Med student, national-level figure skater—Keven Boczar somehow manages to be both
MONCTON (CUP)—THE CANADIAN FIGURE Skating Championships is probably one of the last places you’d expect to find a medical student. It would seem that no one could balance competitive figure skating with training to be a doctor.
But Kevin Boczar does just that.
Boczar is a competitive ice dancer; he and his partner Helene Letourneau have been skating together since 2006 when both decided to leave singles competition behind. The team has been competing together ever since, and skating at the senior level for the past two years. Yet for most of his time competing at this level, Boczar has been enrolled as a medical student at the University of Ottawa.
“It was difficult,” he explained. “It’s just a matter of being able to juggle … the responsibilities of school and skating really well with time management.”
And Boczar couldn’t be more serious when he says time management skills are the most important thing.
This past year he and Letourneau were on the ice at 6 a.m. for practice before heading off to classes for the day. After classes, they went straight back to the rink for more ice time and off-ice workouts. Paper writing and studying followed.
Despite the time commitment, Boczar says he enjoys being involved in volunteer work in the community. And it doesn’t stop there: Boczar recently started a research internship at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute in cardiac imaging.
Yet, believe it or not, Boczar takes the same course load as everyone else.
“Throughout the whole time, we’ve always made sure that we’ve kept up our full-time studies along the way,” he said.
Boczar didn’t just coast through his studies either; when he graduated from Carleton, he was awarded the Chancellor’s Award for having the highest marks in his graduating class.
One of the more stressful experiences, Boczar says, was juggling competitive skating with medical school interviews. Leaving the Canadian Championships in London, Ont. in 2010, Boczar went home to Ottawa for one day of classes before flying to Vancouver for an interview.
It was during medical school interviews that his figure skating training really helped him out.
“I found the interviews almost like a skating competition. You get the adrenaline rush and then you have to perform.”
When asked what advice he could give to other student athletes, Boczar reiterated the need for time management skills.
“I commend all the students that continue their athletic pursuits,” he said. “It’s really rewarding [to continue in sports] and I just say keep at it because it gives you a good balance in life to do both school … and athletics.
“I definitely want to stay involved with skating and I think I want to do it as a team doctor,” Boczar continued. “As to what specialty I go in to, I mean there is no one route you have to go to become a sports doctor. So right now I am thinking cardiology, but what specialty I want to go in to kind of changes weekly.”
Boczar and Letourneau finished 13th at the 2012 Canadian Championships, the last skating competition of their competitive career.
With a medical clerkship taking up most of his time next year, and a clinical rotation in massage therapy dominating hers, the team simply won’t have enough time to train for competition anymore.
Time constraints don’t mean that Boczar is leaving the rink for good though—he plans to become a skating coach, as well as a sports doctor, and will be busy as ever studying to get both certifications in the next couple years.
—Susan Rogers
