The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down

It seems like every medical student reads this book. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman is a non-fiction cultural exploration, describing a Hmong child with severe epilepsy. It's a pretty fascinating book that captures the clash of cultures when Western medicine confronts Hmong ideas about health, sickness, and spirituality.

Most medical students read this book to get a better perspective of the culture of medicine and its shortcomings. Indeed, miscommunication, lack of cultural understanding, and differences in perspective lead to tragedy in the life of this child. The book also gives clues to which barriers can be overcome with training in cultural competency, and which barriers may be, for the most part, unsurmountable. However, I also found a great value in this book in learning about the Hmong, often refugee families from Laos. I knew nothing of their history, their beliefs, their values. This piece of literary journalism really helped me gain a better understanding of the places (not just physical) where patients can travel from to get treatment at a hospital.

There are some poignant moments, some breathtaking moments, some dramatic moments, and some heartfelt moments in this book. I recommend it to anyone with a desire to learn about these issues, which have become more and more important in the delivery of good health care.