Episode 16: Mike Harrison on emergency medicine during a pandemic, flight surgery and the long way to get to what you love

Apr 7, 2022

Mike Harrison (BScKin’02, MScExSS’05) is a flight surgeon as well as an emergency medicine and critical care physician at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida. He was recently one of the flight surgeons for SpaceX’s Crew-1 Dragon - which launched in 2020 and returned in 2021. Mike graduated from UNB with a Bachelor of Science in kinesiology and a Master of Science in exercise and sport science. We talk with Mike about his work as a physician during these strange times, what it’s like to be part of a space crew, and what it takes to follow your dreams and shoot for the stars. 

In this episode:   

• What is aerospace surgery and how Mike got into it 
• How emergency medicine has changed since the pandemic
• The different perspectives of health care workers during the pandemic 
• Why the longer path to getting to where he’s supposed to be was helpful 
• The excitement of being part of the future of space travel 
• The unknown physiologic effects on humans in space 

 

Links and resources:   

Mike’s Twitter 

UNB Kinesiology 

Thanks to:   

Our alumni host, Ian Smith 

Music by alumni artist, Beats of Burden  

Our alumni Affinity Partners, TD Insurance, Manulife, and MBNA Mastercard  

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