Helping Her Hometown

That early experience led Dr. Zeszutek to pursue a career in the health sciences. After graduating college, she enrolled in pharmacy school and, after a year of practice, decided her next step was medical school.

“My primary interest was in medicine,” said Dr. Zeszutek, “But I appreciate my pharmacy background and bring that experience with me to my classes.”

Years later and by then a successful OBGYN, Dr. Zeszutek heard about a medical school opening in her hometown.

“I grew up in the same community as the medical school,” said Zeszutek. “I knew many people who worked in the hospital before it was turned into a medical school and even people who were delivered at the hospital. I was very excited to hear that the medical school was coming to Middletown. This is my hometown and my ultimate goal was to work in some capacity with the school since it's such a needed educational environment for this community.”

Dr. Zeszutek joined the TouroCOM Middletown faculty in 2014 and she uses Middletown’s rural location to help her students on their path to becoming physicians.

“Because Orange County has horse farms, we’re able to integrate that into the curriculum,” explained Dr. Zeszutek, who runs the school’s Medicine and Horsemanship program.  “Patients don’t always share what they’re feeling, or they might be having challenges expressing what they’re feeling. We really need to be in tune with their non-verbal cues. Horses have this ability to respond to humans so if you’re being too assertive or if you need to slow down to get the horse to respond to what you need, you’re learning that your actions impact how a patient will respond to you.”

Last year, Dr. Zeszutek was recognized with a Presidential Faculty Award for Excellence in Service.