{"id":435509,"date":"2020-06-12T12:52:43","date_gmt":"2020-06-12T19:52:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=435509"},"modified":"2020-06-13T12:25:49","modified_gmt":"2020-06-13T19:25:49","slug":"in-and-out-of-the-pool-nigerian-philip-adejumo-hopes-to-be-a-role-model","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/in-and-out-of-the-pool-nigerian-philip-adejumo-hopes-to-be-a-role-model\/","title":{"rendered":"In and Out of the Pool, Nigerian Philip Adejumo Hopes to be a Role Model"},"content":{"rendered":"

Philip Adejumo\u2019s<\/strong> first post-graduate move didn\u2019t have swimming in mind. Now that he\u2019s chasing an Olympic berth for Nigeria, his second is more considered in the athletic realm.<\/p>\n

Adejumo wrapped up his career at the<\/a> University of Maryland Baltimore County with a flourish in 2018: Five gold medals (two individual), two school records and one America East mark at the conference championships. He had a postgrad position as a staff researcher at Vanderbilt University Medical Center lined up and while he hoped to continue swimming, that wasn\u2019t the career he was most focused on. It was almost a happy accident that he found himself a 10-minute walk from Nashville Aquatic Club, training under John Morse<\/strong> and in a group with Gretchen Walsh<\/strong> and other top club swimmers.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe just kind of showed up one day and we didn\u2019t know him, didn\u2019t know anything about him,\u201d Morse said. \u201cUsually we\u2019re pretty apprehensive about somebody coming in, very protective of the culture we\u2019ve developed within the senior group, and he just kind of showed up and once we got him in the water and got him going, we were excited about his potential but also excited about the dynamic that he brought to the training group.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two years later, Adejumo\u2019s next move is no less impressive academically, having been accepted to an MD\/Ph.D. program at Yale. But this time, as Adejumo vetted programs, he factored in his desire to swim past the Tokyo Olympics, even if had they been held this summer as scheduled. He opted for Yale in part because he\u2019d worked out an arrangement to train with the swim team.<\/p>\n

\u201cI chose Yale because they have a very flexible curriculum,\u201d Adejumo said this week. \u201cThey have athletes in other sports still competing or still training, and so I thought to myself, if I did want to continue swimming, if I did want to continue competing, it would probably only be possible at a school like Yale.\u201d<\/p>\n

The decision shows the growth that Adejumo has enjoyed in the pool, as his academics have flourished apace. And it gives him a chance to blaze trails in and out of the pool.<\/p>\n

The doctor is in<\/h3>\n

Being accepted to medical school during an unprecedented global pandemic is unusual, Adejumo admits. But being stuck at home, watching COVID-19 spread across the globe, has given him time to reflect on his career path.<\/p>\n

Adejumo majored in biochemistry and statistics at UMBC. The Vanderbilt position is in the Department of Biomedical Informatics, using electronic health-record data to tease out macro-level health outcomes in populations, from effectiveness of care interventions to drug interactions and side effects. The data works at the scale of hospitals and health systems, analyzing how to optimize care.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n
View this post on Instagram<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

I never would have thought I would be in this position, but I\u2019ve got some good news! Many of you know that while I\u2019ve been chasing this Olympic dream, I\u2019ve been pursuing a career as a physician-scientist. I\u2019m excited to announce that I\u2019ll be moving to New Haven this upcoming Fall to pursue my dream at Yale University School of Medicine where I\u2019ll be entering the MD\/PhD program! I want to thank everyone that has supported me up to this point and I am excited for what the future has in store. #blackmeninmedicine<\/a><\/p>\n

A post shared by Philip Adejumo<\/a> (@padejumo) on