Smith-Coggins conducts an emergency simulation drill onboard ship during her time with Quark Expeditions. (Provided) Alumni MD Keeps Adventure Travelers Healthy on the High Seas Stories You May Like Edging Toward a ‘Life List’ of 10,000, Leading Birder Flies High Powered by Sound, Researchers Help Protect Animals Worldwide From Iraq to Bangladesh, ‘Vlogger’ Hotelie Goes Off the Beaten Track Dr. Rebecca Smith-Coggins ’79 has carved out a second career as a ship's physician, now on National Geographic voyages By Beth Saulnier Emergency physician Rebecca Smith-Coggins ’79 was awoken around 3 a.m. by a frantic knock on her door: a diabetic man was unconscious and unresponsive, and his wife was urgently seeking her help. Smith-Coggins sprang into action, grabbing her medical bag and speeding to the man’s side. She quickly checked his blood sugar level—and found it was alarmingly low. She was about to start an IV when she decided to try squirting some glucose gel into the sides of his mouth. “His muscles started to relax, his sweating stopped, and he started moving around,” she recalls. On a hike in New Zealand. “And after three or four minutes, he recognized me and said, ‘Oh shit!’—which was music to my ears.” For Smith-Coggins, it was just one memorable moment among many in a wildly gratifying second career: since the early 2010s, she has served as an onboard physician for National Geographic voyages to far-flung locales around the globe. She previously had a similar role with another adventure touring company, Quark Expeditions. Working as a contractor for Nat Geo, Smith-Coggins has taken dozens of trips to such places as Antarctica, the Falkland Islands, Papua New Guinea, Iceland, New Zealand, Bali, Panama, and Greenland—to name just a fraction. Paddleboarding in a drysuit in Antarctica. “I love the blend of travel and medicine—those are two of my favorite things,” she says. “I really enjoy taking care of patients, and this gives me the opportunity to do that while helping them see more of the world. The mission of National Geographic is to help people appreciate what we have on our beautiful planet, and how important it is for us to take care of it. I like being part of that team.” I love the blend of travel and medicine—those are two of my favorite things. An Arts & Sciences alum, Smith-Coggins earned an MD from Penn and did a combined residency in emergency medicine and internal medicine at Northwestern before joining the faculty at Stanford. Now, as a professor emerita and working part time, she’s able to spend several months a year on Nat Geo voyages. Stories You May Like Edging Toward a ‘Life List’ of 10,000, Leading Birder Flies High Powered by Sound, Researchers Help Protect Animals Worldwide At Commencement in 1979. (When home in the San Francisco Bay Area, she still works one shift per week in the emergency department at Stanford’s teaching hospital.) The ships on which she travels range in capacity from about 70–120 paying passengers, plus several Nat Geo researchers, photographers and naturalists, and another 70 or so crew members. Smith-Coggins is generally the only medical professional onboard (though some bigger ships carry a part-time RN) and is on call 24/7. She typically treats the kind of ailments you’d expect: seasickness, colds, digestive issues, headaches, insect bites, cuts, sprains, the rare broken bone. In serious cases, she sometimes has to arrange for the ship to divert from its itinerary so the sick or injured person can be transferred off. “A good portion of our crew are on the ship for up to nine months at a time,” she adds. “So I end up being kind of their family doctor, doing things like checking people’s blood pressure and changing their medications.” Being a Nat Geo ship’s doctor is a coveted gig: Smith-Coggins applied three times before she even got an interview. The role requires not only periodical “fit for duty” medical exams but also some specialized training—like learning to fight fires on board and to lead a deployed lifeboat. (“You only have a few flares; you organize a rotating lookout schedule, and nobody gets water for the first 24 hours.”) Suited up for firefighter training. The position’s perks include the ability to bring a companion along—and touring the eye-popping sites is part of the job description. “It’s lovely—I get to go on the land excursions,” she says. “I take a backpack with medical supplies and a radio, and wherever the passengers go, I go.” On a photo shoot in Antarctica. And since the most demanding activity is where her skills are most likely to be needed, that’s usually what Smith-Coggins does. “There’ll be three choices, like: ‘walk along the beach, visit the town, or climb the volcanic crater,'” she says. “And they’ll put me on the crater—which is really great.” (Top: Smith-Coggins conducts an emergency simulation drill onboard ship during her time with Quark Expeditions. All photos provided.) Published April 16, 2024 Comments Anne Kristin Geiger, Class of 1966 20 Apr, 2024 A perfect job for you, Rebecca. Uses all your medical skills including your empathetic one. Reply Kerry Broderick 25 Apr, 2024 You go Rebecca!! Life at its best. Kerry 😉😉 Reply Leave a Comment Cancel replyOnce your comment is approved, your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment * Name * Class Year Email * Save my name, email, and class year in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ Other stories You may like Ask the Expert ‘What’s Your Purpose in Life?’ Psychology Prof Explains Why that Question Makes All the Difference Cornelliana For the Lynah Faithful, Ice Hockey Is a Matter of Tradition Quizzes & Puzzles Big Red Trivia: Lift the Chorus