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In July 2026, the ATMA team embarked on a deeply meaningful project alongside our ongoing medical outreach across the high-altitude passes of Ladakh. We were joined by Sampreeth Rao, Amir Ali, and Nidhi Panwar who, alongside ATMA Lead Indy Sahota, set out to film a documentary honouring the extraordinary life and work of our long-standing regional partner, Dr. Tsering Norboo. Dr. Norboo has spent his entire life in service to the people of Ladakh. After decades of dedicated service as a specialist physician in the public healthcare system until his retirement at 65, his commitment to his community never wavered. Instead, he channeled his energy into founding the Ladakh Institute of Prevention, continuing to safeguard community health through preventative medicine and regional health advocacy. Bringing this story to light required a unique blend of clinical understanding and visual storytelling. Both Sam and Amir bring exceptional expertise to the project - balancing their clinical careers as emergency physicians in Toronto with strong backgrounds in filmmaking. Having their artistic direction, technical skill, and enthusiasm on the ground was crucial to turning this vision into a reality. Together with Nidhi’s background in journalism and narrative crafting (and overall positive vibes!), the team was well equipped to capture this important story. While in the field, the team captured vivid footage of ATMA’s mobile medical camps in action across remote Himalayan villages, framed against intimate interviews with Dr. Norboo, his colleagues, friends, and family. Through this documentary, we hope to preserve the legacy of a true pioneer in Himalayan healthcare. Beyond honouring Dr. Norboo, our hope is that his story serves as a lasting source of inspiration - not only for the next generation of healthcare providers, but for anyone working to uplift and care for their community. We are now in the post-production phase and working hard to have this released, potentially sometime next year. We will keep everyone posted via the website and social channels! The ATMA-LIP team recently concluded a series of high-altitude mobile medical clinics across the Changthang plateau in Ladakh, India. Operating in one of the highest inhabited regions on Earth—where nomadic communities live and migrate with their pashmina goats at elevations exceeding 4,000 metres—the field team established off-grid clinical camps directly alongside temporary settlements. Despite having no running water and relying on portable generators and solar power, the team successfully provided hundreds of patients with comprehensive medical assessments, diagnostic testing, and essential medications free of charge.
This deployment marks another step in ATMA’s ongoing partnership with Dr. Tsering Norboo and the Ladakh Institute of Prevention to deliver high-quality primary care to isolated Himalayan communities that otherwise lack access to healthcare. None of these zero-grid field operations would be possible without the generous contributions of our global donor community. To read the full report on the Changthang expedition, review field logistics, and learn how to support future mobile clinics, click here. We are writing to share a quick update and extend a sincere thank you to everyone who supported our recent fundraising efforts!
When we launched these twin campaigns, our goals were practical but necessary to sustain our work in the high-altitude regions of Ladakh. Thanks to your support, both initiatives reached their targets. Because of your generosity, we successfully raised:
How These Funds Will Be Used Mobile Medical Camps ($8,000) Delivering primary care in remote Himalayan environments involves significant logistical and resource challenges. The funds raised for the medical camps will be used directly for clinical operations on the ground, including:
Documentary ($6,000) The $6,000 raised for the documentary fundraiser allows us to move forward with documenting the life and medical legacy of Dr. Tsering Norboo. As a retired internal medicine physician who has dedicated decades to rural healthcare delivery and high-altitude medicine in Ladakh, his work serves as an important framework for our ongoing initiatives. This funding will cover the production costs and equipment management to film in the region this summer. The team are covering all of their travel expenses out of pocket. Next Steps With the fundraising phase complete, our focus shifts entirely to logistics, procurement, and finalizing our upcoming travel schedules for July 2026. We are grateful for the trust and financial support from our community, which allows us to keep these initiatives running. We will provide updates here on the blog as our fieldwork and production progress. Thank you again for your continued support. With gratitude, Indy & the ATMA Team We're excited to share that a short piece outlining the work we've been doing alongside Dr. Norboo and the Ladakh Institute of Prevention team was recently published in a popular emergency medicine global health blog! Please click here to read the article.  The Last Himalayan Doctor: Documenting a 60-Year Medical Legacy
This July 2026, a team of emergency doctors, including ATMA's own Indy Sahota, are heading back to the Indian Himalayas for our annual Ladakh Mobile Medical camps. However, this year’s trip includes a very special addition: we will be filming a documentary to honour the 60-year legacy of Dr. Tsering Norboo! Dr. Norboo is a true pioneer who has dedicated his career to delivering humanitarian medical care to some of the most remote villages in Ladakh. As he approaches the end of his remarkable journey, we want to capture his untold story and highlight the rapidly evolving landscape of healthcare in this region. This film is more than just a biography—it is a lens into the incredible, quiet work that local healthcare providers do every single day to keep their communities safe. To bring this important story of grassroots global health to life, we have launched a dedicated fundraising campaign. Our team is personally self-funding all of our travel. The funds raised through this new campaign will go strictly toward the film's production, equipment, and dissemination costs. How You Can Support Please note that this documentary fundraiser is completely separate from our ongoing medical work:
Thank you so much for your continued support as we work to preserve this vital piece of global health history and continue our medical mission in Ladakh! |
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August 2026
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