To better your understanding of non-clinical career options and/or facilitate your physician career change, today we introduce you to Scott E. Parazynski, MD. Dr. Parazynski, MD, was in the news this week following his space walk NASA mission
Dr. Parazynski was born July 28, 1961, in Little Rock, Arkansas and considers Palo Alto, California, and Evergreen, Colorado, to be his hometowns. He and his wife, former Gail Marie Vozzella, have two children. He enjoys mountaineering, rock climbing, flying, SCUBA diving, skiing, travel, woodworking, and nature photography. A commercial, multi-engine, seaplane and instrument-rated pilot, Dr. Parazynski has logged over 2000 flight hours in a variety of aircraft. As a mountaineer, his summits include Cerro Aconcagua (at 22,841 feet above sea level, the tallest mountain in the world outside of Asia) and 53 of Colorado’s peaks over 14,000 feet in altitude.
EDUCATION: Attended junior high school in Dakar, Senegal, and Beirut, Lebanon. Attended high school at the Tehran American School, Iran, and the American Community School, Athens, Greece, graduating in 1979. He received a bachelor of science degree in biology from Stanford University in 1983, continuing on to graduate with honors from Stanford Medical School in 1989. He served his medical internship at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital of Harvard Medical School (1990). He had completed 22 months of a residency program in emergency medicine in Denver, Colorado when selected to the Astronaut Corps.
ORGANIZATIONS: Fellow of the Aerospace Medical Association; Member of the American Society for Gravitational and Space Biology, the Wilderness Medical Society, the American Alpine Club, the Association of Space Explorers, the Experimental Aircraft Association, and the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.
SPECIAL HONORS: National Institutes of Health Predoctoral Training Award in Cancer Biology (1983); Rhodes Scholarship finalist (1984); NASA Graduate Student Researcher’s Award (1988); Stanford Medical Scholars Program (1988); Research Honors Award from Stanford Medical School (1989); NASA-Ames Certificate of Recognition (1990); Wilderness Medical Society Research Award (1991); Space Station Team Excellence Award (1996); NASA Exceptional Service Medals (1998, 1999); NASA Space Flight Medals (1994, 1997, 1998, 2001); NASA Distinguished Service Medal (2002).
While in medical school, he competed on the United States Development Luge Team and was ranked among the top 10 competitors in the nation during the 1988 Olympic Trials. He also served as an Olympic Team Coach for the Philippines during the 1988 Olympic Winter Games in Calgary, Canada.
