Scholar Stories: Timko Using Past Injuries to Fuel Future Medical Career
10/24/2018 9:30:00 AM | Women's Soccer, Features
Continuing the popular 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 Prairie Farms.
By Max Brill
Taylor Timko, a redshirt senior on the University of Michigan women's soccer team, has been a force for the team when she's been on the field. But it has been her time off the field that has helped shape her future.
"It kind of was a journey leading me towards medicine," Timko explains. "It started off when my grandma had cancer; she passed away right before my freshman year. The impact the physicians had on her battle with cancer, that was my first glimpse into the impact a medical professional could have on someone's life.
"Then I went on a trip to Vietnam with other students. Dr. Benn Gilmore, a doctor in the Ann Arbor area, came with us. Hearing about the way he molded his practice, lifestyle and faith to fit within his profession was awesome. He answered every single one of my questions. I think that week in Vietnam and spending time with him really drew me to medicine."
Timko is majoring in biology and will graduate later this year. Her interest in medicine has also partially stemmed from the injuries she has suffered during her soccer career. She missed the entirety of the 2016 soccer season due to a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), but credits her surgeon, Dr. Shapiro, for helping her through the rehab process and cultivating her interest in medicine.
"Dr. Shapiro was so invested in my case," she says. "He would sit with me -- I knew he had other patients he had to get to -- but he would sit down, go through my pros and cons lists of all my decisions and just made me feel like the number one person that he ever sat with. He made me feel so calm going into what was probably the biggest medical thing I've ever gone through. I could not be more grateful for his presence. It was another thing that just kept pushing me along."
Even though it kept her off the field for an entire season, Timko found a silver lining while rehabbing.
"It helped me grow a ton as a person, player, and teammate," she said.
Unfortunately, Timko suffered a second ACL tear toward the end of last season. She made it back in time for the start of this season and credits her teammates for helping her get through rehab for a second time.
"I had a really rough semester. It was right in the middle of midterms and I wanted surgery done really fast so that I could be back for this season," she says. "I had to miss two exams. I was freaking out, on crutches and it was snowing. I was just miserable.
"I wouldn't have been able to get through both of my injuries without my team. They're the reason why I'm here."
Timko has always had a good leg. Her last two years of high school at Notre Dame Prep in Pontiac, Michigan, she was the kicker for the football team, handling field goals, extra points and kickoffs.
She was a can't-miss prospect on the soccer field, scoring 124 goals in 82 matches during her prep years. A natural forward, Timko has been asked to score goals and prevent them during her time at Michigan, playing in 70 matches (63 starts). She has 38 career points (15 goals, eight assists).
This season, Timko has made 12 appearances (seven starts). Though she only has one point, she has played a much bigger role within the team, serving as one of its leaders in her final season on the pitch.
After graduation, Timko is planning either to attend medical school or become a nurse practitioner. Regardless of what profession she chooses, she intends to bring what she has learned from her physicians and mentors to her work.
"I think the main thing that I got from both [my professor and my surgeon] is that they were able to make things understandable for someone who isn't an expert in their field," she says. "When I went into the research lab, Professor Simmons would draw diagrams and say, 'I know you're not a biochemistry expert, so here's the research in terms of what you know.' And it was the same thing with Dr. Shapiro. He would draw me diagrams of the knee and say, 'Here's what you did and here's what I'm going to do.'
"As a patient and as a student, I was able to understand what they were saying and they encouraged me to ask questions. In whatever I decide to do, I want to be able to get to the level of the patient and make them feel comfortable, make them feel like they can ask questions, and make sure they know that I care about them. I want them to feel cared about like I was cared about when I was a patient."
