A Gentle Rain of Compassion (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781955690331)

David R Shlim M.D. was born in Portland, Oregon in 1949. He earned a B.A. in English literature at Pomona College and his M.D. degree from Rush Medical College. After completing one year of internship and working briefly in family practice and emergency medicine, he travelled to Nepal to volunteer at a high-altitude rescue post near the base of Mt. Everest and returned for two more three-month stints over the next three years. In 1983, he joined a clinic in Kathmandu that specialized in the care of foreigners in Nepal. He became the director of the clinic and worked in Nepal for the next fifteen years.

Dr. Shlim was married to his wife, Jane, in 1990 and they have two children. In 1998, the family moved to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where they currently reside. When he moved back to the U.S., he organized two Medicine and Compassion conferences with Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche and later transcribed and edited the teachings into the book, Medicine and Compassion, which has been continuously in print since 2004, and has sold over 13,000 copies in North America. A 10th anniversary edition was brought out in 2014. The book has also been published in six other languages.

Dr. Shlim currently practices travel medicine in Jackson Hole. He has taught an ongoing weekly course in Tibetan Buddhism for the past twenty years. He served as the head of the Teton District Board of Health for ten years, and currently serves as the President of Gomde California, Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche's main retreat center in North America. He toured with The Rolling Stones for three years as the doctor for the band, traveling with them to Canada, the U.S., Japan, China, and Australia.