When I started medical school, I had no idea that I would become a writer. I'd completed a PhD in the biochemistry of endorphin receptors, and planned to become a bench scientist with a once-a-week clinic to see patients. But during residency, I fell in love with patient-care, and realized that I'd have to put bench research aside. After three years of training, I took off some time to travel. I spent 18 months on the road, working occasional medical temp-jobs to earn money, and then exploring Latin America for as long as my money would last. It was during these travels, during this first true break from medicine, that I started writing down the stories of my medical training at Bellevue Hospital. I had no intentions about a book, or publishing at all, but I just needed to unload some of the stories that had built up over the years. When I came back to medical practice, writing kept itself going in my life. Then I helped found the Bellevue Literary Review, which was another way to incorporate literature into medicine. Now, my time is split between clinical medicine, teaching, writing, editing, my newest hobby—cello, (and of course my three wonderful children!).