Connor Nowak is a first-year medical student at the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine.
In the following blog post, he reflects on his path pursuing a career in emergency medicine, his experience as an EMT, and his love of the great outdoors.
“As someone who is affected by the almost magnetic attraction of the backcountry and rural areas … the thought of being able to provide care to these communities in the future truly sparks a flame in my soul.”
Outdoor Recreational Roots
Hey all, my name is Connor! I’m from Strafford, New Hampshire (proud Granite Stater), but I’ve also spent a fair amount of time living in both Maine and Vermont. I went to undergrad at the University of New England (UNE) in Biddeford, Maine, where I graduated in 2024 with a bachelor of science in neuroscience with a minor in health, medicine, and society. During my time there, I was involved quite a bit with both EMS and outdoor recreation. Now, I’m lucky enough to be one of the members of the Larner College of Medicine class of 2028.
Outside of medical school, my main passions generally almost all involve being out in the woods. When I can, I love to rock climb, ski/snowboard (starting alpine touring this year), hike, camp, and trail run. Most days of the week I weightlift in the mornings before class and go for a run after class. Staying active and keeping the blood flowing helps maintain a level of mental clarity that helps me really dial in and focus when I need to and gives the neurons some time to kick their feet up and rest when my mind goes on airplane mode during exercise. My hobbies do overlap with medicine, however, as I also have my Wilderness EMT certification and I’m taking an AIARE 1 avalanche rescue and assessment course this winter, both for recreational use as well as to hopefully be able to provide better backcountry care in the future.
Teamwork Makes the Dream Work
I was fairly certain I wanted to become a doctor in middle/high school, but my work during college cemented that idea. My first clinical job was working as a patient transporter at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC), where I got to see a wide variety of different patients, conditions, and specialties in the field of medicine. Not long after, I became a licensed EMT in New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont. With that, I volunteered as a campus first responder for UNE, and eventually became the co-chief of UNE EMS. I really loved it, as I was able to act as a mentor for students looking to get into the field of EMS, as well as provide free emergency services to students on campus who needed to be checked out. I also worked (and still do) as an EMT for Woodstock Ambulance Service in Woodstock, Vermont, where we respond to regional 911 calls. This job was formative in my development as a health care provider, as my preceptors and mentors pushed me and helped to instill confidence in my abilities, as well as how to assess/improve the care I’m providing from call to call.
Additionally, I also worked as an emergency department technician at DHMC. While working as a tech in the ED, I was awed by the depth and breadth of knowledge of the physicians, and I found myself wanting to have that same level of understanding. I wanted to be able to provide the highest level of care to patients, and I felt that to maximize my knowledge base and to become the best asset to the team and the community that I could be, becoming a physician would be the best route for me to do so. Additionally, I would love to be involved in medical education in the future, and I feel that becoming a physician also allows me to have the strongest foundation to pursue that dream. One of the greatest aspects of medicine (and I guess life in general) is that there are endless opportunities to keep evolving your knowledge and skill base. There are always opportunities to learn from the care team members you are working with, and that multidirectional exchange of knowledge and experience is one of the beautiful aspects of medicine that really called me to it. And as someone who is also affected by the almost magnetic attraction of the backcountry and rural areas, I understand that living in said areas can often lead to higher difficulty accessing care when you need it. The thought of being able to provide care to these communities in the future truly sparks a flame in my soul, and that’s how I knew medicine was for me.
Acquiring Doctoring Skills
After learning some pharmacology in lecture, I was shadowing a physician and saw what we had been learning in class being applied in real clinical practice. Additionally, the skills from our hands-on ultrasound workshops as well physical exams such as the “Doctoring Skills” sessions were also being utilized. It was truly incredible to watch firsthand how the topics being taught in class were being used to provide life-saving treatment not long after. I have also really enjoyed our imaging workshops in conjunction with gross anatomy lab, as being able to cross-reference the two helps create a more comprehensive image in your mind of the pathophysiology at play.
From Indoors to Wilderness
After medical school I plan on pursuing a career in the field of emergency medicine with a fellowship in wilderness medicine. I love the vast variety of patients and conditions that you can work with in EM, and how much they can differ from room to room. This daily variety truly allows you to be well-versed in many different aspects of medicine, as many of these patients can be undifferentiated, which is something I find incredibly appealing and useful in everyday life and my passions outside of medicine. I really like the idea of being able to work alongside other specialties and learn from them, all the while coordinating care and next steps for the patient. Additionally, having had a background in EMS, I truly appreciate the teamwork and trust that goes in to treating a critically ill patient, and I would love to be able to guide others through that in the future. I would also love to get involved with search and rescue, as rural and backcountry care is an aspect of medicine that kindles my love for what we as a field can offer to the community.
