First, I was a Vegas kid who threw flips
I grew up in Las Vegas doing gymnastics, tumbling and tricking — flips, twists, the whole circus. I was obsessed. So obsessed that I did my undergrad research on the biomechanics of a back tuck (yes, really). All those years taught me how to show up terrified and land it anyway — which, it turns out, is most of the job once you're standing at the head of an operating table.
And no, I didn't hang it up. I still throw flips when the call schedule lets me — you don't really quit that.
Then I chased a harder landing
At some point the pull wasn't the next trick — it was the people. So I did the long premed grind, and the day I got into med school back in 2019, I pulled out a camera and started filming the whole thing. Med school, the Step studying, the rotations — I documented all of it (and you guys came along). Plenty of people thought trading the mats for medicine was a strange leap. Honestly? Same job: practice relentlessly, stay calm when it counts, take care of the person in front of you.
Now I'm an anesthesiology resident in San Diego
In 2025 I packed a U-Haul and moved to San Diego for residency, and now I do anesthesia out here — 24-hour calls, 80-hour weeks, epidurals at 3am, then straight out to the courtyard because I refuse to spend a sunny day entirely indoors. When I'm not at the hospital I'm usually running (somehow I keep signing up for half-marathons), in the gym, or out on a surfboard pretending I'm good at it.
I also talk way too openly about resident pay — the real paychecks, the taxes, the FSA stuff nobody explains to you. Somebody told me money was a taboo topic in medicine; I decided it shouldn't be.
This is the life we chose, baby.
Plus two dogs who run the place
Meet Chip — the scruffy grey one with the beard and zero impulse control — and Chewy, the little tan Yorkie who acts like the wise older brother. Neither of them respects my call schedule. Both of them are the reason I come home smiling. They've become characters of their own, popping up in the vlog and signing off every issue of Vitals.
So why film the whole thing?
Because residency can feel lonely and a little nuts, and I figured — why not document it and bring people along? Some of it's useful, some of it's just my dogs being idiots at 6am. If a piece of it makes your week feel a little less heavy, that's the whole point.
— take what helps, leave the rest. this isn't medical advice, just my life :)
Want the rest?
New vlog every Sunday, and a weekly letter called Vitals — basically a doctor's group chat in your inbox.