Student spotlight: Meet Clayton Damme

Education is one of the four pillars of UNMC’s mission, and our students are the lifeblood of that aspect of campus life.

In UNMC Today’s Student Spotlight, we get to know some of these students, who will become tomorrow’s health care professionals. Today we meet:

• Name: Clayton Damme
• Hometown: Talmage, Neb.
• Program/year: Third-year medical student

What sparked your interest in medicine?
I worked at a small, rural hospital as a CNA throughout high school and in the summers during college. It didn’t take long for me to realize I loved working with patients and being in the hospital environment. I also volunteered on the rural community rescue squad, where we responded to farm accidents, traumas, heart attacks, etc. I loved helping out with CPR and working to stabilize patients. I came to realize my interest in the heart and lungs and my drive to know exactly what to do when they stop working.

List three songs on your playlist.

• “The Days,” by Avicii
• “Chocolate,” by the 1975
• “Shooting Stars,” by Bag Raiders

Favorite study snack:
My mom’s killer trail mixes. One is sweet, and one is salty. Sometimes I even get a package of them in the mail during finals week.

Favorite app:
Google Maps. My directional sense is not a top personal strength.

Three things people may not know about you:

• My biggest hobby is traveling. I’ve traveled to 13 countries over the past few years. My favorite destination was Patagonia at the tip of South America.
• I grew up on a farm in southeast Nebraska. We produce hogs, corn and soybeans. When I start feeling like medical school is tough, I kindly remind myself what it was like laying metal irrigation pipe each July. That usually takes care of it.
• I’m getting married at the end of this semester. My fiancee and I met when we were in high school, but it took about five years after that to convince her to date me. She’s working on her Ph.D. in school psychology at UNL.