“Ubuntu” and the Soul of Medicine | Christian Ntizimira, MD

The Doctor's Art

The Genocide Against the Tutsi, occurring in Rwanda between April-July 1994, was a devastating episode of mass violence in which nearly 1 million people were killed over a period of 100 days. Fueled by longstanding ethnic tensions, political power struggles, and a deep seated history of discrimination, the genocide saw members of the Tutsi ethnic group slaughtered indiscriminately by extremists of the Hutu ethnic group.

Growing up amid this chaos, Christian Ntizimira, MD witnessed some of humanity's most horrific atrocities. Instead of turning away, however, he chose to enter medicine, a profession that would allow him to address the immense suffering he saw. Today, Dr. Ntizimira is a palliative care physician and the founder and executive director of the African Center for Research on End of Life Care.

In this episode, Dr. Ntizimira joins us to share his personal experiences with the Rwandan Genocide, his journey to palliative medicine after initially exploring a career in surgery, what palliative care means to him, what it looks like to honor the dignity of a patient, how he advocates better access to palliative care and chronic illness care, and his unique approach to medicine rooted in “ubuntu,” a philosophy emphasizing the universal bond that connects all humanity that is best summarized by the phrase “I am because you are.”

In this episode, you’ll hear about:

2:45 - How Dr. Ntizimira’s experience as a young person during the Rwandan Genocide inspired him to become a physician, and how he eventually found himself drawn to palliative care

14:25 - Dr. Ntizimira’s distinction between “treating the disease” and “treating the person”

20:22 - How Dr. Ntizimira teaches doctors to fully conceptualize patients as people instead of focusing only on their medical ailments

25:50 - The heart of palliative care that transcends cultures

30:54 - The importance of presence in palliative care

38:27 - What “reconciliation” means in Dr. Ntizimira’s approach to palliative care

47:17 - “Ubuntu,” an African philosophy emphasizing a shared connection among humans, and how it can revolutionize how we care for patients

Dr. Christian Ntizimira is the author of The Safari Concept: An African Framework for End of Life Care.

Dr. Christian Ntizimira can be found on Twitter/X at @ntizimira.

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