How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
"For instance, you can't tell them that somebody is diabetic because their pancreas doesn't work. They don't have a word for pancreas. They don't have an idea for pancreas." (6.24)
Bet you haven't spent too much time contemplating the concept of the pancreas. But if you've taken high school Bio, you're probably a step ahead of the Hmong. And that complicates things a touch. Remember, the Hmong use tradition and spirituality to make sense of the world, rather than the scientific method. Sure, diagnosing diabetes takes the idea of the pancreas, but that doesn't diminish the value of the Hmong perspective. To ignore that view—no matter how irrational it might seem—is to make the same mistake that Lia's doctors make.
Quote #5
"Some young doctors go through the roof when Hmong patients reject what we have to offer them, because it intimates that what Western medicine has to offer is not much." (6.38)
For their part, Merced's doctors are offended by the Hmong's distaste for science. In truth, they're being as closed-minded as the most anti-science Hmong by clinging to their own worldview because they feel threatened. Instead, they should take a page from Dwight Conquergood's playbook and figure out a better way to convey their scientific ideas to their patients. If only it were that easy.
Quote #6
Here was American medicine at its worst and its best: the patient was reduced from a girl to an analyzable collection of symptoms. (11.18)
If you didn't know much about science, this sort of stuff would really seem weird, right? Because they don't understand anything about Western medicine, Nao Kao and Foua see this as evidence of cold-hearted experimentation by evil-hearted doctors. Next step, set the table for brain stew.