The real Patch Adams heads for UCT

THE real Patch Adams, immortalised by Robin Williams in 1998 in the file of the same name, is coming to South Africa on an "Excessive Happiness Tour" from September 16 to 21.

The legendary doctor, who is founder and director of the Gesundheit Institute, a non-profit hospital project incorporating humour, the joy of service, the creative arts and the integration of varied healing traditions, will visit UCT's Faculty of Health Sciences on September 19.

After a walk-about tour of Groote Schuur Hospital, he will present a free workshop in the Baxter Theatre for medical students, entitled The Joy of Caring – the Thrill of Helping.

For the past 30 years Dr Hunter "Patch" Adams, social activist, medical doctor and registered clown, has been practising and promoting his philosophy that healing should be a loving human interchange, not a business transaction. Adams' visit will also raise funds for AIDS orphans and he plans to initiate a Hospital Clowning movement in South Africa.

---

---