There was a time when I thought that perhaps I ought to put myself forward as a reasonable candidate to be the caretaker and editor of Wikipedia’s entry for medical tourism.
Upon careful consideration, I realized that I would rather stick my hand in a bee’s nest. This is nothing against Wikipedia, which I think is a wonderful project; and I conclude Chapter 1 of Beauty from Afar with some direct quotes from Wikipedia. It was remarkable how the entry for “Medical Tourism” evolved in a short time:
Chapter 1 Page 9 | Medical Tourism: A Moving Target
… And the reasons which I am glad I did not become, or try to become, the Wikipedia editor of the page, are not yet apparent, in the above-linked passage from Beauty from Afar.
If you look at the current entry, you’ll see that it has evolved through a contentious few years. Many people have added and deleted and bitterly disputed sentences, paragraphs and sections of the entry, over time. It has been a bone over which dogs of the medical tourism industry fought. I make no apologies for the analogy. Medical tourism “experts” in every country with any claim to being a medical travel destination have vied to define the reality of medical travel. Bias was inevitable.
The entry is not so bad now as it was at a few stages in its evolution. For a partial discussion of the issue of bias, take a look at the Wikipedia “Talk” page on the Medical tourism definition/entry.
Bees sting.
Anyway — Chapter 1 of Beauty from Afar is now posted completely. It is in 9 online pages, rather than the 18 in the printed version of the book. I do have to add the end notes to the chapter but have decided to go back and insert them as footnotes to the appropriate pages in this online edition; so I’ll probably do that tomorrow, before commencing with Chapter 2.
Also, a technical note: I have made BeautyfromAfar.com a dofollow blog, which means that links on this blog have relevance to search engines. Many blogs use a “nofollow” default, meant to discourage comment spam. I don’t see the point, since I delete comment spam and blatant marketing attempts with extreme prejudice. If you have something to add to the discussion here, I want you to get credit for doing so, with a link from your name to your site, at least. (And if you don’t understand this paragraph, it probably doesn’t apply to you.)
