This past leap day (Feb. 29), Kai Sun, MD, MS, gave birth to her third child, a daughter named Chloe Gayoung Paik. What makes her daughter’s birth so unusual is that Dr. Sun, an assistant professor in Medicine at Duke University, Durham, NC, is also a leapling (or leaper). She was also born on Feb….
Novice writers often wait months, sometimes even years, before their first piece is published. However, Usman T. Malik, MBBS, shares a different experience. His letter to the editor of Bachon ka Pakistan, a Pakistani children’s publication, was published shortly after being submitted. He was just 7 years old. Dr. Malik is now an assistant professor…
The clock was ticking. Christopher Morris, MD, then an intern and resident in internal medicine at the University of Tennessee (UT) Medical Center, Knoxville, had just 30 seconds to think of the correct response. He already had the answer. His challenge was coming up with the question. Final Jeopardy In 1988, Dr. Morris, now a…
Roughly six years ago, Nigil Haroon, MD, PhD, MBA, division head of rheumatology at the University Health Network, Toronto, traveled almost 9,000 miles from his home to Papua, New Guinea. His plan was to photograph the Raggiana bird-of-paradise, which can only be found in the tropical forests of eastern New Guinea. He spent about two…
When she was 2 years old, Brittany A. Bettendorf, MD, MFA, a rheumatologist at the University of Iowa (UI) Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City, was introduced to figure skating by her mother, a national roller-skating champion and amateur figure skater. “The first time I stepped on the ice, I loved it,” she says. Dr. Bettendorf…
When he was a boy, Jeff Peterson, MD, fondly remembers that he would help his dad pick blackberries and watch intently as the berries were transformed into wine. “I liked it when my dad offered me a sip because the wine tasted very sweet,” Dr. Peterson says. “It was a special family moment.” These days,…
Sometimes, late at night, after his wife Carla has gone to bed, Glenn Parris, MD, rheumatologist, founder and CEO of Parris and Associates Rheumatology, Lawrenceville, Ga., sneaks into his home office to continue working on one of his novels. “My wife thinks I’m asleep, but I use the time to compose my thoughts and write…
Elliot Rosenstein, MD, spends most weekend mornings and late afternoons a bit differently than other rheumatologists. He feeds and waters chickens, rabbits, llamas, horses, goats and guinea fowl, as well as an orphaned peacock. Dr. Rosenstein is one of two medical directors at the Institute of Rheumatic & Autoimmune Disease (IRAD) at Overlook Medical Center,…
Jennifer May, MD, a rheumatologist with Rapid City Medical Center, South Dakota, completed her undergraduate degree at Augustana University, Sioux Falls, S.D., and earned her medical degree at the University of South Dakota School of Medicine, Vermillion. She was in the fourth grade when she first began playing the viola. Although she came to love…