{"id":6,"date":"2020-01-09T20:03:23","date_gmt":"2020-01-10T03:03:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/?p=6"},"modified":"2020-01-10T15:28:26","modified_gmt":"2020-01-10T22:28:26","slug":"romanian-doctor-finds-freedom-through-medicine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/romanian-doctor-finds-freedom-through-medicine\/","title":{"rendered":"Romanian doctor finds freedom through medicine"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio alignleft\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2020\/01\/Andrea.mp3\"><\/audio><figcaption>Jewish doctor Dan Streja found his freedom through medicine. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Dr. Dan Streja\u2019s office is filled with photos of his family. His five grandkids are all around the room grinning at him from picture frames. He smiles remembering when he first came to live in the United States. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhat was a surprise was how friendly people are \u2026 how easy it is to navigate everything,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dan Alexandru Streja was born in Romania in 1939, to a mother who was a gynecologist and a father who was a urologist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI was trained from age five to give shots to pillows \u2026 to be a physician. My father\u2019s dream had been that I will be a professor of medicine somehow,\u201d he shared. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide size-large largeimage\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2020\/01\/Confrence-1024x640.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-141\" srcset=\"https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2020\/01\/Confrence-1024x640.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2020\/01\/Confrence-300x188.jpg 300w, https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2020\/01\/Confrence-768x480.jpg 768w, https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2020\/01\/Confrence-1536x960.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2020\/01\/Confrence-2048x1281.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2020\/01\/Confrence-1200x750.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2020\/01\/Confrence-1980x1238.jpg 1980w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption>Dr. Streja at a conference in Los Angeles. <em>(Photo by Elani Streja)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Today, Streja is a clinical professor at UCLA\u2019s David Geffen School of Medicine. He\u2019s practiced medicine for over 40 years in the United States and has a clinic in West Hills, about 25 miles north west of Los Angeles. He is still active in research and has published over 46 papers and co-authored four textbooks during his career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide size-large largeimage\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"714\" src=\"https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2020\/01\/StrejaAndClassmates-1024x714.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-149\" srcset=\"https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2020\/01\/StrejaAndClassmates-1024x714.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2020\/01\/StrejaAndClassmates-300x209.jpg 300w, https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2020\/01\/StrejaAndClassmates-768x535.jpg 768w, https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2020\/01\/StrejaAndClassmates-1536x1071.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2020\/01\/StrejaAndClassmates-2048x1427.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2020\/01\/StrejaAndClassmates-1200x836.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2020\/01\/StrejaAndClassmates-1980x1380.jpg 1980w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption>Dr. Streja (circled) and his classmates in Romania. <em>(Photo courtesy of the Streja family)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>But Dr. Streja\u2019s life was not easy. When <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Nicolae-Ceausescu\">Nicolae Ceau\u0219escu<\/a> took over Romania, Dr. Streja said he knew things had to change. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote alignwide is-style-default\"><blockquote><p>\u201cWhen I saw that, I made a pledge that I will absolutely not stay in this country. I&#8217;ll do anything to get out of here.\u201d<br><\/p><cite>Dan Streja<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>After spending some time in Winnipeg, Canada, Dr. Streja and his wife, Lidia decided that it was time to move to a warmer place. They headed south, directly to Los Angeles, California.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt looks like everybody here does what they want. I mean, everyone can keep their own traditions. In other countries that won\u2019t work. You can do it but &#8230; it is not something that they will promote. Here &#8230; I might not agree with you but I\u2019ll give my life. That\u2019s &#8230; the American principle,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"782\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2020\/01\/Familyphoto-782x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2020\/01\/Familyphoto-782x1024.jpg 782w, https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2020\/01\/Familyphoto-229x300.jpg 229w, https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2020\/01\/Familyphoto-768x1006.jpg 768w, https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2020\/01\/Familyphoto-1173x1536.jpg 1173w, https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2020\/01\/Familyphoto-1564x2048.jpg 1564w, https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2020\/01\/Familyphoto-1200x1571.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2020\/01\/Familyphoto-scaled.jpg 1955w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 782px) 100vw, 782px\" \/><figcaption>The Streja children when they were younger: Elani, David, Leanne. <em>(Photo courtesy of the Streja family)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr. Streja and his wife raised their family in Los Angeles. They had one son and twin daughters. David, Elani and Leanne have excelled within their own fields, too, Streja said. Elani Streja is an epidemiologist and professor at UC Irvine. Leanne Streja Goldstein is a statistician for Deloitte. David Streja was a businessman and director of Infosphere Clinical Research. David  passed away in 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThere is a Romanian poem that I learned by heart and I\u2019m repeating it over and over again. It tells the story of the <a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=2_JLL32RzrkC&amp;ppis=_e&amp;lpg=PA171&amp;ots=B1tBVm-tP4&amp;dq=moartea%20lui%20fulger%20translated&amp;pg=PA171#v=onepage&amp;q=moartea%20lui%20fulger%20translated&amp;f=false\">pain of parents<\/a>. It\u2019s about a father and mother who are mourning \u2026 everything that\u2019s normally happening when something like this happened,\u201d he said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr. Streja said he doesn\u2019t think he will ever leave Los Angeles. He\u2019s never returned to Romania because he doesn\u2019t feel like he belongs.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t hate the Romanian people. It\u2019s not their fault. But somehow they made me feel that I\u2019m not part of them.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignfull bigembed\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/uploads.knightlab.com\/storymapjs\/bb4f69ced915ef2dd12283ba1f7c6286\/dr-strejas-journey\/index.html\" width=\"100%\" height=\"800\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cI&#8217;ll do anything to get out of here.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":274,"featured_media":171,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"coauthors":[8],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/274"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=6"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}