Avinash Patil, M.D. has managed to successfully combine his two great passions - medicine and the outdoors. When he is not working as an emergency medicine doctor with Stanford University, he is working as a commercial whitewater rafting guide and travelling to exotic locations around the world.

Dr. Avi graduated from the University of California at Davis with honors in both Physiology and Economics. He then went on to graduate from the Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine, followed by both a residency and fellowship at Loma Linda University and Children's Hospital. Dr. Avi has put his medical skills to use in India, where he has worked twice as an instructor; Honduras, where he taught resident physicians; and the Salomon Islands, Peru, Ecuador and Kenya, where he provided medical care to local residents.

Dr. Avi has received numerous awards throughout his career, including the Clinical Teacher of the Year Award (as clinical educator of the year), voted by residents at Stanford University, and the Nurses' Award at Loma Linda University Medical Center for compassionate care and professionalism. He was also awarded a medical mission fellowship in 2001 with which he travelled to Siuna, Nicaragua.

Dr. Avi focuses his interests on international and tropical medicine, wilderness medicine and EMS/pre-hospital care. He has worked as a member of the 4 Deserts Race Series medical team for more than a half dozen races.