Calvin Sun

Calvin Datze Sun (born November 20, 1986) is an American emergency room doctor.[1] He is the founder and CEO of the travel company, The Monsoon Diaries. Sun is notable for his first-hand reporting on the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City emergency rooms.[2][3]

Calvin Sun
Born
Calvin Datze Sun

(1986-11-20) November 20, 1986
New York City
NationalityAmerican
Other namesSoHo
OccupationE.R. doctor
Travel enthusiast
Years active2010-present
Websitecalvindsun.com

Early life and education

Sun was born in New York City.[4] His parents came from China separately, meeting in New York City. His father came via Taiwan, but was from the Hunan region of China. In 2006, after Sun's father died from a heart attack, Sun discovered a camera lens, which inspired him to travel and take pictures using the lens.[5] Sun's mother has Parkinson's disease.[4]

In 2004, Sun graduated from Trinity School cum laude. During high school he also attended Manhattan School of Music where he studied piano. In 2008, Sun graduated with a B.A. in biochemistry on a pre-med track from Columbia University.[6] While at sophomore at Columbia, Sun was a research assistant to molecular biologist Dr. Richard Axel at the Columbia University Medical Center.[7] In 2014, Sun received an M.D. from SUNY Downstate College of Medicine where he specialized in emergency medicine and completed four years of residency at Jacobi/Montefiore Emergency Medicine Residency Program of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.[8]

Career

Medicine

Sun works as an attending physician and clinical assistant professor in Emergency Medicine at multiple emergency departments in the New York City area.[2]

COVID-19

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Sun is working as a per diem emergentologist, rotating among different hospitals in New York City during the height of the early days of the pandemic. During this time, Sun did first person reporting of his experiences and his thoughts on how the disease manifests itself on his Instagram.[9][10] He also gave many interviews to media outlets in the United States and abroad,[11][12][13][14] and with interviewers like Katy Tur from MSNBC,[15] Willie Geist from The TODAY Show[16]

In his interview with Katie Couric, he likened working on the front-lines of the pandemic to being like going to war every day.[17] Sun discussed his initial concerns with national shortages of ventilators and personal protective equipment (PPE),[18] issues with cross-contamination in crowded ER rooms,[3] the importance of testing and staying home in the interest of public safety.[2] Both of Sun's grandparents (who lived separately from him) contracted COVID-19 within their communities where his grandfather died of the disease shortly after contracting the virus.[19]

The Monsoon Diaries
The Great Pyramids, Winter 2019

In 2010 while beginning medical school, Sun began to document his international travels in an online photo blog called The Monsoon Diaries. In 2011, Sun traveled to North Korea where he was one of the first foreigners to photograph and document his experience[20] of accidentally discovering the mysterious hidden 5th floor of the Yanggakdo International Hotel, the largest hotel in North Korea.[21] The 5th floor is a source of curiosity among many foreigners because it is off-limits to hotel guests.[22]

Around Winter 2012, as a way to organize the emerging ad hoc accidental travel blog turned community of fellow travelers, Sun turned his blog into a travel company so that participants can travel in spontaneously formed groups on budget-conscious loosely structured and last minute short trips while still being able to work full-time jobs and be in school full-time as Sun was still was at the time.[4]

Filmmaking

In July 2007, Sun's short film, Asian American Beauty: A Discourse on Female Body Image, won the One to Watch Award at the 30th Asian American International Film Festival in New York City.[23]

Public speaker

Sun has given keynote addresses and public speaking engagements at many institutions and organizations.

Personal life

Sun lives and works in New York City.[2] He is also a phoblogopher, activist, and choreographer.

During college he taught bartending classes at the Columbia University's Bartending Agency's School of Mixology.[6]

Sun was also a break dancer on the Raw Elementz fusion hip-hop dance troupe[6] and danced on the Columbia Bollywood dance team that was called CU Dhoom.

Membership

Honors

Selected works and publications

Selected works
  • Cheng, George Z.; Chan, Joseph; Wang, Qi; Zhang, Weizhou; Sun, Calvin D.; Wang, Lu-Hai (1 March 2007). "Twist Transcriptionally Up-regulates AKT2 in Breast Cancer Cells Leading to Increased Migration, Invasion, and Resistance to Paclitaxel". Cancer Research. 67 (5): 1979–1987. doi:10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-06-1479. PMID 17332325. Wikidata ()

Selected publications

Filmography
  • 2004: The Rice They Carried (documentary short) – producer, director, writer, editor; also as The Thug Crew Member / Angry Asian Father
  • 2005: Big Trouble in Little China (documentary short) – producer, director, writer, cinematographer, editor
  • 2006-2008: MTV U's The Freshmen – Co-panelist/VJ
  • 2006: Islands (short) – producer, director, writer, story idea, cinematographer, editor
  • 2007: Asian American Beauty: A Discourse on Body Image (short) – producer, director, writer, cinematographer, editor
  • 2015: TEDTalk TEDxLehighU: Take the Path of More Resistance[32]

References
  1. Guarino, Ben (16 April 2020). "Nurses, doctors take extreme precautions to avoid infecting family members". Washington Post.
  2. James, Chris (4 April 2020). "ER doctor in New York details dire supply shortages from the front lines of the coronavirus fight". CNN.
  3. Buder, Emily; Raff, Jeremy; Pasztor, Annalise (4 April 2020). "Doctors and Nurses Reveal the Devastating Reality of COVID-19". The Atlantic.
  4. "Dr. Calvin Sun, ER Resident, Entrepreneur, and Adventurer". Accepted Admissions Blog. 10 April 2018.
  5. "About: Calvin D. Sun, MD (Founder & CEO, Guide)". The Monsoon Diaries. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  6. Zalcman, Daniella (27 March 2013). "The Jack of All Trades". Columbia Daily Spectator.
  7. "Contributors to this Issue: Calvin Sun" (PDF). Columbia Science Review. 3 (1): 3, 29. Spring 2006.
  8. "Jacobi/Montefiore ED Resident of the Block – Calvin Sun". Jacobi/Montefiore Emergency Medicine Residency Program of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. 22 April 2016.
  9. Franseen, Jeané A.; Sun, Calvin (2 April 2020). "Dr. Calvin Sun Discusses Covid-19". Media Mangy.
  10. Fraser, Jayme; Bliss, Jessica; Bologna, Giacomo; Hauck, Grace; Kurutz, Daveen Rae (3 April 2020). "Hope, exhaustion, fear: Health workers in quiet areas prep for COVID-19 chaos while colleagues in other cities rush in". USA Today.
  11. "紐約疫情本週高峰　華裔醫：如在著火房中救人". 中視新聞 CTV (Taiwan). 7 April 2020.
  12. Pressl, Damita (8 April 2020). "New Yorker Arzt berichtet von Notaufnahmen vor Ort". Kronen Zeitung.
  13. Guevara-Frey, Eric (9 April 2020). "Tout un monde - Présenté par Eric Guevara-Frey". RTS Radio Switzerland (in French).
  14. Tacik, Jacek; Klisiewicz, Karolina; Gryczkowski, Adam (10 April 2020). ""Pacjenci umierają. Idziesz i... nie żyje, nie żyje, nie żyje"". TVN24 (in Polish and English).
  15. Tur, Katy; Sun, Calvin (31 March 2020). "NYC emergency room doctor on battling coronavirus". MSNBC.
  16. Geist, Willie; Sun, Calvin (5 April 2020). "ER doctor shares experience fighting coronavirus, intubating a colleague". The TODAY Show.
  17. Couric, Katie; Sun, Calvin (3 April 2020). "An ER Doctor Shares Heartbreaking Stories from the Front Lines of COVID-19". Katie Couric.
  18. Plesch, Valerie (3 April 2020). "US doctors, nurses on coronavirus front line beg for critical PPE". Al Jazeera.
  19. Sun, Calvin (7 May 2020). "Love In The Time Of Corona/COVID-19 — The End Of The First Wave". Monsoon Diaries.
  20. Sun, Calvin (23 August 2011). "Creepy North Korea: The Hidden 5th Floor". Monsoon Diaries.
  21. Lee, Eloise; Johnson, Robert (17 June 2012). "An Unsanctioned Journey Into The Heart Of Iran". Business Insider.
  22. Mohan, Megha (18 June 2018). "Inside the North Korean place that 'doesn't exist'". BBC News.
  23. Ogura, Tamiko (10 December 2007). "Asian American Beauty: A Discourse on Female Body Image: Documentary Short". Schema Magazine.
  24. Sun, Calvin (2008). "Welcome to CC2008: About Us: Calvin Sun". Columbia University.
  25. Wang, Tracey (18 October 2013). "Asian-American conference draws over 1,200". Columbia Daily Spectator.
  26. Sun, Calvin (17 April 2010). "Excerpts from Calvin D. Sun's (ECAASU Board of Directors) Keynote Address at PURSUIT". The Monsoon Diaries.
  27. Sun, Calvin (29 May 2014). "This Is My Medical School Graduation Speech". Monsoon Diaries.
  28. Repko, Melissa (27 March 2013). "Calvin Sun Elected AAA President". Columbia Daily Spectator.
  29. Gray, Daniel (27 March 2013). "Aspiring Directors Vie for a Spot in Columbia Film Festival". Columbia Daily Spectator.
  30. "2003-2004 National Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association, Academic All-America Listing" (PDF). Swimming World. 2003.
  31. "Dean's Pin Recipients and Class Agents". Columbia College Today. Summer 2013.
  32. Sun, Calvin (12 November 2015). "Take the Path of More Resistance". TEDTalk, TEDxLehighU.
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