Headed for Gallifrey! (Or…a chance meeting with Rowan?)

I thought the first time I was ever professionally published it would be for cytokines and their influence in traumatic dive injuries or muscle relaxant use for pain relief in the Chikunguna virus. I wanted to be the kind of physician who made a huge impact for patients. Sometimes I fantasize about getting a Nobel prize nomination in the mail the same way I wanted a letter to Hogwarts when I was a kid.

I’ve discovered we don’t always get what we want, but we get exactly what we need. I traveled all the way to the Tenerife Sea and Canary Islands to listen to Stephen Hawking speak–inspiration from my Guru-but it was one line from the editor of Astronomy magazine that changed the course of my career. David Eicher spoke about how children who were once interested in science are losing interest as virtual reality becomes so amazing. Kids who were once interested in becoming scientists are now weekend gamers and social medial moguls.

And I wanted to change that but I wasn’t sure how…until Rowan. Walking down a sunny LA street on their way to a Doctor Who convention were Rowan and Lissa. Rowan loves Doctor Who and Harry Potter, fairies and magic…and wants to be an astronaut. Her mother encourages her love of science and fantasy and magic and reality. Rowan’s dream became mine. Or rather, I borrowed just a little piece from her. Kids that love fantasy can also love science if someone reminds them of their magic.

All this medicine and science–18 years of formal training and a lifetime of adventures and I thought, “I can do this.” Sometimes there is pain in medicine; there are battles we cannot win and endings that Death will not negotiate more time for. I needed balance for that and that became “Science with The Doctor”; I don’t have a time traveling space ship and I seem to have lost my wand but somewhere deep in my core the spark of magic was reborn. I could show kids the magic of science and medicine and I could have fun doing it.

So, come this Valentine’s Day weekend, I won’t be eating a romantic dinner with a lover. I’ll be showing 44 kids and their parents how to see beyond the ordinary, Doctor Who style. Crashing spaceship? If you know enough about magnetic fields you might be able to build a monopolar motor to get you back in orbit. Worried about staying in orbit? Some screaming ballons and the physics of centripetal force should allay fears! Making a solid out of two liquids? Nah–can’t be possible, unless you know something about cross linking polymers. Ever felt like there’s more to you on the inside that no one sees? So do geodes..and it takes the eye of a scientist to see within.

See you at Gallifrey!