Choosing Home with Tiffany Chan, OD

About this episode

Tiffany Chan shares her journey from elite academic medicine back to her roots in small-town healthcare after a personal family crisis.

This week’s guest on The Nocturnists is optometrist Tiffany Chan, who told a story live onstage at an event produced by Dr. Rebecca George at the Sierra Valley Health Center in Nevada City, California, in 2025. Tiffany grew up in the Gold Rush town of Grass Valley, built a career in elite academic medicine at Johns Hopkins, and ultimately found her way back home after her mother’s sudden brain bleed transformed her sense of place and purpose. In our conversation, we talk about: * the tension between academic research and the pull of home * how her mother’s medical crises reshaped her understanding of healing * the intimacy and continuity of small-town, relationship-driven medicine * carrying forward her family’s and community’s cultural and caregiving legacies The Nevada City storytelling event was produced through our Nocturnists Satellites program, made possible by a generous grant from the California Health Care Foundation . Enjoy, Emily and The Nocturnists Team Favorite moments from this week’s episode The Hamster Wheel “I had just been promoted at one of the top hospitals in the country. I was helping open satellite clinics. My mentor said I could apply for a grant and work…

People in this episode

Host: Emily

Guest: Tiffany Chan

Topics covered

• optometry
• healthcare
• personal story
• family legacy
• small-town medicine

Keywords

• optometrist
• academic medicine
• healing
• family
• community

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Johns Hopkins, California Health Care Foundation

Places: Grass Valley, Nevada City