DrShrime

Basically, it boils dow to being the first-born son of an immigrant family! As a first-born son of an immigrant family, I kind of only had four options: Take over the family business, become a doctor, become a lawyer, or become a failure.

I'd been majoring in biology (much to my chagrin—I wanted to major in music or linguistics), so doctoring was the logical next step

My career is already pretty non-traditional. I haven't seen patients in the US, for example, since 2018, focusing all my clinical work in Africa. I do a lot of research, teaching, writing, and advocacy these days.

I can't say I know what the next ten years will look like, but, ten years ago, I wouldn't have predicted today. And I'm ok with that. As long as I'm working toward my own why, then I'm where I'm supposed to be.

Well, the family business was engineering!

In Africa so far: Morocco, Senegal, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana, Benin, Togo, Zambia, South Africa, Congo-Brazzaville, and Madagascar.

Liberia was the first country I worked in with Mercy Ships, so it's got a special place in my heart. In terms of sheer natural beauty, it's hard to beat Madagascar!

Well, the short answer is: the ship hasn't done surgery since early 2020. Because early in the pandemic it became clear that ships and covid don't mix.

We've learned a lot since then about covid (we, surgeons on Mercy Ships, and also we, the scientific community as a whole). We've instituted a lot of safety protocols, so, fingers crossed, we can get "back in the water" soon!