Combat Medic Turns Student Instructor for Pre-Med Peers

Combat Medic Turns Student Instructor for Pre-Med Peers

Spencer Holsinger's pathway into the medical field began with a compromise for his military career.

"I wanted to come in as a combat role, like infantry or something. My mom asked me not to. She said, 'Do something where you use your skills.' So, I thought, I'll be a medic," said Holsinger, a senior studying health sciences at UToledo.

Over two tours of duty in Afghanistan, Holsinger experienced the realities of combat medicine firsthand. He was later assigned to the Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) on Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, where he worked in the emergency room.

"I did in fact get to go into combat and I did in fact go to a hospital and get all this extra cool training. So, by the end, everybody was happy," Holsinger said.

While serving at BAMC, Holsinger said he discovered a deeper love for medicine.

"There was this very nice, very new resident who wasn't sure what to do. God bless him, he's probably a great doctor now, but I stepped in and did it," Holsinger said of a time a patient was at risk of bleeding out. "It's not the first time I've done something like that, but it was the first time I thought, Wow, I'm in this ER, and compared to a lot of people here, I have no formal training and yet here I am running this trauma. "I thought, 'I can do this too.'

"So, from that day I swore I'd make it happen," he added. "I'm here trying to realize that."

After 16 years of service in the U.S. Army, Holsinger transitioned to the Army Reserves to move closer to home and attend college. He now serves as a Detachment Sergeant in the 948th Forward Resuscitative Surgical Detachment. The Sylvania Northview High School graduate said UToledo was his top choice as a Yellow Ribbon school that also offered opportunities through its medical school.

"Rubbing elbows with a lot of those people, trying to get a sense for what specialty I want to go into, I'm hoping the environment gives me a lot of opportunities to not only learn from them but also share what I know," Holsinger said.

Early on, he overheard other pre-health students being invited to a suture clinic, and he decided to attend as well. Before he knew it, Holsinger was guiding his peers in the clinic as much as the instructor.

"Many pre-health students are eager to share advice about coursework, applications or the MCAT. However, it is exceptionally rare to find an undergraduate with the depth of clinical experience, technical competency, and instructional ability that Holsinger brings to our center," said Deborah Hendricks, director of the UToledo Pre-Health Advising Center. "His background gives him a level of readiness in first-responder and procedure-based skills that most students simply have not yet had the opportunity to develop."

Now as a pre-health student ambassador, Holsinger is independently organizing hands-on skills workshops in suturing, intubation and Stop the Bleed for undergraduate students - opportunities most undergrads won't experience regularly until much later in their training.

"I have a belief that if you know something, you should teach it. And if you have the ability to do something, you have the responsibility to do it," Holsinger said.

"Spencer has become an integral part of our team. His ability to build community while teaching complex skills creates an environment where pre-health students feel supported, capable and excited about their future careers," Hendricks said. "Watching him empower fellow Rockets is exactly the kind of leadership we strive to cultivate, which is why he was an easy choice for a student spotlight."

While the suture and airway clinics are intended to give pre-med students early hands-on experience, Holsinger opens the Stop the Bleed clinics to everyone on campus. He believes that knowledge of bleeding control should be as universal as CPR.

"Trauma casualty statistics say if somebody had just put on a tourniquet, held pressure, used pressure, whatever skill we're talking about - if they had just held pressure for 5 minutes, then these people would have been alive," Holsinger said.

PHAC Hands-on Healthcare Skills Clinics are open to all UToledo students looking for more opportunities for experiential learning. Students can find and RSVP for the events in Invonet.