Issue link: http://catalog.e-digitaleditions.com/i/568388
80 might be able to get during the school year. In the summer they give us contacts where you can do a lot of job shadowing to see what we're interested in and if there is a potential path that we're thinking about. It gives us an opportunity to pursue and use the contacts at the hospital that are so close." At the end of July, Meyer shadowed Dr. Brian Wolf, orthopedic surgeon and director of UI Sports Medicine Clinic. Wolf was a four-year scholarship men's basketball player at Loyola (Chi- cago), so he recognizes the value of something as organized as Health C.A.R.E. "I tagged along with my team doctor and hung out at the office, did some quasi-research projects during the summer and actually did go to surgery," Wolf said of his college days. "I did that for three summers in a row because I knew I was interested in pre-med. It was good to see that side of it. It has a big influence on what you do. is is great. It is good to see smart athletes come around and take advantage of the system." One of the most advanced Health C.A.R.E. pupils is Wagner, who unofficially started shadowing in pediatric cardiology three years ago. Aer a sec- ond year of shadowing, she began doing research, and as of Aug. 6, had logged 185 hours of research in the summer of 2015. Wagner is working on a project covering pediatric heart transplants because surgeons have switched their protocol the last 15-20 years. "I am doing a retrospective study on how they have changed those things and how it has affected the outcomes of the patients," Wagner said. She has also worked closely with faculty members and if all goes well… "Hopefully I will get a couple publications out of the research," Wagner said. Because of the wide spectrum of health offerings, UI student-athletes can better find a fit to their lik- ing through Health C.A.R.E. Some students have even changed majors because of the experience they had with the program. "It is rewarding for me because a lot of the under- graduates don't know what they want to do," Turek said. "I don't think they realize the spectrum of health care opportunities that are out there. You can introduce an athlete to a field in health care they never knew existed and to peak their inter- est in something like that and in many cases find a better fit than what their conception was going into it." According to Turek, even though student-athletes are the biggest benefactor from the program, they aren't the only ones who profit. "ese are truly disciplined student-athletes," Tu- rek said. "ey come in and they have this motiva- tion you don't always see. Everybody feeds off their energy and enjoys having someone come in who are as enthusiastic as these people." University of Iowa student-athletes prepare for a lecture Aug. 24 as part of the one-of-a-kind Health Career and Research Exposure program. (Photo by Darren Miller)