Dr. Kunchok Gyaltsen, is a leading Tibetan healthcare specialist and the first Buddhist monk to complete a doctorate in public health. Currently, he is an Adjunct Professor at the Shang-Shung Institute School of Tibetan Medicine in Massachusetts and Adjunct Professor of Medicine in the University of Virginia’s Department of Medicine.
(Dr. Kunchok Gyaltsen)
Early Education
Born in Amdo, Tibet’s northeastern region, Dr. Gyaltsen was ordained a Buddhist monk in 1981. Under the tutelage of revered teachers and esteemed Tibetan doctors, Dr. Gyaltsen completed his training in Tibetan Medicine and Buddhism in 1984 at one of Tibet’s greatest monastic learning centers, Kumbum Monastery. In 1995, Dr. Gyaltsen also received an undergraduate degree in Tibetan Buddhism and Sanskrit Studies from The Highest Institute for Tibetan Buddhism in Beijing, P.R. China, gaining fluency in Mandarin and western Chinese dialect.
After intensive ESL training in the U.S., Dr. Gyaltsen received two masters’ degrees: one in International and Intercultural Management from the School for International Training in Vermont (2001), and another master’s in Public Health from Mahidol University in Thailand (2000). For his theses work, Dr. Gyaltsen conducted significant public health research in Thailand, Burma, Nepal, Laos, and China in the fields of Maternal and Child Health Care Services in Rural Areas (Nepal) and Satisfaction towards Utilizing Traditional Medicine (Thailand).
In 2010, Dr. Gyaltsen became the first Tibetan Buddhist monk from Tibet to complete a doctorate degree, accomplishing his Ph.D. at UCLA’s School of Public Health with a Minor in Medical Anthropology (Dissertation: The Relationships and Pathways between Maternal Education and Child Nutritional Status).
Teacher and practitioner of Tibetan Medicine
In 1991, Tibetan Medical College in Lhasa certified Dr. Gyaltsen in Traditional Tibetan Medicine and Sanskrit Studies. He was officially licensed as a Tibetan Medical Doctor by the Health Bureau of Qinghai Province, P.R. China, in 1992, and soon thereafter accepted the position of Deputy Director of the Red Cross Branch Hospital at Kumbum Monastery. Dr. Gyaltsen has held the position of Executive Director of Kumbum Tibetan Medical Hospital since 2001, managing the out- and in-patient and medical products departments.
In 2001, Dr. Gyaltsen founded the Tibetan Healing Fund, a non-profit organization with offices in both Amdo Province and Seattle, Washington. The mission of the Tibetan Healing Fund is to provide basic education and primary health care to rural Tibetan women and children. Today, a growing number of isolated and impoverished women and children in the Tibetans regions of northeastern P.R. China are served by Tibetan Healing Fund projects. Projects include bilingual and bicultural education, community midwife training, and health education and outreach. In July 2009, the Tibetan Healing Fund opened the first Tibetan Birth Center for rural Tibetan women in Ma-lho Tibetan Prefecture in western P.R. China.
In 2003, Dr. Gyaltsen facilitated the opening of Kumbum Tibetan Medical Hospital’s first branch clinic in Beijing, P.R. China, and has since opened an outpatient clinic in Shenyang City (eastern China) and a small hospital near Xianyang (western China). Kumbum Tibetan Medical Hospital is currently the largest facility of its kind, reputed for its quality care, professionalism, and pharmaceutical expertise. Since 2003, Dr. Gyaltsen has been nationally recognized as a scholar in his field by the National government, editing, translating, and contributing to medical textbooks published by the National Government for University-level medical courses in the Tibetan language.
In 2007, Dr. Gyaltsen established an exchange program for students and professors with the UCLA School of Public Health at the Tso-Ngon University Tibetan Medical College in Qinghai. Today these academic exchanges continue between UCLA’s School of Public Health, the Shang-Shung Institute School of Tibetan Medicine in Conway, Massachusetts, and Tso-Ngon (Qinghai) University Tibetan Medical College.
Since 2012, Dr. Kunchok Gyaltsen holds the appointment of Mingyu President at the largest Tibetan medical hospital in the world, Tso-Ngon (Qinghai) Tibetan Medical Hospital. Also, as Senior Advisor for Arura Tibetan Medical Group in Siling, Dr. Gyaltsen works closely with Dr. Otsang Tsokchen on planning and the introduction of new forms of healthcare and wellness using Tibetan Medicine. As a Senior Professor and PhD advisor of Tibetan Medicine at Tso-Ngon (Qinghai) University Tibetan Medical College, Professor Gyaltsen develops and teaches curriculum design in Tibetan Medicine Wellness courses and has introduced newly established Research Methods in Tibetan Medicine for doctoral, master and undergraduate students.
Dr. Gyaltsen has published and lectured widely in the U.S. and elsewhere on the holistic approach of Tibetan Medicine. His lectures integrate his extensive knowledge of medical theory, history and practice combined with the ethics learned through his Buddhist studies.
Resource:
Tibetan Medicine Today 