The Dancing Healers

While working as a family physician in a native American hospital in the Southwest, Dr. Carl Hammershlag was introduced to a patient named Santiago, a Pueblo priest and clan chief, who asked him where he had learned how to heal. Hammerschlag responded almost by rote, rattling off his medical education, internship, and certification.

The old man replied, "Do you know how to dance?"

To humor Santiago, Hammerschlag shuffled his feet at the priest's bedside. Despite his condition, Santiago got up and demonstrated the proper steps. "You must be able to dance if you are to heal people," he admonished the young doctor. "I can teach you my steps, but you will have to hear your own music."

Dr. Carl Hammershlag is the author of the book "The Dancing Healers"