Naman Shrestha
The contestants in CBS’ Survivor‘ are put through various challenges that test their physical strength as well as mental grit, making the competition all the more difficult to crack. Among the contenders competing in the 47th installment of the survival show was an Indian-American doctor named Kishan Patel. With a past full of struggles, he caught the eye of many viewers due to his empathetic nature and his reactions to adversities in his life and throughout the competition.
Kishan Patel is an ER Doctor in a San Francisco-based Medical Center
Since nobody in his family was a doctor, Kishan Patel decided to become one by also being the first generation to go through college. Coming from humble and uninsured beginnings, he talked about his reasons for pursuing a career in the medical industry, especially becoming an ER, with Parade. He explained, “…So a lot of the people in my community and even my own family use the ER as primary care. That’s their only means of access to care. So I always found a special spot for people that are very underserved and very vulnerable that you turn to when you know they have nowhere else to turn to. And it’s just the perfect place.”
Furthermore, Kishan added, “You’re that first point of touch for that person’s medical experience, their entire medical journey, and you can leave a lasting impact in their life if you leave a poor impression versus a good one. If you leave a poor one, oftentimes people won’t seek further care. Versus you leave a good one, then you kind of establish their trust in the healthcare system. So that was kind of the broader reason why medicine and emergency medicine. But then it’s also fun and chaotic, and I really enjoy it.” The less significant reason for him to pursue medicine was that he found emergency medicine chaotic yet fun.
“You see the craziest things. There’s never a dull day, and you never know what’s going to walk through the doors. You could go from a stab wound to a gunshot wound to a stubbed toe. The emotional whiplash of that is something that I find really enjoyable, and not everyone will. And it’s really fun,” Kishan said. After completing high school with flying colors, he went to the University of California, Riverside School of Medicine, and in 2022, earned a medical degree to achieve his objective of becoming an ER doctor. He also completed his training in the UCSF-ZSFG Emergency Medicine Residency Program. Given his educational qualification and intelligence in the field of medicine, he is currently a resident ER doctor at the UCSF Department of Emergency Medicine.
Kishan Patel’s Hobby of Traveling Has Taken Him to Many Places
Academics and his professional career are not the only focal points in Kishan’s life. The Fullerton, California, native also took part in various extracurricular activities. For instance, he was an integral part of his college’s traditional Western Indian dance team. When he is not busy in the emergency room, Kishan likes to spend time with his friends and indulge in different activities with them, including playing trivia and board games, watching sports like basketball and football, going to theme parks, and watching something on Netflix. Traveling to new destinations and exploring National Parks are also a couple of his hobbies.
Since Kishan enjoys his own company, he also knows how to have fun in the absence of the company of his friends. He tends to give in to his spontaneous nature every once in a while and go with the flow. For instance, in January 2024, he went on a solo trip to Guatemala and hiked Acatenango, where he watched the volcano erupt at night. His extrovert nature also allowed him to interact with some amazing people from different parts of the world during his trip while exploring the city of Antigua. Another one of his adventures features him skydiving in Oceanside, California, in 2018. Recently, he seemingly took a solo trip to explore the Oregon Coast, Crater Lake, and the Colorado Rockies.
A Family Man Through and Through, Kishan is Working Towards a Bright Future Today
Kishan Patel maintains a close-knit relationship with his family, acknowledging the struggles his hard-working parents went through trying to help him achieve his dream of becoming a doctor. The ER doctor also has a special bond with his two sisters, one of whom is Nisha. Besides them, he was quite close to his late grandmother as well, who tragically passed away in July 2017. He took to social media to express his love for her after her demise, writing that she was not only his role model but also his mother and the bravest woman he had in his life.
“You are the reason I am the person I am today. I’m going to miss our good-night secret handshakes and messing up your hair every time I say good bye, all those times you yelled at me for growing a beard and forced me to eat just a bit more. You will always be a part of me, in everything I do and everything I become. I love you Ba-li,” he wrote. Despite achieving his dream of becoming a doctor, the San Francisco resident, Kishan, continues to strive for even greater things in life. Besides being a compassionate ER doctor, he also wants to contribute to the improvement of the healthcare system. Moreover, he wishes to become a plant and puppy parent in the future and have a family of his own too.
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