For Benjamin James, the road to becoming a doctor is measured in more than hours spent in the hospital or studying for exams. It is also measured in miles.
The 25-year-old, third-year medical student at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell now lives in West Hempstead, but his roots are on the other side of the country. Originally from California, James has been an athlete all his life, including college and medical school, and is now in the final weeks of training for an Ironman triathlon.
On Sept. 26, James will compete in the Northwell Ironman 70.3 New York at Jones Beach, where he will swim 1.2 miles, bike 56 miles and finish with a 13.1-mile half marathon.
For James, the challenge has been not only to complete the race, but to find the time to prepare for it. The third year of med school is when students transition from primarily classroom-based learning to full-time clinical rotations. James spends his days in hospitals and ambulatory practices, while also taking part in case-based discussions, simulations, testing and independent study.
“It’s definitely been a lot,” he said. “It’s been pretty tough to find time to train while being at the hospital, and then having to come home and study still.”
James has learned to make the most of his limited training time. He often works out with classmates who are also taking part in the triathlon, allowing him to maintain friendships while getting workouts in. During the colder months, he combined studying with indoor training, reviewing course material while running on a treadmill or pedaling on a stationary bike.
“It’s allowed me to kind of kill two birds with one stone, both seeing my friends and hanging out with them while also training at the same time,” he said of the race preparation.
The discipline that triathlon training requires has become closely connected to James’s approach to medical school. He sees both pursuits as long-term commitments that require setting goals, working consistently and persevering even when motivation is low.
At Hofstra, he found classmates who shared his interest in triathlons A group began training together and competed in an Ironman 70.3 in the upstate Finger Lakes region last summer. Four members of that group, including James, are preparing to take on the Jones Beach event.
They frequently train in and around the park, using the bike path along Ocean Parkway and swimming in the bay. Fittingly, the event is sponsored by Northwell Health, the health system in which James is completing his medical education.
He hopes the familiar course and flatter terrain will help him improve on his performance in 2025, where he finished in over six hours.
His commitment to endurance training reflects character traits that are valuable in medicine: discipline, persistence and the ability to work toward a long-term goal.
“We look for certain qualities in people that require a certain amount of discipline, hard work, commitment, and most importantly, over a long period of time,” Dr. David Battinelli, Dean of Zucker School of Medicine said. “We look for well-balanced individuals who we both expect and hope would continue the various passions they’ve had before they get to medical school throughout the rest of their career.”
James hopes to become an orthopedic surgeon, as he is drawn to helping patients recover from injuries and return to activities that are important to them.
Training also gives him an outlet from the intensity of medical school, a break from studying that helps him maintain his mental and physical well-being.
“It’s really shown me the power of hard work and being disciplined and training or studying when you really don’t want to, or it’s at the end of a long day,” he said.
