Case 10.2: Doctor to the Poor
Case synopsis and analysis
This case study portrays Paul Farmer, founder and head of Partners in Health (PIH), a non-profit
organization dedicated to bringing health care to impoverished individuals across the globe. Paul
went to Haiti after graduating college and discovered his calling: to be a doctor to poor people.
He created Partners in Health in 1987 and began building schools and clinics in Haiti to prevent
disease through treatment and education. He did this while attending medical school at Harvard
Learning objectives:
1) Students should be able to apply the servant leader behaviors to a leader.
Answers to questions in the text:
1. Would you characterize Paul Farmer as a servant leader? Explain your answer.
Greenleaf has written that servant leadership “begins when leaders commit themselves to putting
their followers first, being honest with them, and treating them fairly. Servant leaders make it a
2. Putting others first is the essence of servant leadership. In what way did Paul Farmer put
others first?
3. Another characteristic of a servant leader is getting followers to serve. Who were Paul’s
followers, and how did they become servants to his vision?
Paul has followers working in his organization. His vision is compelling; he is a strong role
model; and he presumably hires people for PIH that have similar visions and goals.
4. What role do you think Paul’s childhood had in his development as a servant leader?
It is difficult to know for certain, but it seems that Paul’s childhood played a strong role in his
development as a leader. He grew up very poor and lived in a school bus for a time. He
Potential teaching approaches:
Below is a way to structure a class based on skill theory and case study 10.2:
• Hold a lecture on servant leadership.
Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition: Instructor Resource
Exercises for this case study:
1) The professor could show a film about the NIH or Paul Farmer.
2) Paul Farmer had a strong vision for himself and his work. The professor could discuss
that and work with students to create their own mission for giving and serving. Students
– How do you want to be remembered when you die?
– What cause is important to your heart? Cancer, education, equal rights . . .
– How would you like to make a difference in the world?