Dr. Trotter, I presume'
August 11, 2009 | Women's Basketball
When you ask for the doctor at the Trotter residence, you get many replies. It could be Dr. John Trotter, an orthopedic surgeon, or Dr. Dana Trotter, a rheumatologist. In a couple of years, you will be able to add Dr. athid=6804&deptid=135"> --> Alana Trotter to that list.
'"I was essentially born into the medical field,"' says Alana, a redshirt junior guard on the Wisconsin women's basketball. '"Sometimes dinner conversations would involve medicine. Having parents as doctors and being an athlete, if I got hurt at practice I would come home and show my parents my ankle or something like that."'
Despite having parents who are physicians, Trotter stresses that her decision to become a doctor was her own. In fact, none of Trotter's three brothers have expressed an interest in medicine.
'"I really made the decision on my own in high school,"' explains Trotter. '"I think it was my junior year and it was towards the end when I was thinking about colleges and basketball and what my interest was. I''m also interested in medicine since I've always been absolutely fascinated by the body.
'"I feel like being a doctor would be such a blessing since you're given the opportunity to help other people."'
Trotter will take her first step towards helping other people this Friday when she takes the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) in Brookfield, Wis.
'"I''m a little nervous but I''ve prepared all summer so I just remind myself that I couldn''t possibly have done anything more,"' says Trotter. "'Every summer, I''ve taken a challenging course. This summer I''ve been studying for the MCAT and it''s by far harder than every course I''ve taken combined. You give up a lot but in the long run, it' 's worthwhile and that''s what I''m focused on."'
Trotter will be a third generation physician as her mother's parents are doctors as well. In fact, her grandparents met in medical school while her parents also met in medical school at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
'"I''ll have to see if I can keep the tradition going,'" says Trotter with a laugh about meeting her future spouse in medical school.
Where that will be, she is not exactly sure but she is considering Wisconsin.
'"I''ve started to look at medical schools but right now my focus is the MCAT,"' says Trotter.' "I''m not sure where I want to go. I would like to experience something different but Wisconsin has an incredible medical school so it would be great to start my training here. We''ll see what happens." '
Trotter has decided that she wants to follow in her father's footsteps and become an orthopedic surgeon, a process that will take up to at least nine more years. Four years of medical school will be followed by three to seven years of residency with surgeons having to take the longer route.
'"I know that some of my teammates and friends have joked that by the time I ''ve finished training, their kids will be graduating,"' said Trotter with a laugh. "'It''s a long process but when you go see your doctor, you want to know that they''ve been training as long as they can to make sure that they don''t screw up. That''s what I tell my teammates, in 10-15 years from now, when I''m doing surgery on you, you''re going to remember how much I studied and you''re going to be very happy!"'
Trotter chose orthopedics since she would like to continue to work with athletes after she is done with her basketball career.
'Some people ask me how I'm a pre-med student-athlete and my response is I just do it,' says Trotter. 'If you want it that bad, you'll find a way.'
Trotter also has to add the duties of team captain to her busy schedule this season as she will share leadership duties with Anya Covington and Teah Gant.
'I feel completely honored to have the captain title because that's another example where hard work does pay off,' says Trotter. 'It may not show on the scoreboard or in the stats but people in the stands don't see what we go through, preseason, in the summer, every single practice. They don't see how hard we work.
'I'm hoping that the captains will be able to raise UW women 's basketball to a level it has never reached before. It doesn't matter who scores what, but if everybody is able to put the team in front of themselves, then we 're really going to be successful. That's going to be my main goal that I hope people can get from me. If there's anything that they can remember from Alana Trotter the basketball player is that she worked her butt off and she did it for the team.'
