Instant Access To 100,000+ Essays!

Today medicine has made a tremendous impact in providing far more advanced treatments than medicine practiced in the past. Modern and well-developed societies seek medical treatment by making decisions to allow physicians to treat medical illnesses. But many people of different cultures still use home remedies and rituals in hope of curing a disease or sickness without the aid of a medical professional. Different cultures practice different remedies that many other cultures find dangerous or harmful. In the case between Dr. Leigh and Ms. Saeto, the role of cultural boundaries comes into effect when Ms Saeto brings her youngest child Marie to the clinic for her four-month immunizations. Dr. Leigh, upon noticing the burn marks on the child stomach, asks Ms. Saeto about the burns. Ms. Saeto explained, “She used a traditional Mien cure for pain because she suspected that her child had a case of “Guisa mun toe”(Crigger p15).” Dr. Leigh, not familiar with Mien cultural remedies, is given a brief description on how the Mien cure for pain is administered. After hearing what Ms. Saeto had to say, Dr. Leigh “finds no reason to suspect” any problems of harming the child. The question is, should Dr. Leigh have said something