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Mark Hyman, Mn, is co-medical director at Canyon Ranch in Lenox, Mass, an internationally acclaimed health resort. His practice at Canyon Ranch is affiliated with Harvard University's Brigham and Women's Hospital. he graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor's degree in Asian Studies and Magna Cum Lande in Medicinefrom the University of Ottawa in Canada. He completed his postgraduate training at the University of California at San Francisco and is Board Certified in Family Medicine. Dr. Hyman has worked as a rural family physician, was the medical director for development and planning of an international medical center in Beijing, China, helped develop medical centers for expatriates in Asia, and has worked in an inner city emergency room. he is the author of The Detox Box: A program for greater health and vitality and the co-author of the New York Times best seller, Ultraprevention: The Six-Week Plan That Will Make You Healthy For Life. Dr. Hyman is also the Editor in Chief oj Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine.
Alternative Therapies recently interviewed Hyman at his office at Canyon Ranch in the Berkshires.
Alternative Therapies: Why did you become a doctor?
Dr. Hyman: It was an evolutionary process for me. 1 initially wanted to be a writer. In college, as fate would have it, I ended up at a table with a group of students taking a course on Asian studies, particularly Asian religions. The professor, a Parisian Zen Buddhist, sounded intriguing. I took the course and it changed my life. I majored in Asian studies, particularly Chinese and Tibetan Buddhism. One of my professors was Raoul Birnbaum, author of the book The Healing Buddha, which is about the medicinal aspects of Buddhism. I began to discover the second layer of Buddhism: the healing of the mind. This addresses the therapeutics and phenomenology of the mind. Religion and medicine and spirituality are interwoven. I became fascinated with that whole phenomenon. Over time, through my study of Buddhism, I became increasingly more interested in healing. I thought that Buddhism was the ultimate healing art. I studied the Chinese language and the theoretical aspects of Chinese medicine, Tibetan Buddhism, and Tibetan medicine. On a personal level, I became interested in yoga. At one point, I was contemplating going...