Tiffany Chan shares how her journey from a small-town family optometry practice to high-intensity academic medicine at Johns Hopkins was transformed when her mother suffered a major brain bleed, drawing her back home to care for her family. Ultimately, her mother's recovery, later passing, and the deep relationships her parents built with their patients helped Tiffany realize that the meaningful, community-rooted life she truly valued was in Grass Valley, where she now continues the family practice and honors her mother's legacy.

Tiffany originally performed this story at Medicine Story: on the meanings of healing, a live storytelling event produced by Dr. Rebecca George from the Sierra Valley Health Center in Nevada City, CA in 2025. This event was generously funded by the California Health Care Foundation, as a part of our Satellites Program.

The Nocturnists is made possible by the California Medical Association and donations from listeners like you.

This episode of Stories from the World of Medicine is sponsored by The Physicians Foundation. and our friends at the podcast Unleashed: Redesigning Health Care.