Today we’d like to introduce you to Tenzin Namdul.
Hi Tenzin, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers.
I am a Tibetan Medicine practitioner and medical anthropologist by training, and my work focuses on aging and care for the dying through the lens of Tibetan Medicine and Tibetan Buddhist contemplative science.
I was born in a Tibetan refugee community in the foothill of the Himalayas in a small town called Dharamsala in India. Dharamsala has become a Buddhist spiritual and cultural epicenter owing to being a residence of the Dalai Lama and a Tibetan cultural reservoir. After finishing high school, I went to Tibetan Medical School to study traditional Tibetan medicine in Dharamsala, India.
As a Tibetan medical student and a practitioner, I have been intrigued by the intricate relationship between our mind and body, and how it applies in clinical practice, as well as in our day-to-day lives. I was also fascinated by Tibetan Medicine’s emphasis on the connection between our two worlds of biology and sociocultural context in exploring health and well-being. I am thus dedicated to understanding how a synergistic relationship between our mind and body, and its relationship to our environment, could lead to human well-being and flourishing.
My initial involvement with clinical research was a randomized controlled trial and an observational study on diabetes and cancer, respectively, led by Tibetan Medical & Astrological Institute. Both these studies made me realize that it is not only a medicinal formulation, but the overall care of the patient that is critical in addressing a bio-psychological disorder as well as in facilitating the patient’s overall well-being. Although I was a core member of the Tibetan Medical Institute’s research and development team, I often felt the lack of formal training in Western research methodologies.
In 2009, I moved to America to pursue further study at the University of Minnesota primarily to learn how to design and conduct rigorous scientific studies on aforementioned areas via both clinical and phenomenological pathways. Since I moved to America, I was able to focus solely on pursuing my goals, thankfully with the support of my family and friends, and organizations such as the University of Minnesota Bakken Center for Spirituality & Healing, Emory University, The Dalai Lama Graduate Students Trust, Wenner-Gren Foundation, Fulbright-Hays, and NIH. I did nothing but go to school, and by 2019, I was able to get my undergraduate degree and graduate certificate in Public Health Core Concepts at the U of MN, and PhD in medical anthropology from Emory University.
I am currently the Director of the Tibetan Healing Initiative at the U of MN Center for Spirituality & Healing. I also lead the Integrated Health and Education at the U of MN Center for Global Health and Social Responsibility. Being able to come back to the U of MN in a new capacity is a full circle for me. I feel strongly that this is why I am here. Although challenging, I feel privileged and humbled for the opportunity to direct these programs.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Although I was fortunate to have some of the kindest people supporting and rooting for me, my academic journey, particularly in Western education, has been challenging. It was a huge shift coming into Western academia in terms of language and mode of training.
English is my third language after Tibetan and Hindi, so it took me a significant amount of work not only to articulate my thoughts and ideas in class but also to comprehend academic literature. Likewise, Western pedagogy is quite different from how I was trained at a Tibetan Medical School in India. At Tibetan Medical School, there is a great deal of focus on memorization and comprehending ancient Tibetan medical texts but not much writing and seminars as in the Western education system.
I had to spend a lot more time and put more effort into comprehending and writing my papers at a graduate school. Besides navigating myself into the Western education system, I had to constantly reinforce my bigger purpose to bridge ancient Tibetan and modern medical systems every time I feel displaced and separated from my homeland, Tibet/India.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
My research work and teaching are closely intertwined – they inform and shape each other. At Tibetan Healing Initiative (THI), our trademark course, “Ethics, Spirituality, and Healing of Tibetan Medicine” has inspired our collaborative, interdisciplinary work on designing and validating Tibetan Medicine theoretical-based Constitutional Self-Assessment and Lifestyle Guidelines Tools.
These tools are employed by numerous schools and organizations in the US and beyond. In this research, we studied an individual’s unique biological and psychological characteristics using the Tibetan medical theory of Rang-shin, and its impact on an individual’s health and well-being. Building on this, we plan to work on how this self-assessment and lifestyle model can translate into the way we care for long-term care and terminal patients.
Currently, THI is engaged in three different interdisciplinary, community-based projects, ranging from epidemiological studies to retrospective observational cohort studies. These projects are investigating the prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive practices among Tibetan monks, COVID-19 care using Tibetan Medicine herbal formulations among under-represented populations in North America, and rural/indigenous and isolated communities’ responses to the Covid pandemic.
For example, in collaboration with the UMN School of Public Health and Washington State University, we are investigating factors associated with physical and cognitive resilience among Tibetan Buddhist monks in southern India. This research aims to explore two key things: (1) factors related to cognitive and physical resilience among elderly monks, and 2) elicit potentially important culturally relevant factors related to cognitive and physical resilience among elderly monks and their caregivers.
This research will contribute to a diversity of viewpoints in the study of resilience and healthy aging by investigating factors associated with physical and cognitive resilience in a unique population that has not previously been studied. Likewise, the findings are poised to benefit clinical practice and research in aging populations generally and individuals with early Alzheimer’s conditions specifically. Further, this research could aid in developing effective behavioral interventions to support psycho-physiological well-being in aging populations.
We aim to apply our interdisciplinary and community-based research findings to initiating and supporting research collaboration across medical systems and cultures to provide scientifically based comprehensive and holistic care for patients at both individual and societal levels. Such an endeavor will facilitate a paradigm shift to cultivate values of equal importance for both biological and sociocultural determinants of health and well-being. Likewise, our research findings also inform our teachings and community-focused educational program.
Finally, as a Tibetan medical doctor and medical anthropologist, I aim to intersect the Tibetan medical paradigm of mind-body science and the Western scientific study of aging and care for dying people. Further, our goal at THI is to design a holistic “biopsychosociospiritual” behavioral intervention in long-term care settings for patients and caregivers.
What would you say has been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
I learned that setting a goal and purpose that transcends personal interest provides a great deal of perseverance and resilience in the face of challenging situations.
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