Join the Alumni Association and get a treat from Zingerman’s
Unearth the grandeur of the ancient world on this singular journey combining premier archaeological sites with the beauty and lore of the Aegean and her isles. As the ancient world comes alive in Athens and the Peloponnese, Crete and Santorini, we celebrate the glory that was Greece – and still is today.
Unearth the grandeur of the ancient world on this singular journey combining premier archaeological sites with the beauty and lore of the Aegean and her isles. As the ancient world comes alive in Athens and the Peloponnese, Crete and Santorini, we celebrate the glory that was Greece – and still is today.
Day 1: Depart U.S. for Athens, Greece
Day 2: Athens
Day 3: Athens
Day 4: Delphi
Day 5: Athens | Corinth | Nafplion
Day 6: Mycenae | Epidaurus
Day 7: Nafplion | Hydra
Day 8: Nafplion | Heraklion, Crete
Day 9: Heraklion | Knossos
Day 10: Heraklion | Spinalonga| Kritsa
Day 11: Crete | Santorini
Day 12: Santorini
Day 13: Santorini | Athens
Day 14: Depart for U.S.
I oversee clinical care, research, and education for Michigan Medicine, which includes the medical school and University of Michigan Health, an $8 billion organization. I also continue to provide patient care and teaching in cardiology and participate in research on the causes of heart disease.
A highlight of previous Alumni Association trips has been the chance to discuss some of the exciting initiatives we are advancing to improve care. These include:
Fun Fact
Some of you may have thought about writing a book — a novel, memoir, or maybe a family history. Here’s how I turned that dream into a published reality.
One day, nearly 20 years ago, a new patient came to my cardiology clinic. After a few visits, he brought me a copy of “The Firm” by John Grisham. I had not read any of his novels and was immediately hooked. This patient, who became a friend as many patients do, could have been one of Grisham’s characters — an attorney who had fallen on hard times and who was clawing his way back.
About five years later, after reading every Grisham, David Baldacci, Michael Crichton, and Robin Cook novel I could get my hands on, I decided I wanted to write a medical thriller. After 15 years of early morning and weekend writing, I completed my debut novel and found an agent and a publisher. That medical thriller, “Coded to Kill,” was published last year.
Set in a fictional hospital, “Coded to Kill” describes the promise and peril of cutting-edge medical technology through a story filled with murder, mayhem, and a little romance. I took up fiction writing as a form of creative revenge — when people really aggravated me at work, I turned them into nefarious characters. But mainly, I enjoyed weaving aspects of my medical experiences into the novel, along with some of my favorite places in Texas — where I grew up — and in the Research Triangle Park of North Carolina. Writing was pure escapism from whatever the day had thrown at me. I had found a hobby that I really loved.
My wife Susan and I cannot wait for the upcoming Alumni Association trip to the Greek Islands. We have previously hosted alumni trips to Cuba, Russia, and Egypt and the Nile. One of the best parts of these trips is getting to meet wonderfully interesting and fun U-M alumni. We have a special lure to Greece given a prior, very short trip. One our sons spent a semester abroad in Greece in 2011. We visited and just got a taste of the marvels of antiquity that we all will experience on our upcoming trip.
Back to my “Fun Fact.” My novel opens with a quote from the Father of Medicine, Hippocrates. I am excited to walk the same ground he did on a trip that will explore an incredibly vibrant modern country whose rich history has contributed so much to science, literature, and government.