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You're listening to The Nocturnists, stories from the world of medicine.

I'm Emily Silverman.

Today we're featuring the fifth and final story from our live show in New York City in November 23. It's a show we co-produced with

Danielle O'Frey and Ashley McMullen from the literary magazine Bellevue Literary Review

on the theme of taking care. This story came from family medicine physician Zed Shah,

who wanted nothing more than a scoop

of Baskin Robbins ice cream while growing up as a girl in China.

Decades later, Zed finds herself a family medicine physician in the United States,

standing in a Baskin Robbins with her reluctant parents who are visiting

from China, trying to persuade them to indulge in the forbidden treat. After the story, Zed and I

talk about the pressures of being an only child under China's one-child policy, the romance of rural family medicine, and the way Zed's mom

doesn't speak much English and yet is able to make friends anywhere she goes.

They say family medicine doctors can do it all, and in Zed's case, that seems to include

comedic storytelling, because this performance had

the audience in stitches. So take a listen to Zed's story from our live show in New York City.

It's called the American 31 flavor ice cream.

It's January 2020, and I am a brand new attending doctor, driving my brand new

second-hand SUV down the highway to my brand new house in eastern Washington State.

...