Bigger Than Yourself - Dr. Richard Ingebretsen & Emma Lester

About this episode

Dr. Richard Ingebretsen and Emma Lester discuss the origins of wilderness medicine at the University of Utah and the importance of meaningful work.

The daunting task of finding and doing meaningful work is understandably hard to navigate. Often, we impose our own limits about what is possible in a career and what doors are open or closed. As a result, the vision of life’s work can be watered down or abandoned. While there are always realities and challenges, what excites me most about this conversation is how Dr. Richard Ingebretsen (Internal and Emergency Medicine) and second year medical student Emma Lester share their amazing story about the origin of wilderness medicine at the University of Utah and the summer elective they hold in the French Alps. The stories and passion shared about training all people including future physicians to be more prepared for the outdoors, to overcome nature deficit disorder, and to make preventative measures in the back country are inspiring to say the least. It is amazing how a vision comes to fruition. Bottom line: when you are doing something bigger than yourself and you don’t care about money or credit, amazing things happen.

People in this episode

Guests: Emma Lester, Dr Richard Ingebretsen

Topics covered

• wilderness medicine
• career development
• medical education

Keywords

• nature deficit disorder
• preventative measures
• French Alps

Mentioned in this episode

Places: the French Alps

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