This research analyzes the changes in the official Chinese attitude towards traditional Tibetan medicine as functions of changes in the larger social-political context of Tibet within Chinese society. The study will examine the role of traditional medicine in Tibet through analysis of health policy and the social organization of healing institutions. Methods include systematic interviews with officials in the ministry of health, interviews with and observations of practitioners and of patients of traditional as well as modern medicine, and observation of a sample of practitioner-patient interactions. This project is important because it will analyze a case of medical pluralism that has generalizing implications for other social situations where cultures are in contact. For example, understanding the issues of medical behavior in this Tibetan case can sensitize planners to important issues in the design of treatment regimes for other multi-cultural medical situations, such as the American southwest.
