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By Marion Softky

Dr. Susan Anderson of Woodside has already traveled around the world twice this year.

Yes, twice.

In January and February, Dr. Anderson served as physician and lecturer on a National Geographic Society expedition by private jet to the world's "Seven Continents." On April 6, she returned from a similar Smithsonian round-the-world tour of "Extraordinary Cultures," where she also served as physician to some 70 participants, plus the expedition staff, and the crew of the 757 plane they traveled in.

"It's a big responsibility. I'm always busy," says Dr. Anderson in an interview crammed between the demands of her day jobs at Stanford and the Palo Alto Medical Foundation.

On the last tour, the Smithsonian group immersed themselves in more than a dozen cultural centers from Machu Picchu and Easter Island, to Papua New Guinea, Angkor Wat, Petra, and Timbuktu.

One of the high points was dinner with the queen of Bhutan, Dr. Anderson recalls. Actually she is one of four queens, sisters who all married the king.

Also in Bhutan, Dr. Anderson, a marathon runner, took time out to run up to Tiger's Nest, a Buddhist monastery on top of a nearby mountain. "That's how I get exercise. I get up at 4 a.m. and go running," she says. "I get to see areas wake up. That's my private time to explore."

Another high point came a couple of days earlier, when the famed Khmer temple at Angkor Wat was opened up for a special dinner and dance performance for tour members. Sitting among the dramatically lit towers, they enjoyed costumed performances of dances, songs and martial arts. "That was over the top," recalls Dr. Anderson.

Dr. Anderson brings enormous energy and zest to her life and travels. She has traveled to more than 150 countries on some 15 tours, visiting some of them 10 times or more, she says. "Each time is different. Every place has a highlight."

When she's home, Dr. Anderson appears to lead an equally full life. She's an adjunct clinical assistant professor in the Division of Infectious Disease and Geographic Medicine at the Stanford School of Medicine; and practices travel medicine and emergency medicine at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation. She is also a consultant in travel, tropical, and wilderness medicine, and lectures and publishes widely.

Working as tour physician, Dr. Anderson has also amassed a huge range of experience serving large numbers of individuals in remote and exotic conditions over the world. "With 70 passengers, I get to see how people respond to altitude or diarrhea or environment," Dr. Anderson says. "It can be anything from simple to complex. It's a whole new specialty."

As a result, Dr. Anderson is a leader in the movement that has established travel medicine as an official medical specialty with exams and certification.

On the home front, Dr. Anderson gets up close to 4 a.m. most mornings to run. She loves the trails on Windy Hill, near what she calls her "Woodside Tree House" that she bought on Skyline. She often runs the trails in the dark with a headlamp, or by moonlight. "It's like therapy," she says.

"One of my goals is to keep people traveling until they're 100."


Fulfilling dreams
Growing up near Boston, Dr. Anderson always wanted to be a doctor. "I always wanted to save the world," she says.

She's been on that track ever since. She put herself through Yale Medical School, and moved to Stanford for her residency and work toward a Ph.D. in public health.. At Stanford, she talked the university into supporting her in research projects around the world.

Doing a thesis in Nepal "changed my life," she says.

While Dr. Anderson worked to develop a DNA probe to diagnose trachoma, an eye infection that can cause blindness, she also lived in villages and worked in Tibetan refugee camps. Through the Himalayan Rescue Association, she helped treat trekkers and locals who were sick from altitude and a range of maladies.

"In addition, I followed my passion. I ran to the Everest base camp, and the Annapurna base camp," Dr. Anderson says. "I learned about altitude first hand. I went too fast."

Dr. Anderson also spent time doing research and working with local doctors in Zimbabwe, Indonesia, and Ecuador, where she studied screening for women's cervical cancer. She taught a course in travel and wilderness medicine for physicians while hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. "I remember running in the Andes, and starting to speak Nepalese, by mistake," she admits.

About 10 years ago, Dr. Anderson was invited by TCS Expeditions to join their staff as a physician and guest lecturer on tropical medicine. The company organizes expeditions by private jet that are sponsored by leading universities and scientific organizations, such as Stanford, Harvard, the National Geographic Society, the Smithsonian, and the American Museum of Natural History.

Since then, Dr. Anderson has accompanied some 15 expeditions to some of the most glamorous and exotic spots on earth. And she loves it. "This mixes my love of travel and exploring with medicine," she says. "We're trying to make a difference."


Bridging cultures
Dr. Anderson pursues at least two missions in her travel expeditions. First is to keep her guests and crew healthy and deal with the medical problems that inevitably arise.

Second, Dr. Anderson tries to engage her clients with the cultures they are visiting. "I like to design a curriculum around dance and music," she says. "Dance and music are good for health."

Dr. Anderson does frequent rounds on flights and at meals to meet participants and get their baseline medical information. She also gives lectures with advice on cleanliness, eating and drinking, plus frequent problems such as sun and altitude or colds, infections and diarrhea. "We try to prevent them before they become too serious," she says.

When people fall and hurt themselves, or other problems develop, Dr. Anderson knows how to marshal local resources, and evacuate if necessary. "I usually partner with the patient," she says. "We figure what the options are and make a choice."

On her most recent trip, Dr. Anderson discovered the power of dance to build bridges between cultures. "Maybe because I'm blond, I always get picked out (by natives) to dance," she says. Now she tries to involve everyone in music and dance as ways to connect with locals.

"We tried to learn a new dance on every continent," Dr. Anderson says. "We get local people to teach. If we each learn a dance step, it's a way to get exercise and learn culture."

Dr. Anderson also tries to arrange visits to local schools and interact with children. In Petra, Jordan, where boys and girls are educated separately, she says that girls particularly want to talk and practice their English.

In her years with tours, Dr. Anderson has had adventures as exotic as the places she has visited. She recalls when their airplane froze in Mongolia and wouldn't work. "We had to get out little hair dryers to unfreeze the plane," she says.

Or the huge sandstorm they encountered coming into Petra the first time. "It gave me a whole new way to see the desert."

Or the time she was running in the Gobi Desert and encountered a dog. "I outran the dog," she says.

What is Dr. Anderson's next travel adventure?

Another National Geographic expedition to the seven continents is in the planning stages for later this year or next, Dr. Anderson says.

She may also join friends on a trip to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa. "I would love to do that," she says.

INFORMATION: Dr. Susan Anderson is on the staff of the Palo Alto Medical Foundation at 795 El Camino Real in Palo Alto. She also serves as a consultant in travel, tropical and wilderness medicine. She can be reached at 853-4725, or by e-mail at drsusan@stanford.edu.