After an astonishingly successful three years of COVID-19 management, Bhutan has reopened its doors to the world! Bhutan’s medical education system has not stood still, rising to the occasion in managing COVID-19. With a ninety percent vaccination rate, their case numbers have totaled 62,512 in a population of 800,000, with deaths limited to a remarkable 21. Domestic volunteerism has flourished under the leadership of the king and now Bhutan is ready for Health Volunteers Overseas (HVO) to resume its mission of medical education.
Margaret and I will be returning to Bhutan from March 1st through June 1st. Once again, I will be teaching psychiatry to medical interns, psychiatric residents, counseling students and mental health staff. This time around, I am coming with the added benefit of having completed two years of training as a Buddhist chaplain. I look forward to integrating this into my instruction and expanding my appreciation of the role of Buddhism in the Bhutanese approach to mental health care. Margaret volunteered during our first visit in the palliative care and oncology departments. This time, she anticipates volunteering at the Draktsho School for the differently-abled, utilizing her years of experience in this field as a social worker.
Our volunteer work is coordinated by HVO but is entirely self-funded. This means that Margaret and I will be fully responsible for all our expenses. These will involve travel to and from Bhutan, apartment rent, and all our daily expenses. Last visit, contributions from generous donors permitted us to bring $2500 in textbooks (they weighed a ton!). We’re hoping this year to raise funds for eTextbooks and continuing education subscriptions. Starting salary for a Bhutanese physician is only $560 per month. One month’s salary might pay for two average priced medical textbooks. The medical education system is resource poor and unable to provide much in the way of training materials. Since our departure, I have been providing subscriptions to continuing education programs and workshops, but enduring training materials are much needed and you can help!
Please consider supporting our cause financially at https://www.mightycause.com/story/O9yagf. It’s fully tax deductible. Your financial support will go a long way. If financial support is out of reach, we welcome your moral support. Follow our blog and learn all you can about this wonderful country, where Gross National Happiness is the the metric of success.
Our Seasons in Shangri la 