The Back Door to Medicine

An anthropologist typically does research by immersing oneself in a society learning the language if need be spending a year or two observing asking questions getting involved photographing videotaping and writing copious notes on how people live their lives; in other words on how they experience and manifest their culture. Anthropologists call that method participant observation and the goal is to produce a cultural description that can be shared with any and all who might be interested.<p> This book describes three cultures in a single integrated narrative. For one it offers a case study of the culture of anthropology itself as it records how I experienced ethnographic research as both a method and a way of life.<p> My original goal was to describe the culture of chiropractic as a prominent and important field of alternative medicine. As is common in anthropology that seemingly straight-forward objective detoured in an unanticipated direction. I accomplished my purpose by graduating from a chiropractic college as a Doctor of Chiropractic (D.C.).<p>Still another unanticipated diversion in this complex ethnographic adventure led to medical school but not in an accredited institution in the United States. Taking a leave of absence from my professorship at Mills College I eventually graduated from a Mexican medical school as a Doctor of Medicine (M.D.). I earned qualifications in medicine and surgery by entering the profession through a back door.