In the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan, medical patients engage a variety of healing practices to seek cures for their ailments. Patients use the expanding biomedical network and a growing number of traditional healthcare units, while also seeking alternative practices, such as shamanism and other religious healing, or even more provocative practices. The Patient Multiple delves into this healthcare complexity in the context of patients’ daily lives and decision-making processes, showing how these unique mountain cultures are finding new paths to good health among a changing and multifaceted medical topography.

“It is a well thought-out book that attempts to place the concept of medical plurality and especially ‘multiplicity’ in a more complex situation in Bhutan today… The book is comprised of five chapters, written in rich ethnographic style and anthropological analyses.” Newbooks.asia “The Patient Multiple is a refreshing account of healing narratives in a medical plural context. It is a wonderful and insightful read, written in a way that is accessible to a wide audience, blending rich description and grounded analysis. Furthermore, beautiful photographs taken by the author accompany and complement the text. In sum, the book is very well suited for students at both undergraduate and post-graduate levels and is an important contribution for those interested in medical pluralism and the shifting healing landscape in the Himalayan region.” Medical Anthropology Quarterly “…the book is clearly structured and includes several photographs that visually underline the ethnographic accounts…[It] offers a welcome contribution to the medical anthropological literature on ‘patient-hood’ and the multiplicity this involves on the ground. With its accessibility and detailed ethnographic examples, it makes a good read for undergraduate courses in medical anthropology and anybody working in or concerned with public health in Asia.” Anthropos

Jonathan Taee holds a PhD in Social Anthropology from the University of Cambridge. He has conducted ethnographic research and worked in Tibet, Peru, Nepal, India, the USA and Bhutan.