Continuing the series that began in 2016-17, each Wednesday MGoBlue.com will highlight a Michigan student-athlete and their academic pursuits. These are our Scholar-Athlete Stories, presented by Absopure.

By David Woelkers

When one thinks of a pre-medical school track, they normally expect a student to stick to one of a few majors; biology, organic chemistry and physics to name a few.

University of Michigan senior port/starboard rower Emily Nelson has taken an unorthodox but comprehensive approach to her time in the classroom -- mixing pre-med school studies with time on the cutting edge of spinal and cerebral surgical procedures as part of the Intraoperative Neurophysiological Monitoring program in the School of Kinesiology.

However, initially, Nelson intended to never come to Ann Arbor at all, instead planning on blazing a trail outside of the state in which she was born and raised.

"I was hoping to leave Michigan for a little bit and gain a perspective elsewhere, so I participated in this program called Global Citizen Year and I spent about eight months in Brazil before COVID hit," Nelson said. "After COVID and everything, I just decided that being closer to home would be better, and Michigan throughout these past four years has definitely grown on me, I would say. Because coming in, I was cognizant of how such a big school it is and I've always wanted to go to a school with a more concentrated student body so I could get to know my professors better. But I feel like once you find your niche, you can have those experiences here."

Entering college, Nelson had intended to find a major that would set her up for success in her pre-med ambitions. Eventually, she found her way to the School of Kinesiology, and in turn what would ultimately be the program that captivated her the most.

"Initially, I enrolled in LSA because I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted my major to be," Nelson said. "I was pretty confident that I wanted to be a pre-medicine student, so I was just trying to find a major that kind of reflected that and would be a little bit easier to get all the pre-med requirements in. I heard about movement science and I was immediately interested because I've always been very passionate about natural remedies as medicine, like physical activity, nutrition, that sort of thing. So, like, looking at the classes that are required for movement science, I was really intrigued.

"I don't remember exactly how I heard about the IONM program, but I was pretty convinced early on that it would be an interesting thing. It's definitely a very hard thing to explain to other people because it's a very new field and it's not very common, there's not a lot of people that do it."

Unlike more conceptual programs on campus, the IONM program is one that requires both deep academic study, and a breadth of practical experience -- a daunting task for all but the most attentive of medically inclined students.

"Yeah, it's definitely not an easy program, I would have to say," Nelson said. "The classes that are taught by [IONM program director Joshua Mergos] are very complex topics because since it's such a new field and it's so abstract, it's very hard to connect the dots before going into clinicals. And then this past year, I've been completing a clinical rotation for the past year. So it started in June and it's been going for the whole year.

"The first couple of months was just getting used to the routine of the OR, trying not to contaminate the sterile fields, talking with your preceptors about how they go about conversations with the anesthesiologists and surgeons. But then after you start to get comfortable, you actually set up the cases completely on your own and eventually get to the point where you're doing the whole monitoring by yourself with the preceptor only observing to make sure that if you have a question they can answer it."

For a student athlete that also has to juggle academics with practice and competition, the addition of a clinical rotation might seem at first glance too much to handle. Not so, at least for Nelson.

"It's definitely been a very rigorous program to be a part of with rowing, especially because you're asked to do two 12-hour shifts every week," Nelson said. "I did three 12-hour shifts every week during the summer to kind of give myself a little bit of an easier time this semester, where I did two eight-hour shifts to counteract the start of the season and everything. But it's definitely been a great experience, I would say. I've been working at Michigan Medicine, so primarily our cases are in the main hospital for spine and cerebral surgeries, and we've had a couple in Mott Children's Hospital as well."

In discussing her time in the operating room, a specific success story has lingered in Nelson's mind, one that represents the very heart of her desire to be in medicine.

"I remember one of my cases, the patient had a lot of back pain because of spinal stenosis, so I remember doing a case and the patient waking up after the anesthesia so happy because they weren't in like that severe pain that they were experiencing prior to surgery. And all they could keep saying was, 'I don't feel any pain in my back, like I feel so good, this is so amazing'," Nelson recalled. "It reaffirmed why I'm so interested in medicine. I'm so interested in making people feel better and taking care of them. And it's just such a hands-on career that it has always drawn me to it.

Reflecting on her four-year journey, Nelson has no regrets; from rowing, to neuromonitoring, to even research based on her time in the Global Citizen Year program.

"I would say that my four years here have been extremely fulfilling, but it was kind of a make your own adventure, though," Nelson said. "I found a lot of passions that I didn't know I would be interested in. For example, my sophomore year, I did the undergraduate research program and I started working with a professor, Victoria Langland, on the history of breastfeeding in Brazil. It was really interesting to learn about the history of maternal and infant health in Brazil, and I also formed a really strong bond with that professor. We still go out for coffee and I'm still checking in on her as she writes her book.

"I've been really grateful for these four years and I feel like I've learned a lot about myself, not only education-wise, but just as a person, what my values are and what my definition of success is."

As Nelson turns from an academic perspective to a professional one, with plans to continue in the neuromonitoring field for the immediate future, the desire to practice medicine continues. In between shifts, Nelson intends to continue studying for the MCAT and apply for medical school.

It's not only a personal goal for the rower, but one of two homages to a personal hero.

"My friend, Olivia Haverkamp, passed away from Ewing sarcoma a few years ago, and I have been wearing this yellow ribbon every race to represent her fight. She was an incredibly hard-working individual, who also wanted to be a doctor, and we pushed each other from kindergarten on."

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