Before Lauren Deats ’16 became a Family Nurse Practitioner at Hybrid MD Urgent Care and Irvine Valley College, she was running sprints for the Chapman track and field team. The former sprinter ran the 100-meter, 200-meter, 4×100-meter relay and 4×400-meter relay races. She holds the Chapman record in both the 100-meter and 200-meter races and was part of a 4×100-meter team that set the school record in 2014.

As a nurse practitioner in an urgent care setting, Lauren is still seeing patients in person while wearing PPE (personal protective equipment). Lauren and her team are risking their lives to continue to see patients that need the most help. With her job at Irvine Valley College, the campus has moved to a completely remote setting, so the health staff has moved to a telemedicine model to continue to help students in need.

“The support and positivity from our patients and community has been extremely helpful and encouraging”, Lauren says. One patient brought the entire staff homemade face masks, while another brought the staff Starbucks cake pops. Neighbors and friends bring over sweet treats and flowers, letting Lauren know how appreciative they are of her work on the front lines.

Lauren says she uses her experience as a Chapman student-athlete to help her through this unprecedented time. “We were taught to always give your best effort, come prepared, never give up, trust yourself and most importantly, support your teammates. While I am no longer on an athletic team, I am now a member of a healthcare team, and I use the valuable lessons learned from Chapman athletics every day.”