January 27th - Yum

I've mentioned before that one of the great things about working on a college campus is that I'm surrounded by interesting people.  They're doing research in topics that I had never heard of or had thought possible.  I have no regrets about what I studied in college (it lead me to a life which I would call "wonderful").  However, I see what these people are doing and I am left thinking "Damn, why didn't I pay a little more attention in science class..."

The health professions programs were here for a few years before I moved over to work with them, which meant that I had come into contact with some of those professors before I made the switch to Graduate Admissions.  I sat down for lunch with one of those professors, Yum.

Yum

Right off the bat, I asked Yum where his name came from, and he smiled as if he gets that question all of the time.

Yum: My name is actually Ahn-Dung. In Vietnam, you have dual names, so the first part of the name is something that helps to identify your family.  And in the Vietnamese language, "D" sounds like a "Y."  My family immigrated to the US when I was little and we moved outside of Pittsburgh.  My kindergarten teacher didn't get the accent right for my name, and said "Yum."  That just stuck, and that's what I've gone with since then.

As Yum said, he and his family grew up in rural, western Pennsylvania, and is a Steelers fan through and through (I had to give him crap about my Pats beating his team this year).  Where he grew up was as homogenous as where I grew up in coastal Maine.  Which meant that, including his siblings, there were about six minorities that he went to school with.

I mention that I spent time in New Orleans, which was an eye-opening experience, especially coming from a very white state like Maine.

Lars: I honestly think those years I spent there had the biggest impact on how I see the world.  There was so much diversity, whether it was racial or sexual or whatever, and it made the impression on me how alike people really were.

Yum: You see that's interesting.  When I'm on diversity councils around here, there's so much being made about ethnic and racial minorities and how we need to help them out.  And I completely agree with that.  But what about that white kid that hasn't been exposed to any diversity, doesn't exposing them to different views help them out too?

Lars: Exactly.  I feel that we promote diversity from the standpoint that it helps the under-served, but I feel like everyone has a benefit from being exposed to people that don't look exactly like themselves.

Yum is starting his fifth year at High Point University.  He studied at UNC Greensboro, and was working at College of Charleston when he was called on by the Athletic Training department at HPU to join them.

Yum: I didn't know what athletic training was. Growing up in rural Pennsylvania, if you sprained your ankle you sucked it up and kept on playing.  I was going to go into physical therapy full on, that was it for me. When I got to college, I didn't want to do the biology or exercise science route, and someone suggested that I should do athletic training.  Do that, they said, and it will get you where you need to go.

I did an internship in a sports medicine clinic  that actually was branching out into where a lot of PT focus is now, the elderly.  Most of my clients were over 60, an they would lie to get out of activity because it hurt too much (which I understand!). Athletes, on the other hand, would lie to get back on the field.

I love working with athletes.  And I began to realize that was the group of people that I wanted to work with.  I really loved working with them, so I decided to go away from physical therapy and focus on athletic training instead.

Lars: What was your favorite sport to work with?

Yum: In Pennsylvania, if you were a three sport athlete that meant you played football, basketball, and baseball. That was it, so that's what I grew up with and what I started working with.  

I worked with a basketball team for awhile, and it was great but it was also exhausting.  It was a lot of travel and odd hours and it got to be too much.

If I had to pick a favorite, I'd say that it was men's lacrosse.  This is going to sound a little morbid, but in that sport, a kid could die at any second. And I think that level of pressure and excitement is what drew me to it. Those lacrosse players, they are a little different breed. But hands down they are my favorite to work with.

I mention how I played lacrosse in high school, and how I understand that they were certainly a different breed.  I also admit that I knew early on that while I loved playing sports (I'm a high functioning nerd, which meant I played sports while drawing Star Trek symbols all over my notebooks), I knew I would never move on beyond high school.

Yum: That's interesting because I felt the same way. A lot of people have an aspirations to play in college, but I didn't have that. I loved playing sports but I knew pretty early on that high school was it for me.  Which mean that I had to find a way to stay in sports and combine that with my love of medicine and health care.  And that's where athletic training came in.

We both agree that working with graduate students has been a breath of fresh air in our careers. 

Lars: I loved my undergrads, and I loved getting kids here.  But there's something about working with a graduate student that's different.

Yum: I totally agree.  Graduate programs are great because the students going out for them are making a conscious decision to pursue this profession.

Lars:  Right.  An applicant looking into athletic training or physical therapy or whatever whats to go on and help someone.  Someone getting an MBA wants to move forward in their career. It's exciting to help them with that goal.

What's the meal that reminds you most of home?

Yum: I grew up Vietnamese, so it's pho, hands down.  That's just a staple. You can eat it for breakfast lunch or dinner.

It's interesting because there are a lot of Vietnamese restaurants in Greensboro for as big as that city is, and apparently it's because Greensboro was a huge destination for people fleeing Vietnam after the war.

WIll the world be better in 20 years?

Yum: God I hope so, It has to.  Actually, you know what? I should have reacted to that question like that. "God, I hope so." That's so pessimistic, when really, I don't think that it's as bad as it seems. Look around you. We have great opportunities in our lives.  Admittedly, we need to grow them.  But yes, I think it will be better.

Education has to be a part of that. What we are teaching the next generation needs to improve.  It starts at the elementary school level and continues on right through us in higher ed.  We need to do a better job at preparing them to take on the world.

What was the most significant thing that happened last year?

Yum: I'm going to go with the professional side of things, and I have to say it was getting our first NIH (National Institute of Health) grant. Kevin (in our PT department) got it, and I'm on the project along with Eric (also in the PT department).  The three of us came in thinking we should go for this kind of thing. It will have a huge impact for the health sciences.

This place is amazing, especially the lab.  I'm still having fun with it. I never lose that feeling of walking into the lab and feeling how cool it is. A big part of that is that the right people are there.  They aren't egotistical, even though they have every right to be. 

I was hired as a professor but I get released to do research, and that's where this came in.  My area of focus is adolescent knee injuries, specifically with ACL tears. We've built a pretty strong team here based around that. There are three components to it, and each of us has taken on one segment of that.  There's risk factors, prevention, and rehabilitation. I do more of the identifying of who is at risk. All three of us have complementary ideas and work very well together.

That said, I'm a clinician through and through. I block out hours to work with our athletes. I'm fortunate to have the best of all three worlds between teaching, research and clinical work. Usually you have to choose, and I'm fortunate to be in a position to do all three.