Melanie van Soeren, Melissa Aragon
ABSTRACT
In Northeastern Peru, in the Amazonian district of Loreto, one million Peruvians, mostly Indigenous and Mestizo, live isolated from the rest of the rapidly developing country. This region has a rich history of traditional medicine, and with financial, geographical, and cultural barriers to biomedical care, there exists a unique interaction between allopathic and alternative treatment models. During a clinical elective in the village of Santa Clotilde, in a hospital serving a population of twenty thousand people, two University of British Columbia medical students encountered this integrative system and witnessed health–seeking behaviours that at times were positive, and at others led to tragedy.
van Soeren M, Aragon M. The Intersection of Biomedicine and Traditional Medicine in the Peruvian Amazon. UBCMJ. 2015: 7.1 (60-61).