"Mark Elstad is a retired Pulmonary/Critical Care physician. He grew up in Minnesota where his spare time was devoted to sports and music. Mark eventually decided that a career in either skiing or music (started as trombone performance major in college) would not be the best path for him. He pivoted to science and went to the medical school at the U of MN where he also completed training as an Internal Medicine resident, chief medical resident, and Pulmonary/Critical Care fellow. He then moved to Utah for a laboratory research fellowship (and of course for skiing). He stayed on in Utah working at the SLC VA (Chief of Medicine, MICU Director) and the University of Utah (co-director of an airway disorder center). Mark’s career included a number of interesting side projects. For example, he has practiced medicine in austere environments (rescue and research on Denali), organized health care systems (Medical Director of the 2002 Olympic Polyclinic charged with health care of the athletes and Olympic “family”), and consulted with the National VA on veteran health care (President of the VA Chiefs of Medicine). Mark is happily retired with his wife Deb and they divide their time between SLC and a cabin in Idaho. Their sons and families also live nearby in Salt Lake. He is glad that he is not practicing during the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic but he is on the U of Utah Pulmonary/Critical Care list to be reactivated if things go drastically wrong."