Cross-cultural communication between doctors and peasants in Bolivia

Practitioners of modern medicine in Bolivia are often ignorant of traditional health practices among Andean peasants in the Department of Oruro. This ignorance makes them less effective agents for improving health. The author describes a method for teaching traditional concepts of health and disease to practitioners of modern medicine (doctors, nurses, and assistant nurses). He discusses workshops offered to these practitioners, where the participants were guided through a series of exercises which assisted them in deciding what aspects of the traditional system to change and what aspects to leave alone. He finally shows how Andean myths can be used as a method for teaching them how to cure disease. The objective is to educate modern medical practitioners in traditional beliefs and to use these beliefs for teaching peasants about modern medicine.