My father was born to Latvian parents in Venezuela and was partly raised in upstate New York, and my mother was born and raised in Taiwan, with parents from separate regions of mainland China. I was born and raised in Palo Alto, California, then moved to Ohio where I attended Kenyon College. After college, I spent two gap years writing and assisting in research and teaching at Stanford University, then moved to Boston for medical school at Harvard University. I spent one year, between M3 and M4, in New York City, studying for an MPH at Columbia University. I am now extremely fortunate to be part of the primary care track at BIDMC!
Long ago, I dreamed of playing professional basketball, if only in an unknown minor league overseas, and came to medicine through an interest in the body and sports medicine. That hoop dream didn't exactly work out, but after a couple of years of Division 3 college basketball at a small liberal arts college I had become something of a reader, and was introduced to physician-writers like Lewis Thomas, one of whose books bears the subtitle: "Notes of a Medicine-Watcher." This idea of medicine as something to be observed and questioned, not simply ingested, excited me, and triggered my sense of writing as a vocation synergistic to medical practice.
During my gap years, I volunteered in hospice care, wrote about end-of-life care and serious illness for a local news outlet, and published essays on geriatrics and palliative care in academic journals. I also did research on medical education. I continued writing at Harvard and found incredible mentors in the clinical and research spheres, including Stephen Juraschek, Stew Lecker, and Anita Vanka, all at BIDMC! My year in New York was focused largely along these same lines, though I also made commitments to continued language learning, something I still prioritize during residency. I became passionate about geriatrics and primary care, and am profoundly grateful to have come to BIDMC to pursue these and other interests! I could not think of a better place to learn and enjoy the art of medicine. My current interests involve cardiovascular health in older adults, geriatrics training and advocacy, religion and health, medical history, and the intersection of art and medicine.
Outside of residency, I am typically engaged in one of three activities: running (very early in the morning), reading (mostly fiction and poetry), and dancing (primarily salsa and bachata). I take great joy in long cafe chats and solitary walks. And, despite my fallen hoop dreams, I can talk all day about NBA basketball, the Boston Celtics, and the evolution of the game.
