2008 Woodie Awards
First-year summer reading tells of philanthropic doctor
Megan Gallo
Issue date: 9/5/06 Section: Arts
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One man. One goal. One lifelong mission.
Tracy Kidder's Mountains Beyond Mountains documents the life of Dr. Paul Farmer, a man who set out to save a small corner of the world, and now runs an organization that helps conquer multiple infectious diseases on three continents. Not only did he have to climb peaks and valleys to reach his distant patients in Haiti, but he also had to do so in his career. From lobbying for economic equality to practically begging affluent Americans for money to donating his own money for the cause, Farmer truly embodies the rare form of Homo sapiens - the selfless being.
This New York Times bestselling book chronicles the life of a man who was raised in a trailer, studied at Duke University and Harvard University and eventually became an Infectious Diseases specialist at the Brigham Young Women's Hospital in Boston. Farmer was a man who had the brains and will to make breakthrough advances in modern American medicine. He could have easily lived a standard, comfortable life.
However, his idea of comfort was not fame and fortune.
Instead, he opted to devote his life to one goal: to bring modern and advanced medicine to third world countries. Farmer's idea of comfort was making every possible attempt to save impoverished lives all over the world. At the end of the day, he rarely even slept knowing that there were still millions of people suffering from a lack of medical care.
In 1987, Farmer and colleague Dr. Jim Yong Kim started the nonprofit organization known as Partners in Health (PIH), based out of Boston. This was the achievement of Farmer's goal to help the destitute and the beginning of his lifelong mission to serve the world. The organization's big break came in 2000 when the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation donated $44.7 million to PIH. Today, Partners In Health continues to serve three continents and fund research for AIDS, Multiple Drug Resistant Tuberculosis (MDR TB) and various infectious diseases.
Tracy Kidder's Mountains Beyond Mountains documents the life of Dr. Paul Farmer, a man who set out to save a small corner of the world, and now runs an organization that helps conquer multiple infectious diseases on three continents. Not only did he have to climb peaks and valleys to reach his distant patients in Haiti, but he also had to do so in his career. From lobbying for economic equality to practically begging affluent Americans for money to donating his own money for the cause, Farmer truly embodies the rare form of Homo sapiens - the selfless being.
This New York Times bestselling book chronicles the life of a man who was raised in a trailer, studied at Duke University and Harvard University and eventually became an Infectious Diseases specialist at the Brigham Young Women's Hospital in Boston. Farmer was a man who had the brains and will to make breakthrough advances in modern American medicine. He could have easily lived a standard, comfortable life.
However, his idea of comfort was not fame and fortune.
Instead, he opted to devote his life to one goal: to bring modern and advanced medicine to third world countries. Farmer's idea of comfort was making every possible attempt to save impoverished lives all over the world. At the end of the day, he rarely even slept knowing that there were still millions of people suffering from a lack of medical care.
In 1987, Farmer and colleague Dr. Jim Yong Kim started the nonprofit organization known as Partners in Health (PIH), based out of Boston. This was the achievement of Farmer's goal to help the destitute and the beginning of his lifelong mission to serve the world. The organization's big break came in 2000 when the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation donated $44.7 million to PIH. Today, Partners In Health continues to serve three continents and fund research for AIDS, Multiple Drug Resistant Tuberculosis (MDR TB) and various infectious diseases.
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