46: Competing in a Different Arena with Dr. Shellaine Frazier

“Instead of getting together and playing cards, we get together and lift heavy weights. It's just been a great community to be in.” -Shellaine Frazier D.O. In today’s episode, host Dr. Jen Barna talks with pathologist Dr. Shellaine Frazier. But she isn’t only a board certified anatomic and clinical pathologist, she is also a world champion weightlifter! They discuss everything from how she came to be a pathologist to how she discovered her passion for weightlifting. From there, they discuss community building, building bone density as you age, and more! Dr. Shellaine Frazier attended medical school at Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine, she completed her internship at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, she completed her pathology residency at University of Missouri Health Care. She is the Associate Professor of Clinical Pathology at the University of Missouri and also the Medical School Curriculum Oversight Director. Books and articles mentioned in the show: Lafontaine T, Frazier S: High Intensity Resistance and High-Impact Training and Bone Mineral Density – A Narrative Review: Part 1 NSCA Coach Feb 2019:6(1):16-20 Lafontaine T, Frazier S: High Intensity Resistance and High-Impact Training and Bone Mineral Density – Sample Training Program: Part 2 Robbins & Cotran Pathologic Basis of Disease, (click to purchase). Excerpts from the show: “Can you tell us about your decision to become a doctor and how you imagined life as a doctor would be?” -Dr. Jen Barna “Yeah, so it's kind of a funny story. So my dad was a barber and he had a client that was a pathologist, which is what I am, and he would talk to him. You know how barbers are, they're kind of like therapists. So as he got to know him, he learned what the pathologist’s life was about and he said, ‘You need to be a pathologist.’ He said, ‘That’s the best money for the nicest life.’ So that was actually in junior high. I wanted to be a pathologist. So what happened after that was, I'm sure our audience is probably not old enough to remember the old forensic TV show Quincy from the 70s time period, but I watched that and I saw that Quincy had an MD after his name. So I was like, ‘Oh. I have to go to medical school to be a pathologist. Ok, well that's gonna be a long road.’ But I persevered and just having that goal in mind made me pursue opportunities to look into pathology. Of course, I was drawn in by the forensics and all the drama of that, which is not as dramatic as people probably think it is, as it's displayed on the TV show. As I took opportunities to shadow a pathologist, I learned what pathology was and how broad of a discipline it is. I actually decided I really didn't want to do forensic pathology at all. So I ended up just being a surgical pathologist. I'm board certified in anatomic and clinical pathology. But my career path has always been predominantly an anatomic pathologist in surgical pathology. So that's kind of how I got here and my dad was right. It is a really good job in healthcare. It's a good job for work-life balance.” -Shellaine Frazier D.O. “I want to hear about the weightlifting as well, because that is where you have become a world champion. So how did you go from doing aerobics at home to becoming a world champion powerlifter?” -Dr. Jen Barna “So at one point after I'd done P90X and I started getting involved and running, I actually had a resident who was into triathlons and she said, ‘You need to do a triathlon.’ She was actually coaching a team in training. She said, ‘You need to go get your VO2 max tested.’ So there was a health and fitness center in Columbia and I went to go get my VO2 max tested there. The person that tested me was Tom LaFontaine. He has a PhD in exercise physiology. He's worked with world class athletes and he came in first or second in a world duathlon and I believe he made the Olympic team or was just shy of making the Olympic team in the kind of weightlifting where you throw the ba