School of Arts and Sciences 2007 Dean’s Forum
Dr. Farmer examines a little girl.
Copyright 2001 (c) Partners In Health.
Dr. Paul Farmer
Maude and Lillian Presley Professor of Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Co-Founder, Partners in Health
On March 14, guests attending this year’s Dean’s Forum heard Dr. Paul Farmer talk about bringing health care to poverty-stricken countries. A medical anthropologist and physician, Farmer has dedicated his life to caring for some of the world’s poorest and sickest populations. He is the subject of writer Tracy Kidder’s character study, Mountains Beyond Mountains. Farmer divides his time between the Harvard Medical School, where he is a professor of social medicine, and Clinique Bon Sauveur, the hospital he founded in rural Haiti while still a medical student. In 1987, he co-founded Partners in Health, which provides medical care to impoverished communities in Haiti, Rwanda, Peru, Russia and elsewhere. Farmer has written extensively about health, human rights and the role of social inequalities in the distribution and outcome of infectious diseases. His many awards include a MacArthur “genius” Award, the AMA’s International Physician Award, the Heinz Award for the Human Condition and Union Theological Seminary’s Union Medal, which recognizes people “making an important difference.” In his book about Farmer, Tracy Kidder writes, “His basic message is simple: This person is sick, and I am a doctor.”
View lecture by Dr. Paul Farmer (Viewing time: 1hr. 17min., requires RealPlayer®)
Download audio version in .mp3 format
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