In a previous post, the crack investigative team over here at Scrub Notes looked into the seedy underbelly of the First Aid machine. Finding not very much, we moved on to more fertile fields. However, as a commenter has noted, the bios in First Aid itself do shed some light on the goings-on of the duo. In the interest of full disclosure, here is the entire bio for Dr. Bhushan from the 2006 edition of First Aid [my comments in this color and links added]:
My commentary aside, it's clear that this man is living the high life. He sounds like that guy on those commercials:
Vikas is an author, editor, entrepreneur, and roaming teleradiologist [heh, seems like he lists the occupations in order of importance to him!] who divides his days between Los Angeles [!], Maui [!!], and balmy remote locales [!!! oo, more mystery] with abundant bandwidth. In 1992 he conceived and authored the original First Aid for the USMLE Step 1, and in 1998 he originated and coauthored the Underground Clinical Vignettes series [shameless plug; also why are the vignettes 'underground'? More air of mystery, I guess]. His entrepreneurial adventures include a successful software company; a medical publishing enterprise (S2S); an e-learning company (Medsn); and, most recently, an ER teleradiology venture (24/7 radiology) [what company has this man not formed?]. His electic interests include medical informatics [is this really an 'interest'? especially compared with the rest?], independent film, humanism [Reeeally? Humanism? Isn't that kind of broad?], Urdu poetry, world music, South Asian diasporic culture, and avoiding a day job [Sigh, I can make all the comments I want, but this last bit is pretty frickin' cool]. He has also coproduced a music documentary on qawwali; coproduced and edited Shabash 2.0: The Hip Guide to All Things South Asian in North America (available at www.artwallah.org/shabash) [Shouldn't this be called First Aid for the Unhip South Asian?]; and is now completing a CD/book project on Sufi poetry translated into 4 languages. Vikas completed a bachelor's degree in biochemistry from the University of California, Berkeley; an MD with thesis from the University of California, San Francisco; and a radiology residency from the University of California, Los Angeles.
My commentary aside, it's clear that this man is living the high life. He sounds like that guy on those commercials:
Stay thirsty, my friends... Stay thirsty. Oh, Dr. Le's bio is there too, but I'll spare you. He's written some books, went to Yale, does research on asthma education at University of Louisville. Perhaps he's also a man of "eclectic" tastes, but we may never know...
Hilarious video clip. Yeah, Bhushan seems as self-actualized as they come, bro. He doesn't top Tim Ferriss (google him -- I'm unsuccessfully trying to read his book while studying for Step), although he comes pretty close (based solely on his bio). But, as you know, everyone embellishes, everyone presents what they want you to see, which is often night and day compared to who they really are.
ReplyDeleteDoes he have a spouse or active romantic interest? What's his social life like? Probably the best test of his personal and professional "effectiveness" is what those in frequent contact with him think of him. Of course, we'll probably never know the latter, or be able to answer any of the other questions, for that matter. :)