Daniel Vorwerk

News Writing for Print Media

Ms. Blank
03/04/14

Blaine Schlawin: If you really knew Him

If you knew Blaine Schlawin, you would know that he loves to wakeboard during his summer
breaks in Clear Lake, Iowa.
If you really knew Schlawin, you would know that he enjoys spending time in the Wellness and
Recreation Center, working with his clients in the personal training program and cannot wait to
attend medical school this fall.
If you really, really knew Schlawin, you would know that, even though he looks like all the rest
of the students at the University of Northern Iowa, he is lucky to be alive right now.
Schlawin, a senior movement and exercise science major, is graduating from UNI in May and
heading to Des Moines University to work on his Doctorate in Osteopathic Medicine. His goal,
to become an anesthesiologist after graduating and completing his residency.
Anesthesiology was never on my radar when deciding what I wanted to do after high school,
said Schlawin. I made the decision to go into medicine after shadowing a doctor in Des Moines
last summer.
His journey to becoming an anesthesiologist started at a much earlier age though. Schlawin was
born with patent ductus arteriosus, a heart condition that developed minutes after being born.
When most babies are born, their ductus arteriosus in their heart closes; a normal occurrence in
newborn babies. Schlawins didnt close though.
Due to this condition, Schlawin underwent open-heart surgery at the age of four to close the
artery. This is the first time Schlawin met an anesthesiologist.
Since it was open-heart surgery, doctors called in an anesthesiologist to work alongside them
and put me under so that I didnt feel anything, said Schlawin. I dont remember much about
that time though; I remember more from my second surgery.
That second surgery occurred when Schlawin was 14 years old. During routine checkups for his
first heart surgery, doctors discovered that Schlawin had Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome in his
heart. This surgery, unlike the first, was done via a catheter ablation, a closed-heart surgery, but
he still needed to be anesthetized.
I remember the second anesthesiologist and the process. They started by giving my body extra
oxygen and then gave me a drug through an IV that knocked me out, Schlawin said. I cant say

that my interactions with the anesthesiologists made me interested in becoming one myself, but
being around the hospitals for so long made me interested in the medical field.
As Schlawin works with his clients at the WRC, he is reminded of the one on one care he
received during his two surgeries and that helps push him to do the best he can in what he does.
I spent a lot of my childhood in doctors offices and between my two surgeries, I know the
impact that a doctor can have on a patients life, he said. Now as a personal trainer and later as
an anesthesiologist, I hope that I have, and will, make an impact on my clients and patients like
my doctors have done for me.

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