Two local physicians volunteer time to serve elite USA athletes

Heather Graves

Staff

April 21, 2025

NORTHEAST WISCONSIN – Though Jasmine Wiley and Aubrey Hoye spend their days in different roles in the medical field – Wiley, a family medicine physician with ThedaCare, and Hoye, an emergency medicine physician with Vituity – the doctors spend their free time doing the same thing.

Both Wiley and Hoye said they are part of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard (USSS) volunteer doctor pool.

Traveling with the team, Hoye said, has allowed her to see “many remote places that people typically wouldn’t see on a ‘usual’ European/Scandinavian vacation.”

“I have enjoyed spending time with some of the most positive and gracious people I’ve ever known,” she said. “The culture surrounding the U.S. Cross Country team is uplifting and inclusive.”

Being part of USSS’s volunteer medical team, Wiley said, is a dream come true.

“I guess it’s always been a goal of mine since I’ve been a doc to be a doc with the World Cup team,” she said. “The most fun part about it for me is getting to watch the racing, and (to) be there on the sidelines and at the start and finish areas.”

Though both have dedicated their careers to medicine and have skied themselves in different capacities, both Hoye and Wiley said they never imagined they would be involved with the USSS.

Wiley’s journey

Though she didn’t necessarily always know she wanted to pursue a career in medicine, Wiley – who cares for patients in Shawano, Clintonville and Tigerton – said it was definitely something she was thinking about as she graduated high school.

“My mom is an occupational therapy assistant and an advanced myofascial release practitioner – so I had a little exposure to a medical background there,” she said. “But I think it kind of naturally evolved. In college, when you’re taking all your pre-med classes, you’re like, ‘maybe I don’t want to do this.’ But it is definitely the best fit for me. I can’t think of anything else I would want to do career-wise.”

Growing up in Clintonville, Wiley said one thing she was sure of was that she wanted to “come back home and work in the communities that I grew up in.”

With a childhood spent on 30 acres in rural Wisconsin, Wiley said her family oftentimes could be found cross-country skiing through the woods.

“I skied growing up with my family, just for fun,” she said. “I didn’t ski really at all in high school, just because skiing in Wisconsin is not a WIAA sport – it’s a club sport.”

Wiley said she got back into skiing while attending college at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.

“I had some friends who skied, and I was like, ‘Oh, yeah, I liked doing that. I should try that again,’” she said. “I rekindled my love for it.”

Wiley said it quickly became an outlet for her – not just for physical activity, but as a stress reliever.

“I not only enjoy the physical challenge of it – because it is quite a demanding sport – (but also) the ability to be outside and in nature and kind of decompress,” she said.

Over the years, Wiley said cross-country skiing became a big part of who she is today.

“I have met some really amazing people through skiing,” she said. “I have made lifelong friendships through skiing. (Many of those people) have been a big part of who I am now – both as a physician and a person.”

During medical school in Madison, Wiley said she started sharing her passion for skiing with younger generations through coaching.

Though that aspect of her skiing journey may have started for personal reasons – “I initially got involved because if you helped coach, you got a free trail membership, and as a med student, that was a great deal” – Wiley said it has grown to be far more than that.

“I really fell in love with it,” she said. “Having a bunch of three-, four- or five-year-olds that you’re just playing games with. You’re teaching them to move on skis, and it’s not about how fast anyone is going or technique – it’s chaos, like any other young youth sport is, but it was really a ton of fun.”

Though she didn’t coach during her residency – “residency was just too dang busy” – Wiley said she knew when she returned to Wisconsin and got her practice going that she wanted to become more involved in coaching.

“I got connected with the Bay Nordic (Ski Club) out of Green Bay,” she said. “I was an assistant coach for a season, and then head coach for three and now back in an assistant coaching role with our middle school and high school – primarily the high school – team.”

Though Wiley said coaching is “completely different from my day job,” helping others create a healthy, active lifestyle with cross-country skiing resonates with what she does daily.

“It’s really fun to help create that passion and see the confidence that comes with that and all the things that kids, athletes and families learn through sport,” she said. “Obviously, in Wisconsin, it’s hard to stay active year-round. Even if you have an active lifestyle during the warmer months, winter rolls around and it’s hard to find things that you can do to stay active. Skiing is definitely one of those things.”

Though she still cross-country skis as often as she can, Wiley said, “I honestly think I get more joy out of watching my athletes’ progression as they improve every season.”

“I got a lot of confidence back in my life through skiing, and I knew I wanted to help kids and athletes kind of find that in themselves,” she said. “I love watching them fall in love with the sport, and sometimes helping them navigate other life things without them necessarily knowing you’re helping them become really good people, too.”

Hoye’s story

A Chilton native, Hoye said she always knew she wanted to go into the medical field in some capacity.

“In high school, I wanted to go to medical school, but during undergrad, I got involved in working in two different biology research labs and so initially, after getting my bachelor’s degree in biology/physiology from Northern Michigan University (NMU),” she said.

However, after starting her doctorate program in pharmacology and toxicology at Michigan State, Hoye said she decided it wasn’t the right path.

“After deciding that wasn’t the route I wanted to go, I worked for a year in a molecular virology lab at Michigan State and volunteered at the local hospital to see what type of medicine I maybe wanted to do,” she said. “It was always emergency medicine.”

From there, Hoye said she did her residency in emergency medicine at the University of Illinois College of Medicine-Peoria/OSF St. Francis Medical Center.

“I was chief resident (during) my last year of residency,” she said.

Since residency, Hoye said her medical career has taken her all over the country.

“I have worked in ERs in Minocqua and Eagle River for five and a half years and then we moved to South Lake Tahoe, California, where I worked for Tahoe Emergency Physicians, working at an ER in South Lake Tahoe and in Gardnerville, Nevada,” she said. 

When she moved back to Wisconsin, Hoye said she worked full-time at Advocate Aurora in Marinette for five years, followed by a year at ThedaCare in Neenah.

She said she has also done PRN (pro re nata, meaning “as needed”) in a variety of communities throughout Wisconsin, including Antigo, Weston, Sheboygan and Two Rivers.

Today, Hoye said she works full-time at HSHS St. Clare in Oconto Falls and works PRN at ThedaCare Regional Medical Center in Neenah and Aurora BayArea Medical Center in Marinette.

Hoye said she was first introduced to cross-country skiing as an undergrad.

“I was on the cross-country running team at NMU, and a lot of the girls were also on the cross-country ski team, so I was around the sport,” she said. “Our coach at the time, Sten Fjeldheim, coached both sports – he is legendary in the cross-country ski world.”

During the summer, Hoye said she worked at a running/biking/skiing store in Green Bay.

“I also dated a skier at that time, and was thrown into a girls’ ski practice one day while he had to practice and somehow had to figure it out,” she said.

However, partly due to the demands of medical school and residency, Hoye said, “I pretty much stopped skiing altogether.”

“I started again when we moved back to northern Wisconsin,” she said. “I ski with friends and family or myself.”

Wiley – a unique opportunity

As Wiley began to coach the higher-level athletes through Bay Nordic – traveling with them to national competitions – she said she got to know some of the folks involved in the USSS development program. 

Those conversations, she said, naturally evolved into, “Hey, we need a doc to come with us on this trip, would you be interested?”

“Since I am a doc and a coach, I can fill two roles depending on the need,” she said.

Starting with the U.S. Ski’s junior development team in 2023, Wiley said she has traveled with the team to various competitions and training camps in several different countries – Finland, Slovenia, Austria and Italy – for the past three seasons.

Though she has been to competitions in the past as a coach, Wiley said it was a unique experience being at the events as a doctor.

“I’ve really loved the ability to be there as a physician to keep athletes healthy – helping them deal with anything acute that comes up and also helping them perform at their top level,” she said.

Wiley said the travel that accompanies the volunteer doc gig “is a really fun perk.”

“I’ve been to some really awesome places, and I have been able to personally ski in some really awesome places as a result of that,” she said.

Wiley said volunteer physicians serve as the primary resource for the team’s head coach, physical therapist/athletic trainer and medical director regarding any medical issues relating to an athlete’s ability to train or compete during her assigned trip.

She said they also make recommendations regarding any follow-up care or ongoing treatment plans in collaboration with USSS sports medicine director and the head team physician.

“We sometimes have to help make those tough health-related calls about whether or not the athletes should compete if there is injury or illness – but the support teams are excellent and collaborative,” she said.

Hoye – a rejuvenated love

Hoye said she became familiar with the USSS during her time at Tahoe Emergency Physicians, because in addition to hospitals, the organization also staffs three ski resort medical clinics.

“I worked at the medical clinics at Sierra-at-Tahoe (Twin Bridges, California), Kirkwood Ski Resort (Kirkwood, California) and Heavenly Ski Resort (South Lake Tahoe, California),” she said.

Hoye said many Tahoe Emergency Physicians’ orthopedic surgeons and ER doctors volunteered with the team, mostly for alpine events.

And though she was thinking of getting involved herself, before she could, Hoye said her family moved back to Wisconsin for work.

However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, she said she started to feel “very burned out” and was searching for something to help “rejuvenate my prior love of medicine.”

“So I decided to apply to the physician medical pool for USSS, which is actually quite a lengthy process,” she said. “You apply, have to do a background check, have to do online training and then attend the weekend-long, in-person MESS (medical emergencies in skiing and snowboarding) course.”

To remain in the pool, Hoye said volunteers are required to repeat the MESS course every four years.

“While I was at my MESS training, most physicians were excited to volunteer with (the alpine ski team), and someone in the elevator said, ‘I don’t know anyone that would want to even do cross-country,’” she said. “ I proudly raised my hand and said ‘I do.’” 

As fate would have it, Hoye said right after that weekend, a physician scheduled to go to Italy with the cross-country team was unable to go – “so I was asked if I wanted to, and of course I did.”

Typically, Hoye said new volunteers first do a shadow trip before being approved to go on their own, “but I was thrown into the fire and haven’t looked back.”

Since the 2022-23 season, Hoye said she’s been able to travel with the team to Switzerland, Italy and Sweden.

“Most of us physicians travel with the team for one week at a time – sometimes we go twice per year it seems,” she said. “There is a small group of us that go with the cross-country team, and most of us are from Wisconsin. There is usually one doctor and one physical therapist – sometimes two – with the team.”

Sometimes on race day, Hoye said she’s able to be in the coaching boxes to “cheer, give splits or encouragement and have extra poles or skis to hand out if an athlete breaks one during the race.”

Wiley – uniquely qualified

Since she is a skier herself, Wiley said she understands the demands of the sport, which “sets me up in the USSS doc role really well.”

“As a family medicine doc, I think I’m well suited for their role, in the sense that I see a little bit of everything in the clinic,” she said. “I think having an appreciation for the physical demands, as well as the mental demands that come with endurance sports, helps (me succeed in this role).”

What USSS athletes do daily regarding training for high-level competition, Wiley said, “is really impressive.”

“Being able to be a small part of how we keep them healthy, moving forward and being at their best, is pretty rewarding,” she said. 

Wiley said she takes the knowledge and understanding she gains through her time working with athletes on the skill trails and applies it to her everyday life, both personally and professionally, with her patients at ThedaCare.

“All the teams and staff – whether at the junior level or the World Cup level – are incredible people,” she said. “They are really inspiring, both in the sense of what they do every day and just who they are as people.”

Wiley said the culture created within the USSS – “one that supports, yet pushes each other to be the best they can be” – is something she integrates into her work as a family medicine physician.

“That is something that I hopefully bring back to work here – that same mindset of everyone is important and everyone brings something unique to the table,” she said. “I hope my experience carries over and helps create that same positive, welcoming environment that encourages people to be their best.”

Wiley said she’s also found ways to bring back some of the things she’s seen at the World Cup level to her local team to help them continue to grow as athletes and people.

And though not many people outside her bubble of close friends know she volunteers as a World Cup doc, Wiley said it doesn’t come as a surprise when folks find out.

“Everyone knows how much I love skiing,” she said, “so it seems like a natural activity for me.”

ThedaCare’s annual three-month sabbatical policy, Wiley said, has worked well for her role as a World Cup doc.

“We do have a unique kind of thing here in Shawano, where we have a three-month sabbatical every 15 months,” she said. “So that provides me with an opportunity to volunteer as a team doc. This year, I have October, November and December off, so I’ll probably try to travel with the team early in the season.”

Wiley said ThedaCare has been very supportive of her volunteer work with the U.S. team.

Hoye – ‘Fills my cup’

Hoye said her career in emergency medicine – and her previous experience working in the ski resort clinics – has prepared her well for being a member of the USSS volunteer doc team.

“We actually have a trauma pack with the ski team and have to be able to perform life-saving procedures in the event it is required,” she said. “So obviously my training as an emergency physician allows me to do exactly that.”

Hoye said her colleagues understand her need to occasionally “get out of the hospital and volunteer,” recognizing that doing so “fills my cup.”

The more she serves as a USSS volunteer doc, Hoye said some of the athletes have become friends.

“I look forward to being able to eat with them, chat with them, cheer for them while racing and take care of them if needed,” she said. “They are all quite gracious and appreciate everyone who helps them. Everyone that is on the team is putting time in for the athletes to reach their goals and be successful, and they are more than aware that it takes a village.”

Whenever she skis herself, Hoye said she feels connected to the outdoors. 

“Skiing is my version of forest bathing – or what the Japanese call ‘shinrin-yoku,’ which is the practice of being in touch with nature to improve your health, spiritually and physically,” she said. “My cup is filled when I ski, and it has become my most important way to stay mentally and physically well. I also really enjoy being able to ski with my husband and son – it’s a really great way for us to slow down and connect as a family, though my 10-year-old is now faster than I am.”