Q: What is your job and where are you currently working?
Leu: I am a Sports Medicine and Family Medicine Physician, and I work at UC San Diego in several outpatient clinics, including student health.
Q: How is COVID-19 impacting the work that you do and your life outside of work?
Leu: COVID-19 has forced the medical system to make rapid changes to accommodate the need for continued healthcare while limiting "Face-to-face" visits. UC San Diego was able to create and implement a virtual visit platform in a matter of weeks, and currently we are operating about 80% with virtual visits (video-based) and 20% face-to-face appointments. It has been amazing to continue to provide quality health care in a time of a rapidly changing platform.
For life outside of work we've all learned to become our own "micro-systems.” Each household has learned to adapt and stay at home for the most part, and only going out when necessary. My kids have not seen the inside of a store for weeks! They've also had to learn to fill their time without sports, something they have loved to do for years.
Q: What did you learn from being a scholar-athlete that you've been able to apply to your profession?
Leu: Time management and prioritization have been some of the most important tools that I've carried with me throughout my career. In addition, learning the give and take of teamwork and working for the greater good of the team has been equally important.
Q: What suggestions, advice, or words of encouragement do you have for our current-scholar athletes during these trying times?
Leu: As much struggle there is now with on-line learning, virtual work outs, and video everything, all these challenges help build a strong foundation for you to lean on in future times of adversity. Despite the hardships that many are facing, we are all in this unique position to be able to experience and learn from this pandemic; it is something that many lifetimes have never seen.
"Alumni in Action" is an on-going series highlighting UC San Diego alumni in healthcare during COVID-19. Below are previous "Alumni in Action" conversations:
About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program begins a new era in 2020 as a member of the Big West Conference in NCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions III and II and helped guide more than 1,300 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 82 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 37 have earned prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego student-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 91 percent, one of the highest rates among institutions at all divisions.
