Doctor Lodrö Puntsok
Doctor Lodrö Puntsok (b. 1943) - doctor in chief of the Tibetan hospital of Dzongsar, and a very active influence in the preservation of the medical and cultural heritage of Tibet.
From the age of 16, Lodrö Puntsok studied Tibetan medicine following the traditional Tibetan medical practices. He also studied Tibetan Buddhism, grammar, poetry, astrology, art, woodcraft, and sculpture. He has published as many as 25 scholarly works on Buddhism and medicine. Since 1983, he has been promoting community service projects such as environmental protection, medical care for the poor, and traditional cultural protection, and has initiated traditional Tibetan handicraft classes in the Dzongsar shedra.
Work History
- 1954-1958: Became a monk in Dzongsar Monastery. Learned and how to read and write.
- 1961-1979: Began to study Tibetan medicine.
- 1975-present: Works as director and physician at the Puma Township Cooperative Clinic. The clinic became Dzongsar Tibetan Hospital in 1981. Over the past twenty five years, has provided free medicine and health care to monks and villagers. Has been working as the head of the hospital since 1996.
- 2001-present: Established The Yothok Yonden Gonpo Medical Center. This is the first NGO in Derge county and the second NGO in Ganzi prefecture.