In early August, 2010 U.S. champion and Olympian Rachael Flatt and boyfriend Eric Iwashita packed up their belongings and hit the road with their dog Jax. Their cross-country journey took them from Northern California to North Carolina, where Flatt is now pursuing a doctorate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Flatt, 26, a three-time World competitor and 2008 World Junior champion, is studying under Dr. Cynthia M. Bulik, distinguished professor of eating disorders and founding director of the UNC Center of Excellence for Eating Disorders. In no small coincidence, Bulik was a skater in her youth, quitting due to an injury and then returning at age 40 to pass her gold dances and compete at the U.S. Adult Championships.
"I had originally intended to go to medical school," Flatt said. "When I started putting together my applications at the end of my senior year at Stanford, I realized it just really wasn't quite what I wanted to do anymore.
"I went back to a group I had done research with my senior year in college. They did a lot of digital mental health interventions, and that was of huge interest to me."
After graduating from Stanford University in 2015 with a major in biology and a minor in psychology, Flatt worked at Dr. Barr Taylor's research laboratory, which does a lot of work involving eating disorders using digital mental health tools. The lab partnered with the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) and developed NEDA's online screening tool. During her final year at the lab, Flatt focused on a project funded by a National Institutes of Health grant, the Healthy Body Image Study.
"We were providing screening and tailored prevention and intervention programs for folks who were either at risk of developing an eating disorder or were currently demonstrating symptoms of an eating disorder," she said. "It was all online and all app-based, which was super cool. We screened over 5,000 female college students."
Fascinated by the research and believing in its mission, Flatt is remaining peripherally involved in that project until its conclusion.
"We're figuring out what is most effective for different populations," she said.
Flatt explained there obviously isn't enough face-to-face time with therapists to serve all the people in need, so the research includes virtual reality and even a chatbot company to figure out cost-effective and accessible options.
While research took her off the medical school path she had expected to follow, which definitely left her feeling a little lost for a while, Flatt is grateful she found an educational path that inspires her with the same excitement that skating did.
"I felt a strong sense of urgency to go back to school and get my Ph.D. in clinical psychology so that I can continue doing that work and hopefully bring some of the knowledge that I have to athletes," Flatt said. "That's kind of the ideal goal — to put together more athlete-specific materials with regards to mental health. I'm super excited to be doing that with Cindy [Bulik]. She is so well versed in anything eating disorder related. She's really passionate about skating and sports."
Both Flatt's and Bulik's interests in eating disorders connect to skating. Years ago, while working as a research associate, Bulik encountered patients on an eating disorders unit at a hospital. She found them fascinating and they reminded her of strange eating patterns she had witnessed in competitive figure skating. Flatt said she experienced body image issues as an elite competitive figure skater.
Her own eating habits were quite healthy as a competitive skater, thanks to her mother Dr. Jody Flatt's comprehensive knowledge about nutrition, but that was not a common mindset among skaters she knew. They were more focused on calories.
Flatt's research position ended in June, and she spent July preparing for her big move and taking a bit of "me time," which included a solo road trip to Portland, Oregon, to visit friends, stopping en route at Yosemite National Park.
Both of Flatt's parents have doctorates in science fields, and she unquestionably consulted them in making her major decisions. Jody is a huge college basketball fan who is pretty psyched that her daughter selected a university with powerhouse athletics. The only disappointment is that admission to a doctoral program doesn't come with basketball tickets.
"They really did a good job parenting and being mentors through the whole experience in skating," Flatt said. "Now, going through grad school, I'm sure they'll take on another role."
Flatt is immersed in coursework and research at UNC Chapel Hill. After the second year, doctoral students delve into clinical hours and work with patients. She said Bulik is inspiring and unafraid to take risks in her work to see the best outcomes.
"I am so motivated when I talk to her, and we function on the same wavelength. We're total go-getters," Flatt said. "She's such a visionary for the field. I'm stoked to work with her and jump in on the projects she's got going on. She tries to ensure that the priority is that graduate students develop their own lines of research.
"I'm definitely independent," she added. "It's not that I'm not collaborative, but being in skating, you're an independent person. That also allowed me to have a lot of confidence in taking risks and trying new things. I see a lot of similar qualities in the two of us."
For the full update on Flatt, read the October issue of SKATING magazine.
