The Doctor Who Cycled the World | Stephen Fabes, MBChB

Nov 14, 2023

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"It's like having a backstage pass to the world."

That's how Stephen Fabes, MBChB describes his epic adventure exploring all six inhabited continents on a bicycle. Over the course of 6+ years, he cycled across 75 countries and 53,000 miles, discovering how human stories shape our conceptions of health and illness. Currently an acute medicine specialist at the Royal London Hospital, Dr. Fabes is also the author of the 2020 memoir Signs of Life: A Doctor's Journey to the Ends of the Earth. His writings have also appeared in The Guardian, The Telegraph, CNN, and the BBC.

In this episode, he joins us to share thrilling, thought-provoking, and amusing moments from his journey, what his travels through refugee camps and war-torn hospital wards have taught him about health care at the margins, and stories of everyday kindness that underscore our common humanity.

In this episode, we’ll discuss:

2:07 - Why Dr. Fabes decided to become a doctor

3:50 - The roots of Dr. Fabes’ sense of adventure

13:16 - How medical training differs in the UK and the US

14:34 - Dr. Fabes’ planning process for his 6+ year international bicycle journey

16:20 - A recap of the path that Dr. Fabes took on his 53,000 mile

21:15 - The most challenging aspects of Dr. Fabes’ journey and how they gave him the urge to visit medical projects on his travels

23:11 - How Dr. Fabes grappled with the moments when his health or life was in jeopardy

27:28 - Dr. Fabes’ takeaways from observing such a wide variety of international medical practices

32:38 - The challenges that arose as Dr. Fabes’ transitioned back to regular life after his trip

35:27 - How Dr. Fabes’ experiences have shaped how he now approaches medicine

36:42 - The importance of keeping an open mind in order to best meet your patients where they are

To learn more about Dr. Fabes’ book Signs of Life: A Doctor’s Journey to the Ends of the Earth and his work, visit https://stephenfabes.com/

Follow Dr. Fabes on Twitter/X at https://twitter.com/DrStephenFabes.

Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.

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