Allysah Fox
March 23, 2017
They train on the field as runners, swimmers and bikers. Then, they train in the field with scalpels, stethoscopes and needles.
Three Virginia Tech medical school students have proved their quality to perform as full-time athletes and medical practitioners.
The medical field is designed for an elite group of individuals who enjoy challenging themselves, both mentally and physically. This means pushing the body beyond its limits to achieve the greatness that is haloed around a doctor’s healing-mind.
But aside from the strong demand of medical school, students have learned to immerse themselves in other activities for a different challenge.
Of those individuals are Sean Hyunh, a first-year medical student at Virginia Tech’s Carilion School of Medicine, who is currently training for a top-distance race – the Ironman.
“The fear is never going to go away,” said Hyunh. “The distance is huge.”
Hyunh related this to the feeling of being a full-time medical student, in his first of four years.
“It’s important to respect the distance,” said Hyunh. “My best advice is not to pursue something unless you’re highly committed.”
Also among the elite group is Emily Carbaugh, an avid marathoner and first-year medical student at Virginia Tech’s Carilion School of Medicine. She correlated the challenges of medical school with the toughest mile of the marathon.
“This feels especially relevant when we’ve had a really tough week with back-to-back exams; we call them exam marathons,” Carbaugh said. “After finishing the last one, all I want is to come home and just relax, but I know that I can’t because I have to start studying for the next thing. This is like mile 20 of the marathon for me, when literally all I want to do is stop, but I can’t.”
On average, medical students will dedicate more than 40 hours per week studying, making it a full-time job. To keep from going insane, some students will assign their academics to a different realm of their lives.
For Annie Brezovec, a second-year medical student at Virginia Tech’s Carilion School of Medicine and devoted swimmer, medical school is kept separate from her every-day life.
“Life doesn’t end when you get to medical school,” Brezovec said. “You need to still do things that are uniquely you and that fuel your life.”
Brezovec likes to spend her time de-stressing in the pool. On a normal day, she will wake up at 6 a.m. and head to McComas’ pool to swim for one hour. Brezovec will typically swim more than 3,000 meters before she dries off and heads to lecture.
“It’s the perfect way to clear my head and start my day,” Brezovec said.
Although Brezovec believes in her life’s philosophy, she knows that medical school will dictate the majority of her time if she wants her dream career.
“Overall, my goal is to pour my desire to help people into a career,” Brezovec said. “I’ve always found that my strength comes in the ability to empower people. I love finding the strengths of others and trying to bring that to the surface through my interactions with them.”
March 23, 2017
They train on the field as runners, swimmers and bikers. Then, they train in the field with scalpels, stethoscopes and needles.
Three Virginia Tech medical school students have proved their quality to perform as full-time athletes and medical practitioners.
The medical field is designed for an elite group of individuals who enjoy challenging themselves, both mentally and physically. This means pushing the body beyond its limits to achieve the greatness that is haloed around a doctor’s healing-mind.
But aside from the strong demand of medical school, students have learned to immerse themselves in other activities for a different challenge.
Of those individuals are Sean Hyunh, a first-year medical student at Virginia Tech’s Carilion School of Medicine, who is currently training for a top-distance race – the Ironman.
“The fear is never going to go away,” said Hyunh. “The distance is huge.”
Hyunh related this to the feeling of being a full-time medical student, in his first of four years.
“It’s important to respect the distance,” said Hyunh. “My best advice is not to pursue something unless you’re highly committed.”
Also among the elite group is Emily Carbaugh, an avid marathoner and first-year medical student at Virginia Tech’s Carilion School of Medicine. She correlated the challenges of medical school with the toughest mile of the marathon.
“This feels especially relevant when we’ve had a really tough week with back-to-back exams; we call them exam marathons,” Carbaugh said. “After finishing the last one, all I want is to come home and just relax, but I know that I can’t because I have to start studying for the next thing. This is like mile 20 of the marathon for me, when literally all I want to do is stop, but I can’t.”
On average, medical students will dedicate more than 40 hours per week studying, making it a full-time job. To keep from going insane, some students will assign their academics to a different realm of their lives.
For Annie Brezovec, a second-year medical student at Virginia Tech’s Carilion School of Medicine and devoted swimmer, medical school is kept separate from her every-day life.
“Life doesn’t end when you get to medical school,” Brezovec said. “You need to still do things that are uniquely you and that fuel your life.”
Brezovec likes to spend her time de-stressing in the pool. On a normal day, she will wake up at 6 a.m. and head to McComas’ pool to swim for one hour. Brezovec will typically swim more than 3,000 meters before she dries off and heads to lecture.
“It’s the perfect way to clear my head and start my day,” Brezovec said.
Although Brezovec believes in her life’s philosophy, she knows that medical school will dictate the majority of her time if she wants her dream career.
“Overall, my goal is to pour my desire to help people into a career,” Brezovec said. “I’ve always found that my strength comes in the ability to empower people. I love finding the strengths of others and trying to bring that to the surface through my interactions with them.”
Sean Hyunh, a first-year medical student at Virginia Tech's school of medicine, returns from a bike ride on Draper Road in Blacksburg, Virginia. Hyunh is training for his first Ironman set to take place October 15 in Louisville, Kentucky.
Sean Huynh (middle) and Emily Carbaugh (right) pose with a fellow medical student during the White Coat Ceremony held October 30, 2016. The ceremony is held for those who have been inducted into the medical school program at Virginia Tech.