Carlos Yeelot tears up every time he hears “Back Home Again in Indiana” sung at the start of the Indianapolis 500. Growing up on the border of Juarez, Mexico, and El Paso, Texas, he never would’ve imagined becoming a doctor who treats racecar drivers, training at the heart of motorsports: the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Yeelot, DO, is the fifth person in the world to become a fellow in motorsports medicine through a first-of-its-kind program only offered at the Indiana University School of Medicine.
“It’s surreal to have an opportunity like this and to impact the motorsports arena,” he said. “It’s been a lifechanging experience for me. When you’re out there on the grid, when you see all these fans, it’s not only the motorsports part, but it’s the family, the tradition, the culture — it’s religion here. It’s what people live for here in Indiana. I can say that I live for it now.”
While Yeelot has traveled with the IndyCar medical team throughout the year, the month of May is special. It offers an opportunity for emergency medicine residents from across the U.S., and now internationally, to train under IU School of Medicine faculty in the emerging field of motorsports medicine. IU medical students also visit the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to shadow doctors as they provide care for IndyCar teams and fans of the greatest spectacle in racing.
“Month of May here at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is one of the most exciting times of the year,” said Julia Vaizer, MD, who was the fellowship’s first graduate in 2021 and later became program director. “This is the time to soak up all the joy from learners, from nurses, from colleagues in emergency positions, from doctors who come out from Methodist and spend a few days working out here and taking care of drivers and spectators and members of the paddock.”
In 2023, Vaizer was named medical director for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the NTT IndyCar Series. Another former fellow, Leonard Edwards, MD, is now medical director for the IMSA-AMR Track Services Team. Other program graduates are involved in rally racing, grassroots racing and safety engineering. Melissa McCarthy, MD, who followed Vaizer as the program’s second graduate, has remained on the IndyCar medical team and will take over as director of IU’s Motorsports Medicine Fellowship after this year’s Indy 500.
“It’s so cool to see how far our reach is in growing the next generation of motorsports physicians,” Vaizer said.
Advancing a new field of medicine
Geoffrey Billows, MD, established the motorsports program within the Department of Emergency Medicine in 2020, and since that time, its reputation has gone worldwide. Yeelot connected with Billows at a Detroit Belle Isle race, while Canadian emergency medicine resident Tegan Turner found Vaizer through a Google search and reached out to her on Facebook.
“She was kind enough to respond, and she’s been my mentor now for the last six years,” said Turner, who is currently rotating in Indianapolis for the month of May while conducting research with IndyCar.
She sees Vaizer as a role model for women in motorsports medicine. Turner successfully nominated Vaizer for a 2024 SHEro Award through Women in Motorsports North America.
“She goes above and beyond answering questions and building opportunities, experiences, recommending projects and assisting in networking to build a potential career I initially never thought possible but dreamed of,” Turner wrote in her nomination. “Having a female figure like her in a position like medical chief, so early in her career, is inspiring for women with goals of careers in motorsports.”
Lauren Silcox, a premed student and avid racing fan who recently graduated from IU Bloomington, reached out to Vaizer a few years ago to learn more about the field. Vaizer put her on a research team studying driver injuries, and Silcox was able to present her research at the International Council of Motorsports Sciences Annual Congress.
“I plan to go into emergency medicine because I have caught the bug of motorsports medicine,” said Silcox, who is currently applying to medical schools.
Growing the field through mentorship
Throughout the year, but especially during the month of May, IU’s Motorsports physicians mentor learners at all stages of their training, from students to residents and fellows. Last year, two IU medical students, Julia Roehm and Muskaan Ramchandani, launched a Motorsports Medicine Student Interest Group, and it already has amassed 53 members who share a love of auto racing and a desire to learn about this niche field of medicine.
Vaizer has started a lecture series for the student group to introduce various aspects of motorsports and mass gathering medicine. As someone whose earliest childhood memory is attending a Formula One race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with her dad, Roehm was amazed when she discovered that “something I’m so passionate about is something you can turn into a career.”
“My favorite part of the experience has been meeting fellow healthcare providers from a variety of disciplines, that are all brought together by our shared love of motorsports,” she said.
Adhitya Balaji is a fourth-year medical student at IU School of Medicine who has spent the past three Mays shadowing and working at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway while conducting quality assurance research for IndyCar with Vaizer.
“I want to learn more about mass gatherings, and there’s no better place in Indiana to do it than the Indy 500,” said Balaji, who also works as an EMT with IU Health Lifeline.
Grandstand seating at the Indianapolis 500 is sold out this year, and on race day, IMS turns into Indiana’s second largest city with more than 350,000 people in attendance. Last May, Balaji helped care for race fans in the Snake Pit concert area where overheating and substance use injuries are common.
When Brain Tarnai, MD, was creating a pros-and-cons list to help him rank potential residency programs, IU’s motorsports opportunities were “definitely a big check in the pros area.” The Viriginia native who went to medical school at George Washington University is now an emergency medicine resident at IU School of Medicine.
“I’d imagine it’s very difficult to get these kinds of opportunities elsewhere,” said Tarnai, who eagerly reached out to Vaizer during his first week of residency. “Being here at IU, one of the perks is that our mentors here are so accessible, and the IndyCar team is so great, that if you want this opportunity while you’re here, they’re very good at facilitating that.”
As Vaizer’s first mentee and now successor in program leadership, McCarthy said her fellowship experience was “lifechanging” and fueled a career in medicine that is perfect for her. McCarthy now looks forward to mentoring others in this fast-paced field as IU leads the way in defining what it means to practice motorsports medicine.
“To be a formative part of what motorsports medicine is, not only here in the United States, not just with IndyCar, but to spread that knowledge and learning across those different professional racing series, not only on a national level but to an international level,” McCarthy said, “is a great thing.”
