Interviewed May 27, 2005

Dr. Steven Funk started out with plans for a career in oral surgery. He had studied dentistry at the University of Iowa in his home state, and then moved to Vancouver for his residency. Why did he choose Vancouver? "I picked out of a National Geographic magazine," he laughs.

This begs the question, why oral surgery? Was it also in a magazine? "I remember jumping up and down on the bed when I was a little kid," he says. "My Dad was there and he was asking,'What are you going to be when you grow up?' I'd say,'Dad, I'm going to be a farmer' - because he was a farmer. I remember him saying,'You don't want to be a farmer. Go be a doctor.'"

Steven tried to find something that truly appealed to him about his career choice, but his heart wasn't in it. "I remember being very inspired by one of my great friends in dental school, Doug Hutchison. I returned to Iowa for Christmas one year from Vancouver, and Doug and I were sitting in front of the fireplace when he said, out of nowhere, "I really hate this - Yeah, I can't wait until I retire."

I said to him, "You know, it's funny, I don't like it either." The thought of an Iowa farm boy, with a love of the outdoors, spending all of his life cooped up in an office was almost unbearable, says Steven.

"If you grow up on a farm, your life is freelance," he says. "If I went into oral surgery, I knew how I'd spend all of my days. I'd work 9 to 5 and spend scheduled time playing golf."

Uncertain about the future, Steven returned to Vancouver where he was living in a 600-square-foot apartment at the top of a house owned by a "real estate guy."

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