I graduated from UCSF in 2005, completed my anesthesia residency at UC Davis, and have worked in private practice in Las Vegas since 2009.
I served as editor-in-chief of Synapse in 2002–2003. Before that, I was the food editor, which conveniently meant Synapse reimbursed me $25 per meal — quite a luxury for a medical student 25 years ago. It became a welcome treat for me and my future wife, Dr. Alice Fang, who was also a UCSF medical student (Class of 2004).
Synapse at the time was shaped by the remarkable Tim Neagle, the most talented writer and journalist I’ve ever met. After a decade as a National News editor at the San Francisco Chronicle, he joined UCSF for a more relaxed late-career role.
He was calm, generous, and intentionally hands-off. He understood that we were busy medical students with limited journalism experience, so he elevated our work quietly and taught us whenever we had time to learn.
I also want to acknowledge Dr. Mukesh Sahu, my predecessor as EIC, who set a high standard for me to follow.
Although I was born at Parnassus and grew up ten minutes away in the Sunset, I haven’t been back to UCSF since graduation. I hope my pre-med daughter will have the chance to interview and train there someday — admissions committee, please keep an eye out for Natasha Lee, circa 2029.
Serving as EIC felt natural because I’ve always enjoyed leadership and building organizations. Today, I serve as the Managing Partner of my anesthesia group, the CEO of a real estate company, and the owner of the largest Olympic-style fencing academy in Nevada.
Some of my favorite Synapse pieces included an exposé on how freezing it was inside Kalmanovitz Library, a series of reviews on memorably terrible early-2000s movies like The One, and a medical-school bingo card featuring classmates sleeping in lecture or asking inane questions. If any of those artifacts still exist, I’d be grateful for the links.
I rarely get to write anymore — aside from snarky Yelp reviews and the occasional workshop where I critique residency essays for Touro University medical students — so contributing to this anniversary is a real pleasure.
I also owe an overdue apology to a preceding EIC, Dr. Tao Le of First Aid fame. I took two hours of his time for an interview and never managed to turn it into an article because of USMLE preparation.
Overall, I had a wonderful time in the Synapse community. It offered a brief respite from academic rigors and gave me the rare opportunity to write simply for pleasure.
