Meyling Zuniga

She attended Stony Brook University and studied biochemistry. Her inspiration for medical school was her high school chemistry teacher, a surgeon who retired after breaking his thumb. Zuniga said having family in a third-world country informs her perception of medicine. “My uncle died of stomach cancer in Peru,” she said. “He believed he was getting good treatment, but we knew, compared to the US medical system, his treatment was sub-par. As a doctor, I want to help people who don’t receive adequate medical attention.” Zuniga spent her gap-year between Stony Brook and TouroCOM as an emergency medical technician in the city of Brentwood. “It’s a very large, chaotic district,” said Zuniga, who said that her native Spanish helped her communicate with many of her patients. She also worked as a medical scribe in an emergency room.

Fun Fact: Zuniga already knows what area of medicine she wants to specialize in: neonatology. “There’s something incredibly pure about working with premies,” she said. “They can’t help themselves, so you have to figure out what they need and if you don’t it could affect them for the rest of their lives.”