Author Spotlight
Isabel Baldassaro
Senior Michael Muller took a mental note of each time East’s athletic trainer Dakota Gelshemier-Orlando ran across the field to help an injured player at almost every football game his freshman and sophomore year when he played.
“His sophomore year, he started hanging out in the athletic training room,” Dakota said. “Moving into his junior year, he asked if he could shadow me more and ask more medical information questions.”
Through her, Muller was able to intern as a medical assistant observing and learning to get connections and meet new sports medicine professionals within the University of Kansas Health System.
Muller plans on attending the University of Colorado Boulder in the fall to continue his work in sports medicine. His two years of experience working with Dakota helped to influence his intended field of study by granting him the training he wants.
From his interest in athletic training Muller says he’s able to pick up a lot of experience he can put towards his expected major in neuroscience with a minor in cellular, molecular and developmental biology.
“I’ve wanted to do something medical for years, and I loved sports so when she introduced me to sports medicine I found out I could combine both worlds,” Muller said.
Now any time Dakota needs something from her health kit, Muller is right behind her ready to follow orders such as writing down athletes heart rates and symptoms.
With well over 2,000 hours interning tracked in his high school career, Muller has spent about 1,800 of those working with Dakota, whether that’s sitting in her office helping her with rehab and injured athletes or on the field watching in case a player gets hurt.
Muller says together they mainly focus on injury assessment, injury treatment and rehabilitation before and during practices and games.
“With her being a first responder in games I’m able to pick up a lot of skills in assisting her on that front,” Muller said.
Dakota says Muller is there when people need simple items such as bandages or ice packs while he observes her while she manages rehab and a variety of injury assessment processes to learn every aspect of working in athletic assistance.
“I pretty much am there to help make her job easier but also help her when something happens,” Muller said.
There’s times where male athletes don’t feel comfortable coming to Dakota for help so they ask Muller before seeing her because he’s someone they can trust, according to Dakota.
Outside of school, Michael has participated in other volunteer opportunities such as interning in the brand new neurology clinic at the University of Kansas Health System last summer. Out of the around 400 applicants, Muller was one of 98 selected.
“I spent a couple weeks volunteering my time there and I got to learn treatment and medical assessments under a lot of doctors firsthand and picked up a number of volunteer hours,” Muller said.
He also regularly volunteers at the sports medicine clinic at the KU Health System and has shadowed the head physicians for the Royals and the Chiefs.
This summer, he’ll be assisting at a research lab at KU Medical Center about once a week.
While his continuous interning isn’t required for his major, he says it doesn’t hurt and gives him more experience that he needs before jumping right into the job. There, he’ll get paid to continue doing what he loves.
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