AAMC Reporter: July 2008

Olympic Hopefuls Reflect on the Upcoming Games

The final countdown is on for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. The world's athletes are training hard, and among the American contingent are a few who have the ironclad work ethic necessary to juggle a run at Olympic glory with the rigors of a medical career or education.

These games have attracted special scrutiny for the host nation's political practices and concerns that air pollution will create health hazards for the athletes. As spectators debate, many of the competitors are trying to block out the controversy as they focus on their preparations. And for physician and medical student athletes who are hoping to earn a spot on the team, it also means temporarily stowing the stethoscope or textbook in favor of a bicycle or running shoes.

Pedal to the Medal

California rheumatologist Christine Thorburn, M.D., is competing for a spot on the United States Olympic cycling team.

For many, medical school is a time for mastering the basic sciences, exploring different careers, and ultimately choosing a discipline. It is not usually the place for discovering that you excel at a sport. But this is precisely what happened to Christine Thorburn, M.D.

A rheumatologist practicing in Palo Alto, Calif., Thorburn also happens to be an internationally competitive cyclist. But she did not take to the bike until her third year of medical school. Always drawn to endurance sports, Thorburn was a cross-country and track runner in high school and college before knee pain made her switch to cycling. The sport proved to be a good match for Thorburn, who loves a tough mental and physical challenge.

"The longer races are a true chess match—a thinking person's sport," Thorburn said. "They require knowledge of your competition and a reaction to the race as it evolves. Often the winner is not the strongest rider, but the smartest one."

Competitive cycling took something of a back seat during Thorburn's medical school and residency training, but she switched gears when her research schedule, focusing on genetic epidemiology, provided her with a more flexible schedule.

It paid off: She upset many favored riders to finish first at the 2004 trials, earning her a spot on the Olympic team.

"No one expected that I would place," Thorburn said. "It was one of the best days of my life, aside from my wedding."

Although Thorburn did not earn a medal in Athens, she is hoping to try again in Beijing. To prepare, she has taken a leave of absence from her private medical practice. If she makes the team, Thorburn said, she will plan not to arrive in China too early, in order to avoid prolonged exposure to Beijing's polluted air, which can have ozone and fine dust accumulation rates two or three times the maximum levels recommended by the World Health Organization. (She said that most U.S. athletes she knows are taking the same approach.)

After this summer, she will take her foot off the pedal, at least in terms of future Olympic aspirations.

"I love everything I do, but at some point I have to focus on my medical career," Thorburn said. "I see myself as a physician first. Cycling is still my hobby."

Eye to the Sky

This could be a big year for Leïla Ben-Youssef. She will enter the University of Washington School of Medicine in the fall, and she may also find herself in Beijing as an Olympic pole vaulter.

But if she makes it, she won't be wearing the red, white, and blue. Ben-Youssef hopes to catapult herself onto the Tunisian team, where much of her family lived until her father's generation. Her Tunisian grandfather, a politician who fought for Tunisia's independence from France, was assassinated in 1961, and her family was in exile for many years.

"I'm really proud to represent a nation my paternal family has been intimately involved with in a political context," she said.

She began pole vaulting as a junior high student in rural Sidney, Mont. (population: 5,000). A self-proclaimed tomboy and adventure seeker, pole vaulting immediately clicked.

"It's a sport that holds a challenge, there are so many bits and pieces that you can improve on," she said. "There is always something to learn."

As an undergraduate, Ben-Youssef made her way on to Stanford University's track and field team, and she stayed at Stanford to earn a master's degree in anthropology. For the past year or so, she has been competing for the Tunisian National Team. Pole vaulting across the globe is exciting in its own right, but it has also helped foster a passion for international health issues.

"It's been fascinating to observe other societies," she said. "Yet the experiences have also made me vividly attuned to the harsh realities that exist in other areas."

While competing in Ethiopia in May, she visited the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital to learn more about obstetric fistula, a severe condition associated with childbirth. Such experiences are cultivating a deep-seated interest in a career in women's health, but Ben-Youssef said it is too early to tell what medical discipline she will enter.

Her concern for international issues extends to China, where numerous and well-publicized reports document the government's human rights abuses.

"I am against human rights violations, and am very happy the Olympics are bringing awareness to an issue that needs addressing."

(Steeple)Chasing the Dream

Medical student Dan Lincoln, shown competing in the steeplechase during the 2004 Athens games, was hoping to return to the Olympic stage until he was sidelined in June with an injury.

Daniel Lincoln remembers the moment exactly. He was taking his place in the starting lineup of the track, waiting for the whistle to blow. He could hear the roar of the crowd and sense all eyes on him and his competitors.

"I was looking around and seeing the stadium packed with people, and thinking, 'I am a little too excited,'" he said. "I almost let myself get carried away with the enthusiasm."

This was the 2004 Olympics. Lincoln was hoping to have another chance to represent the United States in the steeplechase, a track race involving hurdles and a standardized obstacle course, this August. But while training in late spring, Lincoln injured his foot and had to abruptly put aside his dream of a second Olympic run. Although disappointed, Lincoln is trying to take the situation in stride.

"Injuries happen," he said. "It's always hard not to compete, and when it's the Olympics, it's especially disappointing, because that's when the entire world is watching."

Lincoln is hoping to be able to compete internationally again next summer, but until then, he has another daunting task in front of him: finishing medical school.

Lincoln was halfway through his third year at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Medicine when he took some time off to focus on Olympic training. He said that he is eager to return to medical school.

"I have three rotations left—internal medicine, surgery, and peds," he said. "It'll be hard work, but I am ready for it."

As for a specialty, Lincoln has a longtime interest in orthopedic surgery. He said that this injury—even if it is keeping him out of the Olympic Games—is really showing him that medicine, and orthopedics particularly, was the right choice for him.

"From this whole experience, I've seen the gravity of the work that orthopedic surgeons do," Lincoln said. "I've seen first-hand how desperately people want help, and how much a good doctor can offer."

Even as he advances in his medical career and assuming no injuries persist, Lincoln said that he plans to run track for pleasure.

"Running is a good sport for me," he said. "It's simple and it's fun. You just lace up your shoes and go from your front door."

—By Elissa Fuchs