More Than Mountains

14岁的亚伦·莱西(Aaron Lacy)说，正是在他的舒适区之外寻求经历，才塑造了他现在的样子.

其中一些经历包括成为一名学生运动员, conducting research at NASA, and providing medical services in the Himalayas.

Performance as a Mustang

蕾西刚进MMU时是足球和田径的学生运动员, he didn’t have a plan for his future. 但是通过他在课堂内外的经历, as well as through the guidance of his professors, coaches, and classmates, 他的人生找到了方向，找到了一条通往爱荷华大学医学院的道路.

“亚伦自我激励，有领导能力和团队合作精神,” said Alesia Hruska, professor of biology. “As an academically talented, dependable, and compassionate person, 我完全有信心，他会是一位对病人关怀有加的好医生.”

莱西说:“意识到我早期是多么依赖我的导师，我感到很惭愧。. "They helped me grow and pushed me to my limits. 毕业后的我和刚开始的时候完全不同了.”

Research at the NASA Johnson Space Center

As a medical student, 蕾西着迷于太空医学领域和失重状态下人体生理的概念.

“I realized that as technology steadily advances, 人体的极限可能是禁止深空旅行的原因，除非我们投入更多的时间和研究来研究人类如何在太空中运作,” he says.

In spring 2018, 美国国家航空航天局选择莱西为航空航天医学轮岗，在那里他可以向休斯顿美国国家航空航天局约翰逊航天中心该领域的顶尖专家学习, Texas. He was paired with lead physician Dr. Robert Sanders of the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, 它是用来训练宇航员进行太空行走的，也有一个高空高压舱.

“这是一个难得的机会，可以深入了解人类作为一个物种是如何突破自己的极限的,莱西谈到这项研究时说，这项研究正在研究如何增加宇航员和飞行员在低氧环境下保持有效意识的时间.

Service in the Himalayas

Intrigued with global health, 莱西离开了他熟悉的环境，为拉达克赞斯卡尔山谷的人们服务, India, the most isolated part of the Himalayas. Without hesitation, 莱西说，长达一个月的轮岗是在医学院能找到的最独特的临床经验.

“在培训期间，我在许多急诊科工作过, 所有这些都呈现出自己独特的挑战和艰难的环境, but no environment was as challenging as this,” said Lacy.

他们服务的诊所只能步行到达. The team had to hike over an 18,300-foot pass, camp at altitudes of 14,000 feet, 并在村庄之间旅行时携带所有的诊所和个人用品. The clinic days varied greatly, treating farmers one day, monks the next, and schoolchildren after that.

“我从这次旅行中最大的收获是西方医学文化，以及我们必须解决一切问题的感觉," said Lacy. “但有时试图解决问题弊大于利, both here and abroad, 因此，我们在日常实践中应该谨慎行事.” 

Practice in medicine

University of Iowa colleague Dr. Jacob Melendrez says Lacy is a skilled clinician, known for “treating everyone with respect, kindness, 他孜孜不倦地为他的病人和同事们辩护.” For the kind of physician Lacy represents, 爱荷华大学授予他伦纳德·托医学人文主义奖.

“When it came to patient care, I did not work with another provider, regardless of level of training, who cared more for his patients,” says Melendrez, who nominated Lacy for the award. “Aaron is compassionate and committed, hardworking and honest, and, if a family member of mine were sick, 我希望治疗他们的是一个临床知识比他们真正关心病人的意愿更丰富的人——比如Dr. Lacy.”

 University of Iowa colleague Dr. 同样提名莱西的伊桑·克雷格也表示同意. “Aaron’s patience, intelligence, 同理心使他非常适合站在医疗保健的第一线,” says Craig.

莱西乐于伸出援助之手，并接受新的挑战，这两者的结合塑造了她的职业道路，并在此过程中使他人受益.

"申请约翰逊航天中心的轮岗, 在轮班期间看到的病人比我觉得舒服的多, 探索世界的新领域都是我曾经和保留的事情, but I put myself out there," said Lacy. “最后，我从不后悔，并从经历中成长.”

Inspired by MMU classmates

莱西在MMU结识和共事的人是塑造他一生的关键人物，直到今天仍然如此. He says professors Ryan Bezy, Alesia Hruska, Joseph Nguyen, Kristopher Keuseman, Neil Bernstein, Anna Waterman, and Dennis Dew, at any given time, 是否经历了人生和事业的转折点. 

At MMU, Lacy grew in expected ways. 他学会了如何有效地管理自己的时间，并在领导和团队合作中成长. 但他没有想到的是，他在情感和文化上都得到了很大的成长.

"This has helped me in my medical career, too, 在我的病人身上发现了更多的相似点.”

“Over my four years, 我有幸与几十位来自世界各地的人成为朋友，一起工作——这是一个很好的机会，让我对一个在爱荷华州生活了一辈子的人的人生经历有了新的认识," said Lacy. "This has helped me in my medical career, too, 在我的病人身上发现了更多的相似点.”

莱西说，如果他没有提到作为有抱负的医生，他的同学们“比我做得更大、更好”，直到今天他都受到了多大的启发，那他就错了(Ben Reinhart ' 12), Allison Roe ’14, James Estipona ’14, and Nicole Morrow ’15), 牙医(Megan Vogel Timm ' 14和Meghan Nelson ' 14), chiropractors (Kodey Salow), 理疗师(Brooklyn Schrader ' 13和Taylor Helms ' 13), 内科医生和外科助理(布雷迪·格伯' 14和埃里卡·索普·里德' 14), pharmacists (Kelsey Kernan ’14), and researchers (Matthew Purl ’14).

正如莱西在6月份的年度捐款人感谢晚宴上所说的那样, 医学院的平均录取率是40%, and it is similar for other medical specialties. 

“这批学生中，几乎100%的人都进入了自己选择的研究生院项目或职业，现在都在这个领域积极实践, which is remarkable,” he says.