Short Bio of Erik McLaughlin

Me at Acropoly, Greece

Erik McLaughlin MD, MPH

I am originally born in San Diego but call Tucson, Arizona home. I went to school there, moved to San Diego afterwards and then back to Tucson because it is a great town. Especially if you like outdoor sports.

Athletics 

I procrastinated college, after a brief stint, to do some athletic stuff. I was lucky to get some sponsors and a lot of travel out of it! I did some ultra-distance running, adventure races, mountain biking and off-road multi-sport events. A lot of stuff was done in groups or teams, so I got to go to EMT training and take medical care of the team, in the field. So, after a few years of this, it was time to re-join the real world.

Fire Fighting 

I knew I liked being outdoors, liked being active and was in pretty good shape…wildland firefighter! I had a great summer cutting line and seeing some good sized fires. I got offered a chance to attend the fire academy and become a structure firefighter, so I said “Sure”!

That was a great job! I stayed a reserve firefighter so I could do some more wildland stuff and do a bit of search and rescue. That was the best job…ever. I was also getting more into medicine. Finally, one of the ER docs that I always asked to explain things to me said, “Dude..why don’t you just go to medical school?” So I decided to.

University and Med School

I went back to college, still doing the part-time “fire-thing” and got ready for medical school. After what seemed like forever, sitting in physics classes, organic chemistry and other crap, I got into medical school.

I knew I wanted to work internationally, taking care of travelers and adventurers in remote locations. I was also begninning to get interested in international health. I chose to go to medical school in England. It was a great choice and offered me a chance to see Europe on my breaks!

Tulane, Travel/Tropical Medicine and Global Health 

After a few years in the UK, I was back in America, in New Orleans. I was finishing medical school clinical rotations and enrolled in the International Health MPH program, at Tulane. I really liked the wierd parasites and disease of the tropics. I loved to travel and see remote places. I wanted to learn more, so I also took the diploma course in Travel and Tropical Medicine, too. Whew, that was a busy 2 years.

Residency

I went to Chicago, after getting chased out of New Orleans by Katrina, to do residency.  After three amazing and challenging years I finally finished.  I had some amazing opportunities to trainw ith excellent physicians and get a bit of advanced training in general, trauma and obstetric surgery. 

Present 

I am back in my home city of Tucson, Arizona.  I enjoy working part-time in a rural Emergency room, right on the Arizona/Mexico border and am doing some teaching, as well.  The Adventure Doc Clinic is also under way and my goal of opening a private travel and expedition medicine clinic is coming together!

Organizations I am a member of:

I try to work-out as much as possible, ride my mountain bike, practice my climbing, paddle my kayak and learn as much as I can about travel and wilderness medicine. I also like to pass on what I learn. Hopefully, it helps people stay healthy!

Erik McLaughlinPlaces where I have contributed/write about Travel and Expedition Medicine:

I also run a website called www.AdventureDoc.org
www.AdventureDoc.org

4 Responses

  1. Greg, on January 5th, 2008 at 12:00 am Said:

    The new blog looks great Erik, I’ve got you linked up.

    Reply
  2. Ashley, on May 23rd, 2008 at 2:26 am Said:

    Hey,

    I am very interested in having some kind of affiliation with wilderness medicine. I am not in Med school yet. i am going to graduate school to get my MPH. I was wondering what kind of job opportunities you have found or seen regarding this. I do want to get into rural health care. I am a HUGE outdoor enthusiast and I am trying to find a way to bring both together. Thanks!

    Reply
  3. Nidhin Joseph, on April 18th, 2009 at 10:04 pm Said:

    Hi,
    am a doctor from in India doing my MPH in environmental health sciences.I am totally interested in hiking,canoeing and other outdoor activities and want to built my career in tropical medicine and wilderness medicine .I used to catch n resue snakes during my Med school in India and also am an avid traveler.So after doing my MPH I wanted to channel my passion of adventure into my career .I wanted to know how i can get into the International Health MPH program and what is the scope for it and how can one become member of the societies listed above?

    Reply
  4. Medical Fusion Blog » Expedition & Wilderness Medicine on the Adventure Health Clinic Blog, on July 6th, 2009 at 8:23 am Said:

    [...] Adventure Health Clinic Blog can be found at http://www.adventurehealthclinic.com and is written by Dr. Erik McLaughlin, a newly minted Family Physician and an alumnus of our Expedition Medicine National Conference in [...]

    Reply

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