The Spirit Catches You

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman is an essential read for every prospective medical student. The book follows the medical trials of a young epileptic child named Lia Lee and the doctors that treated her. As a prospective medical student myself, I was astonished by the many instances of cultural collision that arose due to the disregard for the practices and beliefs of Lia’s family (the Hmong people).

One of the main themes Fadiman uses to raise concern for cultural respect centers around Hmong spirituality. She describes the Hmong people as being very spiritually focused, so much so that they believed that illness and death could all be attributed to the loss of one’s soul. Additionally, Fadiman mentions the fact that in western medical schools, there is little or no instruction on cross-cultural medicine. As such we understandably find that it was out of the realm of possibility for a western doctor to even contemplate that the disease (of Lia) was caused by fugitive souls or cured by chickens that have had their throats cut. This is just one of many problems Fadiman mentions to illustrate the need for cultural sensitivity in the medical field.

The most powerful thing about Fadiman’s book is not only its emphasis on the significance of cross cultural awareness, but on the importance of communication in the doctor-patient relationship as well; two tools that are crucial to any good doctor.