E Williams supposedly chose Duke for their medical school. I haven't seen that she ever got admitted (or even applied)
I think Duke has a special program for undergraduate female student-athletes interested in or pursuing medical/healthcare careers. I think the older Waner sister went that direction and acquired a lot of experience in some type of science or medical research through it.
I imagine Elizabeth Williams wanted a great science/pre-med education and perhaps exposure to extra opportunities by proxy of Duke having a great medical school while she was an undergraduate, and when she is ready to pursue medical school she will have a great knowledge and experience foundation to help her transition back to academics/school.
I know Alison Bales went to med school pretty much right after wrapping up her hoops career.
Because of the efforts of then-Coach Gail Goestenkors, Duke Duke Neurooncologist Henry Friedman, MD, and Chief of Neurosurgery Allan Friedman, MD, (no relation) began a program in 1999 targeting academically talented female athletes at Duke (all sports, not just basketball) with interests in pursuing careers in medicine, as part of a unique Duke mentoring program --- CAPE.
CAPE is short for Collegiate Athlete Pre-Medical Experience. The program mines highly focused undergraduate female Duke athletes who have an interest in medicine and gives them unprecedented access and insight into the medical world. The goal is to engage them with mentors, role models, lectures, discussion groups, and clinical experiences so they don't become discouraged in the still male-dominated world of medicine. It is the only program in the country that gives undergrads such deep exposure to the field of medicine.
What that means, says Henry Friedman, the deputy director of Duke's Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center,
"is that by the time they get to medical school they are pretty damn accomplished. They are comfortable meeting patients, taking medical histories, and giving physical exams. They inhale the opportunities given to them."
Past CAPE participants from Duke Women's Basketball include Georgia Schweitzer (now Beasley), Alison Bales, Elizabeth Williams, and Emily Waner.
As an FYI...
- Georgia Scwheitzer played in the WNBA for three years at the same time that she was an assistant coach on Goestenkors' staff. When her playing career was finished, she went to Duke Medical School.
- Alison Bales played four years in the WNBA. She then went to Wright State Medical School (in her home town, Dayton) for five years. During her time at WSU, she also earned a global medical certificate and did work in Swaziland (where she worked with an NGO to help prevent the spread of HIV) and Cambodia (where she worked at the Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital in Phnom Penh). She is now a resident physician at Indiana University Health.
- Emily Waner did not play professional basketball; instead, she immediately went to medical school. She graduated from Duke Medical School. In addition to earning her M.D. at Duke, she also earned a Masters in Public Health from the University of North Carolina. She is now a physician at Northwest Hospital (part of the University of Washington)
Bales and Schweitzer both waited a few years before their respective professional basketball days were completed before attending medical school, while E. Waner went right away. And of these three, two attended Duke Medical School.
Williams is clearly the most talented of the four mentioned (with no disrespect to any of the players, but Williams has been a WNBA All-Star and WNBA MIP award winner). She likely will have a much longer playing career, which means she may be attending medical school much later than the others (though she will have plenty of money saved from her playing days in the WNBA and overseas to pay for medical school).[/QUOTE]
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