TouroCOM News

Reason he enlisted: Former Sergeant Nicholas Hoffmann enlisted in the Marines for two reasons: his father served so it was something he always considered and after witnessing the atrocities of September 11, 2001, he felt like it was something he needed to do.

Reason he enlisted: Former Corps of Engineer Captain David Yens enlisted in the army after growing up as a self-described Army brat as his father served as an Army doctor for several years.

TouroCOM-Middletown Student Dana Golden (OMS-II) highlights what she hopes to learn and contribute to the medical field while serving her country.

Dr. Joyce Brown, Director of Simulation and the Vice Chair of TouroCOM Middletown’s Department of Primary Care, always knew what she wanted to become a doctor. Her job at TouroCOM was the combination of all her interests.

A summer of relaxation after the intensity of first-year medical school? Not for these students. Five TouroCOM Middletown students used their summer break as an opportunity to broaden their medical horizons while also fulfilling TouroCOM’s mission of service. OMS I Dana Golden, a recipient of the military’s Health Professional Scholarship Program, worked in a military lab to improve combat casualty care ; OMS I Jennifer S. Lee discovered the nexus of policy and medicine working as a Summer Fellow at U.S. Representative Sean Patrick Maloney’s office; OMS I Lyle (Yap) Yaphockun researched better medical treatment for transgender individuals; and OMS I Tiguiran Kane and OMS I Anna Marie Tran spent two weeks in Haiti studying how factors such as race, power and class affect medical treatment.

Clark Johnsen, TouroCOM Harlem Class of 2018, was chosen by the faculty and students to be the student speaker at the school’s recent commencement ceremonies.  Before med school, he was leading the star-studded life of a Broadway actor, working in the ensemble of the award-winning musical The Book of Mormon.  Now, after four years of intensive study and rotations in medicine, he will be starting a residency in psychiatry at New York-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center.

When Caroline Basta was a junior in college, her mother developed painful headaches. After seeing several specialists and taking various drugs and finding no relief, her mother sought out the care of a doctor of osteopathy. “After a few sessions of cranial manipulation,” recalls Caroline, “my mother’s headaches were gone.”

First-year TouroCOM Middletown students received a taste of home courtesy of the Rotary Clubs of the Mid-Hudson Valley.

For the 135 members of TouroCOM Harlem’s Class of 2022, July 23 marked the next step in their journeys to becoming doctors as they officially began their first week of medical school.

Orientation week included lectures about coping with the stress of first year studies, introductions to faculty members and programs and even a tour of Harlem. On the last day of the orientation, TouroCOM Harlem’s Student Government Association hosted a water fight and pizza lunch for the new students. We caught up with eight members of the new class and spoke to them about their backgrounds, why they considered a career in medicine and what their hopes are for the future. The Class of 2022 is a diverse group including athletes, artists and researchers and even a nationally ranked fencer. Despite their diverse backgrounds and history, each members of the class new class shared a similar goal: moving the medical profession forward.

On July 23, TouroCOM Middletown’s Class of 2022 donned their white coat as they began their medical school journey to become doctors of osteopathic medicine. Before the ceremony began, we spoke with Stephen Hongach, Lea Saliba, Karolina Bezdickova, Shanice Samuels, Joshua Kolb, and Meyling Zuniga, newly minted first years, about their backgrounds and what led them to choose medicine. Before the ceremony began, we spoke with Stephen Hongach, Lea Saliba, Karolina Bezdickova, Shanice Samuels, Joshua Kolb, and Meyling Zuniga, newly minted first years, about their backgrounds and what led them to choose medicine.