6 minute read
MEDICINE AS A MISSION
from Heritage 51
by Jared Stark '01
Medicine as a mission. It's an idea that Dr. Erik Scharrer ’03 began considering in his teenage years when he worked as a national ski patrol first responder on Detroit Mountain near his hometown of Detroit Lakes, Minn. The son of a nurse and parents who graduated from York College, Michael and Carol (Huber) Scharrer ’74, Erik has always been interested in faith, medicine, family and adventure. His life has been an incredible mix of all four.
He remembers seeing his dad’s “sweet AXE jersey” hanging in the closet and hearing his parents talk about the years they spent at York College. Then in high school, he was surrounded by YC students in the summers at Flaming Pine Youth Camp near Togo, Minn. He decided to visit campus with one of his best friends. On that trip, they were enlisted by some current students to be part of a harmless campus prank and they fell in love with the atmosphere of family, faith, and adventure.
Scharrer’s interest in medicine as a mission really took off when he had the opportunity to do mission work at the Brian Lemons Memorial Hospital in Zimbabwe the summer of 2002. Named after a YC freshman who lost his life in an automobile accident in 1997, the newly opened hospital was an outgrowth of the Nhowe Mission, a ministry Brian’s dad, Dr. Stephen Lemons ’74, and his family were already deeply involved with and supported. Scharrer was hooked through that summer experience and from that moment wanted to give his life to medicine as a mission.
Erik married Kara, and they have four children, Maida (17), Skogen (15), Klaasen (14), and Torsten (12). Even with a growing for two years. Sharrer worked at the Mayo Clinic-affiliated Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
With trips to Nicaragua, Mongolia, Congo, and the United Arab Emirates under his belt, Scharrer truly is a world traveler, but there is much more that keeps him busy. He is a full-time emergency room doctor for the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. He loves the work in the ER and states, “I thought I was going to do family medicine, but I fell in love with working emergency. In the ER, I see people who are at their most vulnerable, from the homeless individual to the big corporation CEO, and it's my job to help them. You really get to see the humanity of medicine. You just never know what is going to come through the door and that keeps me on my toes."
The adventure doesn’t end there. Scharrer is a veteran of the Army National Guard which he served in for 8 years. The National Guard paid the bills while he was in medical school at the University of Minnesota. While most medical school students focus solely on their education, he and his wife had a baby almost every year he was in training to become a doctor. He exited his service with the rank of captain.
In his “spare” time, Scharrer coaches both the soccer and alpine ski team for the local high school in Lakeville, Minn., coaches club soccer for his children, and is on the board of directors for Flaming Pine Youth Camp. He recently returned from a trip to Bolivia where he trained local hospital workers in emergency medicine. Whether serving patients in Minnesota or overseas, he loves helping people and putting his faith into action. His work is medicine but it's clear his life is on a mission to serve Jesus. n family, his passion for medical mission work continued to grow. Kara and the children have joined him in all his adventures all over the world. They lived for a short time in Zimbabwe at the Nhowe Mission, back to the place it all started for Erik. They then settled in Park City, Utah, for six years before moving to Abu Dhabi, UAE, for two years. Sharrer worked at the Mayo Clinic-affiliated Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
With trips to Nicaragua, Mongolia, Congo, and the United Arab Emirates under his belt, Scharrer truly is a world traveler, but there is much more that keeps him busy. He is a full-time emergency room doctor for the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. He loves the work in the ER and states, “I thought I was going to do family medicine, but I fell in love with working emergency. In the ER, I see people who are at their most vulnerable, from the homeless individual to the big corporation CEO, and it's my job to help them. You really get to see the humanity of medicine. You just never know what is going to come through the door and that keeps me on my toes."
The adventure doesn’t end there. Scharrer is a veteran of the Army National Guard which he served in for 8 years. The National Guard paid the bills while he was in medical school at the University of Minnesota. While most medical school students focus solely on their education, he and his wife had a baby almost every year he was in training to become a doctor. He exited his service with the rank of captain.
In his “spare” time, Scharrer coaches both the soccer and alpine ski team for the local high school in Lakeville, Minn., coaches club soccer for his children, and is on the board of directors for Flaming Pine Youth Camp. He recently returned from a trip to Bolivia where he trained local hospital workers in emergency medicine. Whether serving patients in Minnesota or overseas, he loves helping people and putting his faith into action. His work is medicine but it's clear his life is on a mission to serve Jesus.
