Alumnus shares experiences while pursuing medical career

By Matt Owen, Illustration Manager

This article is the fourth in a series exploring specific careers Greenhill students can pursue by looking at the experiences of the Greenhill faculty and alumni.

Whether it is performing a simple appendectomy or diagnosing a sickness, those who decide to go into the field of medicine will make impacts on the lives of their patients, big or small.

One can choose many different specialties, ranging from cardiology, the study of the cardiovascular system, to radiology, the area that employs X-rays and other models for diagnostic imaging, to general practice. Israel Nosnik ’99 is currently studying urology, the branch of medicine and physiology concerned with the function and disorders of the urinary system.

“Imagine you are unable to pee,” Israel said. “Something as basic as peeing is taken away from you. What would you do? You would come to me. I can fix these kinds of problems.”

Israel is in his second year of residency in urology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.

“After Greenhill, I attended University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where I majored in Cellular and Molecular Biology” Israel said. “After graduating in 2003 from Michigan, I went on to Duke University School of Medicine to pursue my Doctor of Medicine (MD).”

The admission requirements for medical school are very similar to college. Duke requires a number of science courses that fall under the pre-med curriculum. It recommends evidence of leadership and scholarship, a commitment to community service, and motivation for a career in medicine. The last requirement is that students have to have taken the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), which tests prospective medical students in problem solving, critical thinking, written analysis, and writing skills, in addition to knowledge of scientific concepts and principles.

Although it varies, the general structure of medical school includes two years of basic sciences such as cell biology, anatomy, physiology, and pathology, followed by two years of clinical work rotations, where students witness the things they learned firsthand.

After medical school, the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) requires residency, a period of specialized medical training, to be certified. More specifically, under the overseeing ABMS are the individual specialty boards to be certified in specific studies.

“It is possible to practice in a field that one isn’t board-certified in,” Israel said. “However, it is difficult to get hospital privileges and malpractice insurance without that certification.”

After residency in the specific fields of medicine, one can become certified.

“Residency can vary quite a bit depending on specialty,” Israel said. “It involves a year of internship, which can be done in a number of different fields depending on what you want to do. After the first year, you then do anywhere from two to six years of specialty training.”

The period after the first year of internship into residency is where one transitions from being a student to gaining hands- on experience.

“You have the opportunity to care for patients,” Israel said. “You do the surgical procedures, you take calls over night, and you’re often the first person on the scene when a nurse calls with a problem. It’s the first time where you start really acting like a doctor.”

In the constantly evolving world of medicine, one key factor for being successful has remained constant: communication. Communication with colleagues, with patients, and with all those involved is critical for finding out background information, family structure, and medications the patient has taken. Communication permeates all aspects of medicine, and according to Israel, Greenhill does a great job in preparing students for it.

“A good doctor needs communication skills,” Israel said. “Greenhill sets us up to be strong communicators. Doctors are educators. It is our job to educate so that our patients can make better decisions for themselves. It is important that your patients trust you.”

Seniors Prashanthi Divakar and Scott Judson plan to pursue the field of medicine. A great way to gain experience in the field is to volunteer.

Scott has volunteered at two different hospitals to see what it’s like working with patients.

“I got to see firsthand what it’s like working with patients,” Scott said. “I found out what it was like for doctors in the real world.”

During high school summers, Prashanthi has volunteered at Children’s Medical Center and shadowed a nephrologist at the Dallas Nephrology Clinic, where physicians work with the diagnosis and management of kidney disease.

“Through these volunteer opportunities, I hoped to have gained insight into the wide range of career options medicine has to offer,” Prashanthi said. “I plan to go on to be involved in Brown’s Medicine in Action Program (MIAP) in order to observe physician-patient relationships and gain further exposure.”

Both Prashanthi and Scott are currently taking AP Biology, taught by Barry Ide, Upper School science teacher. While it provides a great base for biology, the class is not one that all students interested in medicine have to take in order to be successful in the pre-med curriculum.

“I’ve seen many students considering medicine who feel that they must choose between either AP Chemistry or AP Biology,” Mr. Ide said. “They have the mistaken impression that one is better than the other.’”

In the end, however, it all comes down to what interests the student, rather than one class or the other putting the student on a road to success.

“If a student only has time for one of the two courses in their high school career, I think they should take the one that interests them more,” Mr. Ide said. “Ultimately this will enable the student to be fully engaged with the material and get the most out of the course.

“If a student doesn’t think they have a preference of one over the other, they should reconsider their freshman and sophomore year courses and come to a decision that reflects their interests. In the end, students studying medicine will need to take both biology and chemistry in college,” he said.

In addition to science, Israel wants students interested in medicine to realize how important the other classes offered at Greenhill are.

“The most valuable classes I took at Greenhill, in addition to anatomy, physiology, and biology,” Israel said, “were my English classes with Mr. Crotty, and my religions class with Dan Kasten.”

While the road to medicine is a long one, Israel Nosnik finds it to be a rewarding one.

“It’s amazingly rewarding when you realize a patient comes in without a diagnosis and you figure out the problem,” Israel said. “Knowing that you were the one to put the plan into effect, and that you’ve taken care of things makes you feel pretty amazing. It’s a great sense of accomplishment.”