Newlyweds

  Newlyweds 
  Originally uploaded by interplast

Dehradun, India -- Michelle Spring, Webster Fellow   

I found this interesting:  in clinic we saw a woman with a burned hand, which is very common.  Her left hand had a small, non-functional index finger.  In the US, we would amputate it as it serves little functional purpose to have a fused digit in that position.  Yogi told us that here, that is not an option.  Her marriage value will drop horrendously if she does not possess all five fingers.   It reminded me how important it is to learn about different cultures, as it can really impact compassionate health care delivery. 

The woman pictured here with her husband (a different woman than the one with the burned hand) was perhaps lucky that she was already married before she was burned in a cooking fire.