Autobiography of Navajo Surgeon

Alvord, L. A., & Van Pelt, E. C. (2000). The scalpel and the silver bear: The first Navajo woman surgeon        combines Western medicine and traditional healing. NY: Bantam Books.

This book juxtaposes well with the idea of social determinants of health.  The Alvord & Van Pelt (2000) write, “The causes and cures for illness are woven into everything else” (p.113).   Alvord, a path breaking surgeon recounts her educational experiences, family life, and work at hospitals. She applies to her operating room, physical examinations, and waiting room interactions the beliefs of some members of the Navajo nation in witchcraft (p. 65) and avoidance of those who are sick and dying (p.65), as well as the cosmological concepts of harmony or hózhó. 

My interest in this scientific way of looking at the world was magnified with each class I took. Biochemistry, chemistry, anatomy, physiology, even calculus had the same internal logic as much as Native American cosmology. The way the white blood cells attack an intruding virus, the way too much or too little of anything disturbs the body functions, the way tissue defends or repairs itself—it was all hózhó, the beautiful balance of the universe, rephrased in scientific terms.  (p. 37)

Alvord identifies the bedside manner that works best for her patients, reducing the number of questions she asks patients (pp. 46, 102, 111, 114,); being careful with touching patients (pp. 76, 108); using the Navajo language even intermittently in a conversation with some patients (pp. 76); giving proper introductions to establish her family connections to the community, and being prepared for anything to happen (p.61) .  The book explains how one person connects their mulitple worlds as a surgeon and a Navajo woman.