IU motorsports medicine fellowship trains doctors for racing injuries

SPEEDWAY, Ind. (WISH) — The IU Motorsports Medicine Fellowship gives trainees a chance to specialize in everything a doctor might see while working with a motorsports team.

The program teaches the fellow about high velocity crash injuries, but they also manage primary care and injury prevention for these teams.

A fellow is a fully qualified doctor that has completed their required residency training. Working as a fellow is extra subspecialized training that allows better opportunities for a doctor in the future.

Dr. Julia Vaizer is the director for Motorsports Medicine Fellowship.

“I believe we’re the only ones in the world,” Vaizer said. “I don’t know of any training out there that does training in motorsports medicine, and we only offer one spot. It’s a true privilege to spend an entire year learning from the best motorsports specialists in the world.”

Dr. Elizabeth Sullivan is the sole motorsports medicine fellow. She said accepting this position was exciting after growing up watching IndyCar since the age of three.

The team of doctors tackle the obvious, high velocity, and ultra high velocity crash injuries, but they also handle injury prevention and sit on safety panels to reduce serious injuries.

“Every incident that occurs on track they have an incident investigation to see if there’s trends and patterns to see how we can improve the cars or the safety features,” Sullivan said.

IU is increasing the amount of highly specialized motorsports doctors with this program.

“Our goal right now is to improve access to motorsports trained physicians for various series, various tracks out there across this country because right now, our series, our track, we’re fully staff, we have the best of the best,” Vaizer said. “But, then there are series that are smaller: They do not have traveling physicians, they do not have traveling safety teams. It’s important to have someone taking care of those drivers who understands the intricacies of coordinating care within motorsports medicine.”

These doctors work a lot with IndyCar, but get a chance to learn about other motorsports disciplines.

Sullivan plans to take that experience and stay with motorsports after she graduates in July.

“I will be staying around in Indiana, but I will be staying here to work in the infield care center,” Sullivan said.

The program coordinates with multiple motorsports series, which gives the fellow a chance to travel with the teams and get as much real-world experience as possible.

“I also am involved in rally racing,” Sullivan said. “So, I am in charge of medical for two different teams: One in Tennessee and one in Newfoundland, Canada.”

The one-year program starts at the beginning of August, which means it wraps up with the greatest spectacle in racing as one of the final learning opportunities for the fellow.