PYEONGCHANG, South Korea — For Caroline Park, the Winter Olympics are part athletic competition, part real-world job training experience.
As a medical student at Columbia University, the 28-year-old Park has spent plenty of time around needles while she worked as a clinical research assistant at the Hospital for Special Surgery on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and completed clinical rotations for school.
Now, she’s on the receiving end of medical attention during her first Olympic experience in Pyeongchang. Before games and between periods, the Korean women’s ice hockey player received shots to numb the pain of a high-ankle sprain sustained during a pre-Olympics training camp.
“It’s funny because my trainer, every time I might get a little down or disappointed because of my injury, he’s always just like, ‘Well, this will be a great experience that you can relate with your patients later,’ ” said Park, an aspiring orthopedic surgeon.