla will share lessons learned as a physician in Honduras during a series of lectures scheduled throughout the fall. Almendares, the Tinker Visiting Professor of Latin American and Iberian Studies program, is currently teaching UW–Madison's first course in alternative medicine.

No white coats are ever allowed at Juan Almendares Bonilla’s clinic. No titles, either, and no desks – “They separate doctors and patients,” says Almendares, Tinker Visiting Professor in UW–Madison’s Latin American and Iberian Studies Program.

To find Almendares’ Honduras clinic, you must search the intersection of history, philosophy, anthropology, folklore and the healing arts, both Western “science”-based practices and “alternative” medicine. At the moment, Almendares is teaching the UW Medical School’s first-ever course on alternative medicine, “Alternative Health and Human Rights in Latin America,” presented in collaboration with LAISP.

According to William Ney, LAISP outreach director and course coordinator, the course has drawn 25 undergraduate and graduate students from such diverse disciplines as art history and library science, as well as Latin American studies, sociology, medicine and nursing.

Ney says Almendares’ own intellectual versatility makes it possible for him to appeal to such a variety of academic interests. “As both an activist and a scientist, he cuts across disciplines that rarely intersect,” Ney says.

Cynthia Haq, course coordinator in the Medical School and associate professor of family medicine, says Almendares’ perspective will add depth and insight to medical education here.

“Juan Almendares’ course reminds students of the pervasive use of complementary medical practices and the profound influence of human rights violations on the health and lives of people in Latin America. These lessons underscore the importance of addressing issues such as whether or not a patient is using herbal preparations, has been a victim of torture, or is poor and uninsured,” she says.

Linkages between various medical styles and between aspects of a patient’s life provide important keys to effective therapy, Almendares says. For example, Western doctors marvel at the potency of spells cast by shamans throughout the Third World.

“Spells are a powerful psychological tool,” Almendares says. “Jung and Freud both were influenced by methods used by shamans. Science looks at spells and says, ‘That’s impossible.’ But the scientists who say that aren’t taking the patient’s belief system into account.”

Researchers have documented extensively the effects of psychological factors on physical conditions. Several lectures in the series will address that phenomenon in October. In November, discussion will focus on interplay between human rights – or lack thereof – and health. Most lectures will begin at 2 p.m. in 206 Ingraham Hall; all are free and open to the public.

John Frey, professor of family medicine and another course coordinator in the Medical School, says studying how other cultures approach healing and prevention could lead to significant insights about the practice of medicine in general.

“Wider understanding of the role of medicine in society is essential, not only for those who intend to work in Latin America, but also for those of us who seek to apply what Latin America has understood about the origins of health and illness in our own country,” he says.

In January, Almendares and Ney will lead a study delegation to Honduras. Ney says they will examine firsthand issues raised in the course, and gain fresh perspectives to bring to health care here.

For more information, contact Ney at wney@lss.wisc.edu or 262-0616.