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Hmong Medicine Vs Western Medicine

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Hmong Medicine Vs Western Medicine
INTRO. In America, doctors follow the Western belief in using medication and doing various testing procedures when treating patients, while the Hmong shamans believe in treating the spiritual ailment of the person through elaborate traditional practices. Shamans who themselves are epileptic try communicating with “a malevolent spirit called a dab” (Fadiman 1998: 4). The Hmong shaman is “believed to have the ability to enter a trance…and negotiate for this patients’ health with the spirits who lived in the realm of the unseen” (Fadiman 1998: 4). The differences between the two cultures pose many problems for Hmong refugees who seek medical help in America. However, American doctors taught to have an open mind and to have respect towards other
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