From Mountains to Medicine
Scaling the Heights in Search of My Calling
From Mountains to Medicine is the story of Erica Elliott’s magical, mind-bending, and heart-opening journey of self-discovery in search of her life’s purpose.
A courageous woman with insatiable curiosity, Elliott shares her compelling story with disarming honesty. Right from the beginning, she draws the reader into her narrative as she threads her way through the turbulent early years of her life, overcoming many daunting challenges along the way. Her guiding star is her search for meaning and purpose, which leads her to some spellbinding adventures, including the perilous climb of Aconcagua, the highest mountain in the western hemisphere, along with other climbs of daunting peaks, one of which was subsequently named after her.
One reader wrote: “Elliott’s writing is intimate, intoxicating, and full of wisdom. I found myself laughing out loud, holding my breath, opening my eyes wide in shock, at times exclaiming ‘holy sh*t!’—and I imagine you will too. It is much more than a memoir. It is so engrossing I forgot I was reading a book, and I look forward to the day when it is made into a movie.”
Ultimately, Elliott’s wise heart leads her home to discover what was there all along—her destiny to be a healer.
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Erica at one of her
Book Signing Events
Front Cover
A doctor’s path to discovering
her place in the world
Written by Carina Julig on April 5, 2024 (a 6-minute read)
Longtime Santa Fe resident Dr. Erica Elliott's first memoir, Medicine and Miracles in the High Desert, riveted readers with her experience working first as a schoolteacher and years later as a doctor among the Diné people on the Navajo Reservation. Elliott's new memoir — part of a planned series of four — fills in some of the gaps between those years and details Elliott's circuitous path to becoming a medical doctor.
From Mountains to Medicine: Scaling the Heights in Search of My Calling is Elliott's no-holds-barred account of her childhood and young adult years, including a stint in the Peace Corps in Ecuador where she fell in love with mountain climbing.
Elliott, who will share her stories at a book talk and signing Saturday, April 6, at The Ark Bookstore, says she wrote the book largely to inspire her patients.
"A lot of lessons I learned from overcoming difficult things I apply to my patients to help them not lose hope and know that they can turn these horrible experiences they're having, health-wise, into blessings."
Her motto, she says, is "never waste a bad experience."
Take a Tour of Erica's Life
My father and mother with the six children in England. I’m on the right, next to my father.
My first glimpse of the highest active volcano in the world, Cotopaxi, began my quest for mountaineering in the Andes.
Soon after being notified that I had been accepted to medical school.
My father and mother with the six children in England. I’m on the right, next to my father.
Click on the photo to see slide deck
Scientific and Medical Network in the UK interviews Dr. Elliott about her memoir, “From Mountains to Medicine.”
What People are Saying
"From Mountains to Medicine is the story of Dr. Erica Elliott's magical journey off the beaten path. The utter exuberance she has for life is contagious. An intrepid explorer of cultures, people, mountains, and medicine, Erica's dedication to making people's lives better is the golden thread that holds her world together. A physician of expansive vision and skill, 'La Cabra Montés' (the mountain goat),as she was named after scaling the highest peak in the Western Hemisphere, ultimately became 'The Health Detective.' The story of that unlikely transformation ignites the imagination and opens the heart. This is a book you'll want to share with all the people you love." -
Joan Borysenko, PhD, speaker and New York Times best-selling author of
Minding the Body, Mending the Mind
"Right from the beginning of her story, [Erica Elliott] draws the reader into her narrative as she threads her way through the turbulent early years of her life, overcoming many challenges along the way. Her guiding star is her search for meaning and purpose, which leads her to some spellbinding adventures... [You] will find this book uplifting, inspiring, and full of wisdom." -
Alice K. Ladas, EdD author of
the New York Times bestseller The G Spot and Other Discoveries About Human Sexuality
"From Mountains to Medicine: Scaling the Heights in Search of My Calling is a truly compelling, fascinating, and engaging journey—actually many journeys of Erica Elliott's life. I found myself laughing out loud, holding my breath, opening my eyes wide in shock, at times exclaiming 'holy sh*t!'—and I imagine you will too. It is much more than a memoir. It is so engrossing I forgot I was reading a book, and I look forward to the day when it is made into a movie. Erica's writing is clear and straight forward, taking you step by step through pivotal moments in her life, as if you were traveling right along with her. Definitely a must-read!" -
Alan Questel, Author of
Practice Intentional Acts of Kindness
"Erica Elliott is a natural-born storyteller. Her deeply affecting memoir is about family and the essential journey of self-discovery she went on to find her soul's purpose. This book takes you on a wild, world odyssey through the Swiss Alps, the Peace Corps in Ecuador, and mountain climbing in Argentina. Elliott's writing is honest and intoxicating; she writes about diverse Indigenous people, culture, and communities around the world in an intimate, visceral way. Ultimately, Elliott's wise heart leads her home to discover what was there all along—her destiny to be a healer." -
–Debra Rosenman, author/editor of the multi-award-winning book
The Chimpanzee Chronicles: Stories of Heartbreak and Hope from Behind the Bars
