From collegiate competition to clinical skills

Friday, August 15, 2025

Media Contact: Sara Plummer | Senior Communications Coordinator | 918-561-1282 | sara.plummer@okstate.edu

Stress, pressure, and time — all things medical students must manage as they juggle difficult coursework, maintain their own health and well-being, and the demands of everyday life.

It’s a lot for anyone to handle, but for a few new Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine students, these challenges are all too familiar. 

First-year medical students Rylee Langerman and Joey Sanchez were both student-athletes and competed in two of OSU’s most storied athletic programs — basketball and wrestling, respectively. 

“I think playing college sports teaches you a lot of life lessons pretty fast, like maximizing your time and compartmentalizing, to name just a few. I think those are skills that will carry you throughout life and are very vital things to learn whenever you’re starting med school,” said Langerman, a Norman native who played at the University of Arkansas before joining the Cowgirl basketball team in 2023. “I hope and pray those skills make the adjustment easier. I’ve had to balance and juggle a lot of things throughout my college experience, so I think that will definitely pay off in medical school.” 

Sanchez is from Lima, Ohio, and transferred to OSU in 2021 to join the wrestling program after competing at Indiana University. He said he’s looking forward to the challenge of medical school.

“I’ve always been drawn to tough things and things that require discipline and dedication and sacrifice. Being a doctor, that’s a role that requires grit and perseverance. That’s who I am at my core,” he said. “I know I can use my knowledge and work ethic, and skills I learned from wrestling and being a student-athlete at Oklahoma State, like time management and balancing everything. I think it’s going to translate to medical school pretty well.”

In addition to playing sports, Langerman said medicine has also been a constant in her life since she was a kid. Both her father, Dr. Richard Langerman Jr., an orthopedic surgeon, and her uncle, Dr. Bret Langerman, an emergency medicine physician, are OSU-COM alums. Her grandfather, Dr. Richard Langerman Sr., was an anesthesiologist, and her twin brother, Ryan, just started his second year at OSU-COM.

“Being a doctor, that was always my dream for as long as I can remember. I would go with my dad and watch him in surgery or just sit in his office, and I would think, ‘I want to do this when I grow up.’ So, it’s always been my dream since I was a little girl,” she said.

And OSU-COM seemed like the perfect fit.

“I heard so many good things about how amazing a community and group of people they are, and I’ve gotten to see that firsthand over the last few years with my own family. I wanted to go to a DO school, and they’re truly one of the best there is,” Langerman said. “Getting to stay in Oklahoma, be close to home, go to a DO school, and be surrounded by such an amazing community is just a few of the many, many reasons why I wanted to go to OSU-COM, and I’m so excited to be here.”

Sanchez's path wasn’t so clear. When he started college in Indiana, he thought he would major in business and maybe work as a stockbroker after he graduated.

“The more classes I took, the more I figured out who I really was as a person and what I enjoyed. I fell in love with just being healthy and the human body and everything our bodies are capable of,” he said.

Even though several people told him to consider medical school, he didn’t think of it as a real option until he transferred to OSU. One of the assistant coaches connected him to Dr. Brandon Mason, a radiologist and OSU-COM alumnus who was also an All-American wrestler at OSU.

“[Mason] called me, and he said, ‘If you want to go to med school, you can do it, you’re capable of it, but you’re going to have to buckle down. And it’s something you’re going to have to take seriously,’” Sanchez said. “It’s not easy being a student-athlete and then being a pre-med major, completing all those prerequisites in order to take the MCAT and then get accepted into med school. Dr. Mason was probably the one that really said, ‘Hey, you can do this.’” 

Now the real work begins as Sanchez and Langerman begin their first semester as medical students. 

“The nerves are starting to kick in a little bit, just in terms of the workload of the first year. You hear from medical students, they’re super stressed, there’s an exam every week, multiple exams some weeks, so I’m nervous. But I know once I get thrown in, I think I’m going to be all right. I’m going to do everything in my power to adapt and learn and try to succeed,” Sanchez said.

Langerman is lucky. Her brother just completed his first year of medical school, so she can turn to him with her questions and concerns.

“I’m a planner, so I ask so many questions all the time, but he’s had a lot of grace with me and just told me, ‘You’re going to be fine. Don’t overthink anything, you’re going to figure it out.’ He’s been a very calming presence for me,” she said. “I think I’m more excited than nervous. I’ve been looking forward to this for so long that I’m ready to get started. I think the excitement outweighs the anxiety for sure.”

Both said even with the new challenge of becoming doctors, they’ll always be athletes.

“I think sports and basketball will always be part of my life. I can’t see myself straying too far away,” said Langerman, who is eager to see what intramural sports OSU-COM offers. “I’ll definitely try to get involved just to keep the fun of it there, because I truly do love it, and it’s been a part of my life for so long, obviously, I want to keep doing it.”

Sanchez has already been helping with the wrestling program at Broken Arrow Public Schools, and coaches at Bixby High School have also reached out to him to consult with their girl’s wrestling team.

“I want to stay involved in wrestling one way or another. That sport has done so much for me, it’s only right that I give back to it any way I can,” he said. “I can’t thank Oklahoma State and OSU Athletics enough; I owe them everything. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for them. OSU and the wrestling program took a chance on me. Coming to Stillwater was the best decision I ever made. I’m so thankful I did it. I know I have family back home in Ohio who won’t be happy I’m saying this, but I could stay in Oklahoma forever.”