This time was quite different, though. This significant event had nothing to do with sports.

During a ceremony at the UCCU Center, Hamson graduated from Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions (RMU) with a Master of Physician Assistant Studies degree.

To say a lot happened since she went to BYU to play sports and earn a bachelor’s degree in exercise science would be an understatement.

In spring 2014, Hamson earned West Coast Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Year honors, boosted the Cougars to the Sweet 16 and was drafted into the WNBA. The 6-foot-7 sports star then temporarily deferred her pro hoops career, helped lead BYU’s volleyball team to the NCAA championship game against Penn State after a program-first Final Four win, graduated from college and played for the Los Angeles Sparks and Indiana Fever.

Photo by Colby Sharp, Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions

Over the years, Hamson also played professional basketball in Australia, Russia and Sweden and enjoyed a two-year pro volleyball career in Germany.

In March 2020, Hamson returned from Europe — snagging a seat on the final flight out of Germany when the COVID-19 pandemic broke out — and decided to retire from playing sports. Not only was she bothered by a nagging shoulder injury, but Hamson was eager to begin the next chapter of her life story by enrolling at another university in Provo: RMU.

Hamson’s interest in a medical career was piqued while she was at BYU. She considered physical therapy, speech therapy and even becoming a medical doctor before choosing to be a physician assistant (PA).

Hamson admits it’s not always easy to choose between things she loves. Her dual-sports career is a prime example of that. And good luck finding out whether she prefers basketball or volleyball. It’s like a parent choosing a favorite child. That is why she delayed her WNBA career to play her senior redshirt season with the BYU volleyball team and why she played both sports as a pro.

She’ll have a lot of options in her PA career, too. But thanks to two-plus years of classroom education and clinical experience, she now feels prepared enough for the wide variety of specialties she can pursue. She could work in an emergency room, clinical medicine, pediatrics, acute care, primary care, mental health, cardiology or surgery. She appreciated how RMU’s PA program requires students to get at least five weeks of internship experience in eight different areas.

“I’m definitely someone who likes to have options, so I think PA fits my personality really well — and it’s in the medical field,” she said. “Once I found out about PA, it was the perfect job for me. I really like the flexibility. All of my clinical rotations have been awesome, so we’ll just see where the job takes me when I start applying.”

Hamson sees similarities between the sports and health care worlds. She appreciates positive influences in her family from both realms, including her mom, BYU basketball great Tresa Spaulding Hamson, her late uncle (an orthopedic surgeon) and her aunt (a manual therapist).

“I’ve always enjoyed sports. I think it’s an amazing way to empower women and young girls,” she said. “And sports have always been entwined with health care. Injuries happen. It’s about the human body and staying healthy.”

Although her sports career is in the past, Hamson will use skills and lessons learned from her playing days in her medical career.

“It’s a team aspect in medicine as well. There’s a bunch of people on your team trying to help you stay healthy and get better. I think they just meld really well together,” she said. “My experience in sports really helps me in the medical field working with people as a team with leadership skills and things like that. For me, they really go hand-in-hand to just help the community be healthy.”

Jody Genessy is the senior content writer for Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions.