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Pirouettes and Pipettes

“The end product is this beautiful thing that seems so effortless, but the training is not that at all—it’s structured and regimented,” says Tara Jarboe, M.S. ’19, speaking of ballet. Like many dance professionals, Jarboe, a fifth-year Ph.D. candidate in the GSBMS, began her training early at the age of six, embarking on a path that involved rigorous ballet lessons every day throughout middle school and high school. But when her mother’s cousin was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and she saw how fast the disease progressed, she knew she wanted a career in cancer research.

Like many young ballet dancers who aspire to have professional careers, Jarboe had to decide whether to pursue ballet after high school or go to college because of the physical strain that ballet imposes on the body and the constraints that arise as the body matures. Ultimately, Jarboe went to Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, as she always planned. She received her Bachelor of Science in chemistry and double minored in biology and dance. After college, she knew it was now or never if she wanted a professional ballet career. For five years, her career blossomed. Jarboe was a dance instructor at the Mill Ballet School in Lambertville, New Jersey, as well as a dancer and assistant rehearsal director at the Roxey Ballet Company. She played leading roles, including the Snow Queen from the Nutcracker, Frida Kahlo, and was also featured on National Geographic’s Instagram account.

As dancing became harder on her body, Jarboe decided to go to NYMC in 2017 for her master’s in microbiology and immunology. After graduating, she became an adjunct professor at Manhattanville College in 2020 while pursuing her Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology at NYMC. Her dissertation, with the help of her mentors Raj K. Tiwari, Ph.D., professor of pathology, microbiology, and immunology and associate professor of otolaryngology; and Xiu-Min Li, M.D., M.S., professor of pathology, microbiology, and immunology; focuses on how the natural compound berberine is able to remodel fatal anaplastic thyroid cancer properties to make it more amenable to therapy.

“It is so important to me that information is passed onto the future generations so that ideas and education can continue with good integrity,” says Jarboe. “I feel like that with dance, and I also feel like that with teaching science.” A teacher at heart, Jarboe wants to stay in academia feeding the minds of the next generation and contributing to the world of cancer research.

End Zone to Surgical Suite

Fewer than two percent of the 460,000 National Collegiate Athletic Association student-athletes go pro, and medical school acceptance rates average just five percent. Despite these odds, James Williams, SOM Class of 2025, a former National Football League (NFL) offensive lineman, pursued admission to NYMC’s SOM.

In 2010, Williams inked a free-agent contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after an illustrious playing career during his undergraduate years at Harvard University. One of the nation’s premier linemen, he earned three All-American selections and was a unanimous choice All-Ivy League pick three times. Williams achieved the remarkable feat of starting every game for the Crimson from his sophomore to senior seasons, a rarity in football due to its high injury rate.

The physical toll of the sport manifested in multiple injuries upon Williams’ entry into the NFL. Released by the Buccaneers after one season, he then signed with the Indianapolis Colts. Despite enduring injuries during preseason camp, he secured a spot on the Colts’ practice squad the following year. Unfortunately, a Lisfranc injury during preseason hindered his dreams of a prolonged NFL tenure. “That was pretty much career-ending. I could never get my foot back to the way it was before,” he explains.

Transitioning from the NFL to NYMC was not instantaneous for Williams. He worked as a personal trainer and a pre-loader for UPS while obtaining a postbaccalaureate certificate in pre-medicine from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. As an economics major at Harvard, he lacked the necessary prerequisite courses for medical school. To bridge this gap, Williams assisted his mother, Jennifer Smith-Williams, D.D.S., a dentist whose oral surgery practice suffered staffing shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic, balancing fulltime work with MCAT preparation.

Attributing his success in medical school to consistency and unwavering selfbelief, Williams expresses gratitude for guidance from NYMC faculty, including Mill Etienne, M.D. ‘02, M.P.H., FAAN, FAES, vice chancellor for diversity and inclusion, SOM associate dean for student affairs, and professor of neurology and of medicine.

Williams’ support in medicine runs deep. Besides his mother, his father, Martin J. Williams, M.D., a critical care surgeon, inspired him to earn a medical degree. Reflecting on his father’s impactful career in under-resourced communities, Williams has an interest in specializing in orthopedic surgery, a field that has intrigued him since he suffered his bonerelated injuries in the NFL.

Looking ahead to his graduation from NYMC and the attainment of the title James Williams, M.D. ’25, he will join the less than six percent of Black doctors in the U.S.—beating the odds once again.

Courtside to the Clinic

Rommel Torres, M.B.A., Doctor of Physical Therapy (D.P.T.) Class of 2025 in the SHSP, looks forward to graduating and starting his career. Since earning his bachelors in sports management and a minor in business administration from St. John’s University in Queens, New York, Torres dreamed about working as a chief operating officer or vice president of operations at his favorite sports team. He completed internships at the Brooklyn Nets, New York Islanders, as well as college teams, including Hofstra University. “But working in sports was a different animal,” Torres says. He worked 12-hour shifts during game nights and had to be back at the office the next day. He also was in sales, the starting point for many executives, and realized he had a long way to go up the corporate ladder.

When he realized that sales and the structure of the industry was not for him, he changed jobs and worked at Montefiore Medical Center and the Montefiore Health System for five years. He quickly moved up the ranks to project manager, working in different departments to advance his career. He also earned his M.B.A. in management with an advanced certificate in health care management and other certifications to help his career, but he still felt something was missing.

In 2018, Torres suffered a knee injury while doing CrossFit and his physician advised him to see a physical therapist. “I thoroughly enjoyed going to physical therapy, working hard to heal, and then interacting with my therapist,” says Torres, who later asked his physical therapist about a possible career change. “You should absolutely go back to school for PT. Do not even think twice about going. Just go,” his physical therapist advised.

Torres became a physical therapy aide at Westmed Medical Group in Stamford, Connecticut, for two years to meet the volunteer requirement for physical therapy school. While working hands-on with his patients, Torres knew this was the career he was meant to pursue. On his last day, many of his patients teared up, thankful that Torres was there to help them through some of the toughest times of their lives.

Drawn by the cohesive community of the College and holistic approach of the physical therapy curriculum, Torres enrolled at NYMC in 2022. “My journey did come full circle,” says Torres about his journey within the sports industry. “It was a much bigger circle than I wanted it to be, but I am here now.”

From Hearing Loss to Healing Others

At three months old, Coby Fliegelman, SOM Class of 2026, mother became concerned when she noticed abnormalities with her son’s hearing when playing and interacting with others. Subsequently, she brought him to be examined by Arnold P. Gold, M.D., professor of clinical neurology and pediatrics at Columbia University and founder of the Arnold P. Gold Foundation, which signature programs include the White Coat Ceremony and the Gold Humanism Honor Society. Diagnosed with bilateral profound sensorineural hearing loss, one-year-old Coby became the youngest child in the United States at the time to receive a cochlear implant in 1999. Given the experimental nature of the surgery, the doctors only implanted on one side. “Without Dr. Gold’s compassion, kindness, and willingness to listen to my parents, I would probably still be living in a silent world,” says Fliegelman.

Going through an additional round of cochlear implantation to receive his second implant at seven years old and interacting with surgeons, audiologists, otolaryngologists, anesthesiologists, and speech therapists, Fliegelman knew what his career path would be. “Medicine speaks to me,” he says. “How I am able to connect with patients and really transform what their future lives may look like is remarkable. I am thankful for my family and the medical team that helped me for all those years. This is just one of the ways I want to give back.”

Always ready to lend a helping hand, Fliegelman offers words of support and encouragement to the parents of newborns and children he mentors who are hearing impaired and struggling with self-esteem and connecting with their peers. He aims to guide others through the hurdles he once faced, offering the same kindness and solace he received during his youth.

Graduating as valedictorian from Touro University’s Lander College of Arts and Sciences, Fliegelman says it was a “no brainer” when he submitted his application to NYMC. “I heard from previous students about how accommodating the NYMC community is and how collegial and warm the faculty at the College are,” he says. “One of the things that I felt was important was being in an environment where I would not feel less than or feel that I would need to bend my back over to get the accommodations that I need for my unique circumstance.” As Fliegelman approaches his clerkships in medical school, the lessons he learned from his medical team, all those years ago, stay with him: to actively listen to his patients and be a humanistic physician.

Dentistry and Dialogue

While providing dental care for children with special needs in India during the COVID-19 pandemic, Anushka Parakh, B.D.S., Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) Class of 2024 in the SHSP, noticed a change with her patients. The disruption in their routines triggered alterations in their diets, with more snacking, lapses in dental visits, heightened dental pain, and mood and behavioral challenges. “When I researched about how I could help the parents manage their child’s behavior better, is when I realized SLP could be something that I could look at as a possible avenue for a career,” recalls Parakh.

Through extensive research, she delved into the realms of feeding therapy and other therapeutic approaches to enhance the well-being of her patients. This exploration ultimately inspired her to specialize in pediatric dysphagia and early intervention, a decision made after nearly two years of practicing as a dentist. “I have spoken to many parents who have children with special medical needs, and they are so concerned about their children’s medical conditions that their oral hygiene and access to therapies sometimes take a backseat, which is understandable,” says Parakh.

Parakh’s fervent dedication in dentistry drove her to volunteer at two non-governmental organizations, where she provided oral hygiene education and dental treatments to children and adults with special needs. She also holds a patent for a toothbrush designed to assist the visually impaired. Moreover, she collaborated with the head of pediatrics at her dental school to publish a book on dental hygiene in Braille, showcasing her commitment to inclusivity in health care. They donated copies of the book to the library of a school in Karnataka, India, to help with the oral hygiene of the children who were visually impaired.

Pursuing her education in the United States, Parakh intentionally embarked on her SLP career at NYMC. “The faculty at the College have been very considerate and eager to teach. I really love that about the school. It is not all about getting work done and getting good grades. The College is very holistic.”

In terms of plans after graduation, Parakh sees herself opening a comprehensive clinic for dentistry and speech-language pathology after working alongside her fellow speech-language pathologists in the States. “I have come to appreciate the kind of work SLPs do because they make a difference in every patient’s day-to-day life. I feel very humbled to be able to learn how I can help someone regain the skills they once knew how to do.”

The Louder Calling of Medicine

Despite getting her Ph.D. in cognitive science at Columbia University and having a successful career in health care technology, Anita Krishnan, Ph.D., SOM Class of 2024, longed to go to medical school. “It was not that I had not thought about it before” Krishnan recalls. “My father is a surgeon and a humanitarian. As a child, I deeply appreciated the broad reach and tangible impact he had on the communities he served at home and abroad.” The sharp cultural contrast she experienced growing up in a small Southern town as the child of Indian immigrants, however, shaped her interest in how people build knowledge, make decisions, and perceive “truths” in their environments, leading her to study cognitive science. While she gained clarity on her draw to medicine early during her Ph.D., the idea of pivoting to medical school then seemed increasingly farfetched as she advanced in her doctoral scholarship.

It was when Krishnan became sick and required multiple surgeries, that she reevaluated her life priorities and how she derived meaning on a day-to-day basis. “I was not going to live with this regret any longer,” she says. “The more I experienced personal and professional growth, the more compelling, or louder, my calling to medicine became. Prior to my experience as a patient, it seemed a little absurd to leave for school at the height of my professional momentum. I attempted to satisfy the calling in other ways, but there was an undeniable gap that persisted.” Krishnan knew the profound privilege it was to help someone in need, as her doctors did during one of the most vulnerable times in her life and from watching her father devote himself to caring for his patients. “Medicine, for me, is a vehicle for service, but one that is utterly distinct in the way it fuels my curiosities and nurtures my spirit without limits.”

Since childhood, Krishnan has been highly sensitive to the pain of others and developed a passion for trying to mitigate that pain for all beings. She has worked with under-resourced populations in the U.S. and India for years, ranging from providing support to individuals in prisons who are HIV-positive, to supporting young mothers battling substance use, to championing animal welfare causes, among many others. In addition to her personal service endeavors, Krishnan is a director of philanthropy at her husband’s charitable foundation. The foundation helps to amplify the work of organizations serving the under-resourced through funding, agenda-setting, and hands-on work. In this role, Krishnan further solidifies her commitment to the well-being of marginalized communities, in particular.

When she stepped on NYMC’s campus, she felt warmth and community. “I was looking into the College and was struck by many of the amazing faculty members. There is genuine camaraderie among the students, which I highly value and can be a rarity in medical schools.” Looking forward to the career she is destined for, Krishnan is ready to start a residency in internal medicine on her path to becoming a critical care physician. She is guided now by the bright light inside of her that has been flickering for years.