Gator great rounds third, heading toward physician
Former Gator athlete, soon-to-be UF medical student Korbe Otis balances passion for medicine and softball
Feb. 4, 2026 — When Korbe Otis was young, she often accompanied her grandfather to his cardiology appointments: routine checkups he needed due to a heart valve replacement that happened before she was born. She initially hated these visits, not understanding why her grandfather needed to go to the doctor so often.
“I thought my grandpa was very sick, that he was dying, that I was going to lose him,” she said.
The doctor, sensing Otis’ concern, took the time to include her in every visit.
“I didn’t even know what a stethoscope was, but I got to listen to my grandpa’s heart,” she said. “I got to learn all these new things he was teaching me. I felt empowered, like I was part of my grandfather’s care, and that was the first time I can remember being interested in becoming a doctor.”
As she grew up, she continued to gravitate toward medicine and biology. While pursuing her undergraduate degree at the University of Florida, Otis balanced playing for the Florida Gators softball team and shadowing College of Medicine faculty, whose mentorship helped shape her future. Now, after graduating from UF in May and spending a season playing professional softball, she’s returning to the UF campus this fall as a medical student.
Grand slam
Korbe Otis celebrates a walkoff grand slam during the Gators' game against the University of Arkansas Razorbacks on Saturday, April 5, 2025 at Katie Seashole Pressly Softball Stadium in Gainesville, FL / UAA Communications photo by Nicole Scharff
University of Florida Athletics
Even before high school, Otis knew she wanted to play college softball — and where.
“My dreams of college softball were sparked when I went to the 2015 Women’s College World Series and saw the Florida Gators win their second national championship,” said Otis, who grew up in Columbine, Colorado. “From that day on, I knew I wanted to be a Florida Gator.”
Otis did make it to UF, transferring from the University of Louisville. While studying in preparation for her medical school aspirations, she would be a key player on UF’s softball team. In a memorable moment against Arkansas in regular season play, Otis would even hit a coveted walk-off grand slam.
“You dream about those moments as a kid in the backyard, robbing home runs and hitting grand slams,” she said. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so emotionally overjoyed in a moment playing softball.”
Otis would eventually travel to the 2025 Women’s College World Series with UF, 10 years after watching the team play from the stands shaped her trajectory.
Practice makes perfect
Korbe Otis and her mentor, Kirsten Freeman, M.D.
Softball was only part of Otis’ journey as an undergraduate Gator. She also pursued a rigorous course of study in biology as she prepared for a future in medicine, and her experience shadowing College of Medicine faculty member and cardiovascular surgeon Kirsten Freeman, M.D., helped solidify her career goals.
“I heard there was an undergraduate student who plays softball and it was suggested that she come and shadow me,” said Freeman, an assistant professor in the Department of Surgery and the associate program director of the thoracic and cardiovascular integrated residency and traditional fellowship program, who also played competitive softball in high school and regularly watches Florida Gators games with her daughter. “Fewer than 10% of cardiac surgeons are women. Some aspects of mentorship can be challenging without a female mentor; it can create doubt in the back of your mind when you don’t see a lot of other women in the field.”
Freeman, like all successful academic surgeons, receives a constant stream of emails about mentorship from undergraduates and medical students. When she heard about Otis, who had already been shadowing with other members of the Department of Surgery, she reached out to invite her to attend a heart operation.
“It was my first summer away from home and I was training hard for softball,” Otis said. “I’d work out at 6 a.m. and then rush over to the hospital, get into my scrubs and go through a whole day in the ICU or in surgery or whatever else I was shadowing in.”
After shadowing, she’d drive back to the softball field for practice and then go home to complete her academic coursework.
“Then I’d go to bed and it do it all over again the next day,” she said.
Tim Walton, head coach of the Florida Gators softball program, called Otis a “one of one” student athlete.
“Korbe is unique in her ability to not only play ball, but to also carry herself the way she does and in the way she speaks and performs in the classroom,” Walton said. “I know she will make a great surgeon one day.”
Otis graduated cum laude from UF in May with a bachelor’s degree in biology and a college athletic career brimming with honors, recognizing not only her in-game statistics but also her excellence as a student athlete. These honors were capped off when she received the 2025 SEC Softball Scholar-Athlete of the Year award.
Playing for keeps
Korbe Otis presenting her poster at the third annual International Aortic Disease Symposium
Lots of students take gap years after graduation. Not a lot of them take gap years to become professional athletes. Otis spent summer 2025 playing professionally for The Blaze, one of four teams in the inaugural season of the Athletes Unlimited Softball League, or AUSL.
After finishing the season and playing the league’s All-Star cup, Otis came back to the UF Department of Surgery to continue pursuing her goal of becoming a physician, working with researchers on projects involving outcomes for aortic aneurysm and dissection, as well as short- and long-term outcomes for patients treated at UF for acute aortic dissection.
She recently presented a poster at the third annual UF International Aortic Symposium highlighting some of that work, a capstone moment for her that represented the culmination of her education and relationship-building in the College of Medicine. Mentor relationships like the one she developed with Freeman allowed her to gain important insight into her career of choice and to begin building networks that will last a lifetime.
Otis said she wouldn’t be where she is without the support of her mentors, both on the field and in the hospital. She pays it forward, mentoring young athletes who are starting their own journeys into the world of college softball.
On deck
Though Otis is still at the beginning of her professional journey, her life so far has been one of hard work, dedication and accomplishment.
And she’s not done playing professional softball — she was recently drafted by the Portland Cascade and will play in the AUSL’s second season this summer.
“It’s exciting to get another season to be able to inspire young softball athletes and continue to build connections through a sport I am forever grateful for,” she said.
At the end of the season, Otis will return to UF to begin her studies as part of the College of Medicine’s M.D. Class of 2030.
While she’s primarily interested in pursuing a career in a specialty like cardiothoracic surgery, she’s also intrigued by orthopedic surgery and the thought of helping injured athletes return to play.
What she’s looking forward to most about medical school, though, is learning about all the ways she might be able to help people.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity to see what specialty calls to you,” she said. “I’m excited to see where I can make the most impact and most improve peoples’ lives.”
