The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Medical internship enthralls Pioneer
Elyria’s Kilgore gets a first-hand look through Rising Stars program
While most area soccer players are gearing up for the upcoming season next month, one has something else occupying her time.
Elyria junior Kayla Kilgore opted to skip a Cleveland State soccer camp last week to focus on her medical internship, where she observes knee surgeries through the Rising Stars program at Mercy Regional Medical Center in Lorain.
Kilgore already has dipped her toe in the medical field and is doing big things.
“We get to interview doctors and shadow doctors,” Kilgore said. “We also do community work.”
Coach Brian Thomas had no problem with Kilgore skipping the camp, and on July 10, tweeted a photo of her after she scrubbed in on two knee replacement surgeries: “Lady Pioneer to Future Surgeon?? DREAM BIG KAYLA!”
“Kayla is an awesome person first!!” Thomas said in an email. “Amazing parents. She’s an awesome young lady!”
Kilgore still is focused on athletics, attending soccer workouts during the evenings.
“I was kind of disappointed in missing the Cleveland State camp, but maybe next year if the schedule lines up, I’ll be able to go,” she said.
When Kilgore entered the month-long program that started June 27, she
was interested in being an orthopedic surgeon, but now she is interested in being a certified registered nurse anesthetist.
Knee replacements have been Kilgore’s favorite aspect of the internship, though going into those surgeries, she got pretty nervous.
“Most of the time I don’t have a problem seeing stuff like that,” Kilgore said. “But since I’ve never seen it in person before, I didn’t know how I was going to do. But I did really good.”
Her favorite subjects in school are chemistry and Spanish. Athletics wise, soccer is her main focus. She started playing when
she 4 and initially hated it after participating at a camp.
“I said I was never playing soccer again,” Kilgore said. “But then in fourth grade, all my friends started playing soccer and I said maybe I should try it again. Then I fell in love with it ever since.”
Her goal as a forward is to score more this season and become more of a leader.
An internship like this where she gets firsthand experience alongside professional doctors, however, can open plenty of doors for Kilgore in the future. She is setting an example for her peers.
“A lot of people want to get in the program, but they only take so many people a year,” Kilgore said. “I was happy to actually be a person that was selected. So hopefully my younger cousins see what I’m doing and hopefully want to do good things when they get older.”
While still young, Kilgore has already has set a lofty goal for herself.
“I want to go to college and get my Ph.D.,” she said.
Any future Morning Journal area soccer players who might get injured? Don’t be surprised if Kilgore walks into your hospital room ready to help you along.