This article provides a narrative review of the inspiration, design and implementation of a Stanford Medical School course titled “From Diagnosis to Dialog: A Doctor’s Real-Time Battle with Cancer.” In 2024, I was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer as a never-smoker. Within a month of diagnosis, I designed a course based on my own case in which each session begins with a personal reflection, followed by a guest speaker or panel discussion and concluding conversation with students. The curriculum addresses medical topics including epidemiology, treatment and the future of cancer care while centering the lived realities of diagnosis, mortality, access to care, nutrition, spiritual care, mental health and caregiving. This pedagogical project foregrounds a first-person pathography that situates the perspectives of Asian patients and physicians within broader conversations about cancer narratives that often remain at the margins of biomedical education. The article highlights several themes emerging from the course related to the Asian experience and Asian health, and concludes with reflections on feedback from students and viewers who engaged with the publicly available YouTube recordings of the course.