A brain cancer doctor, a research scientist, a clinical pharmacy informaticist and other medical professionals share their experiences at the university’s unique academic health system
It’s been 10 years since the integration of schools, hospitals, departments and divisions that became Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences (RBHS), a mecca of groundbreaking research, leading educational programs and community partnerships.
RBHS produced its first group of graduates in 2014. From a brain cancer doctor to a research scientist, a registered nurse to a Rutgers professor, here are seven members from the inaugural graduating class.
Luis Alzate-Duque
What’s your job and where do you work?
I am an assistant professor of medicine at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School in the Department of Medicine, Division of Academic Medicine. I specialize in internal medicine and pediatrics. I am also the assistant dean for student affairs at the medical school.
What compelled you to pursue the health care field?
As children, my brother and I would go to our neighborhood park to learn how to be environmentally conscious. We became “environmental park guards” (yes, I know), hence I learned to love biology and ecology.
Along the way, experiences like family illness and health care providers' efforts in providing healing, relief, comfort and ultimately joy of recovery to my brother during a life-threatening illness led me to a realization: There is no better way to give back than to help contribute to the relief and healing of a patient and to help alleviate the fear, discomfort and suffering of a human at their most vulnerable.
What do you find rewarding about your profession? What’s challenging?
The day of discharge is often the most rewarding. Often, through the passage of time, the lines of doctor and patient blur. Often after a long hospital stay or after establishing a relationship with a patient, where you know the sons and daughters, aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews, you somehow become part of the unit.
On that day of discharge or that moment where we find clarity in the diagnosis or treatment, I remember how I felt when my brother came home. That is the most rewarding; I am giving back.
The multitude of systematic barriers that exist, which keep people in states of fear, discomfort and suffering and that prevent healing, are most challenging. And though seemingly insurmountable, this challenge must be confronted for the sake of the silenced.
What is your favorite memory about being part of the first graduating class of RBHS?
I don't know which one I can choose, as they were both equally formative. The accepted student luncheon led by Dean [George F.] Heinrich and convocation day remain to this day my favorite memories.
The journey to becoming a doctor, from an academic standpoint, can be a lonely path – the hours spent studying, missed family occasions, lost friends. Yet these two occasions cemented in me that there is a group of wonderful minds and souls who go through this journey together.
"And go out and make a difference" as Dean [Robert L.] Johnson put it. The prospect of opening that door, and then walking through that door, remains the fondest memory.
How did Rutgers prepare you for your career?
The community that RBHS serves as well as RBHS' commitment to humanistic care prepared me to always hold with most value the patient in front of me. The mentors and faculty who guided me through my medical school career gave me the tools and confidence to pursue my goals. The institution provided me with the skill and support to develop expertise in different arenas, whether public health, research or student support.
What advice do you have for Rutgers Health students?
I say do not lose sight of your values and dreams because they have carried you so far and they will continue carrying you. Of course, that seems impractical and abstract, but when your values and dreams are clear, you can find facilitators, drivers or personifications of those values and dreams in your environment. So be curious and explore, say yes but know your limits.
Desmond Brown
What’s your job and where do you work?
I’m head of the neurosurgical oncology unit and assistant clinical investigator of the surgical neurology branch at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, part of the National Institutes of Health.
What compelled you to pursue the health care field?
I’ve wanted to do neurosurgery since the third grade. I was inspired by conversations with my dad.
We spent Sunday afternoons often philosophizing about whether we were more than our brain chemistry. In one of those conversations, I told him: “I just want to touch the brain!” He got me a book on neurosurgery, and I was hooked ever since.
What do you find rewarding about your profession? What’s challenging?
As a neurosurgical oncologist, I interact with patients at, almost universally, the worst time of their lives.
It is extremely rewarding to integrate the technical expertise of complex neurosurgery with compassion so that the result is the highest quality neurosurgical care possible. I particularly find it rewarding to educate patients and their families about the risks and benefits and details of all their options to empower them to make the best choice for them at that time.
I find it quite challenging that despite our best efforts, the prognosis for many of our patients remains poor and that there are still limited efficacious therapeutic options.
What is your favorite memory about being part of the first graduating class of RBHS?
I started medical school in the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey class of 2010 but returned to third year in 2012 after completing my Ph.D. and thus became a member of the inaugural Rutgers Biomedical Health Sciences Class of 2014.
One of my favorite memories is being in a small group session with my peers who welcomed me and reminded me how lucky I was to be in this special and memorable class.
How did Rutgers prepare you for your career?
In retrospect, one of the most important and useful experiences during my medical education at Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences was our patient-centered medicine course.
This longitudinal course set the foundation for placing the patient at the forefront of all interactions and treating each person with dignity and compassion. While this seems like basic human decency, there is an art to the delivery that can be (and was) taught and this has helped me tremendously during training and in practice.
What advice do you have for Rutgers Health students?
Always remember your “why” and be guided by that at all times. Value each educational experience; you never know what experience will become critical for you as your career meanders over time.
Fiona Chao
What’s your job and where do you work?
I’m a clinical pharmacy informaticist at Northern Navajo Medical Center in Shiprock, N.M., which is part of Indian Health Service (IHS), an operating division within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m also a pharmacy residency program director and an IHS national residency program co-coordinator.
What compelled you to pursue the health care field?
It was a great balance between a challenging career and stable employment while still being able to help others.
What do you find rewarding about your profession? What’s challenging?
Every day I get to do something different, whether it's direct patient care, creating an “order menu” for providers or participating in hospital meetings. It's rewarding to solve care delivery challenges as a team.
What is your favorite memory about being part of the first graduating class of RBHS?
For the first time you could get a doctor of pharmacy and master of public health as a dual degree. Although I didn't participate in the program, I remember being excited to learn about public health.
How did Rutgers prepare you for your career?
Not only do you learn in the classroom, you also learn how to listen to one another and build relationships.
What advice do you have for Rutgers Health students?
There are so many different pathways out there. Make sure you talk to as many people as you can and ask about their career path. You never know if you'll hear something that you didn't expect and are interested in.
Aline Holmes
What’s your job and where do you work?
I’m a registered nurse, working as an associate clinical professor of nursing, within the advanced practice division of Rutgers School of Nursing in Newark.
I teach a quality and safety in health care course, which I developed several years ago. I also work with students in doctor of nursing practice program as they plan their projects, which are aimed at improving quality of care and reducing harm. I coach them through the development of their proposal, getting it approved by their organization and the Rutgers institutional review board, implementing it and then writing their final paper based on what they have learned and accomplished.
What compelled you to pursue the health care field?
I always knew I wanted to work in the health care field, originally hoping to become a physician but my parents told me they couldn’t afford that level of education. In the 1960s, women could generally only go on to become teachers, secretaries or nurses.
Both of my parents were U.S. Marines, and the U.S. was engaged in the Vietnam conflict, so naturally I joined the U.S. Navy Nurse Corps to serve as a nurse, caring for wounded Navy personnel and Marines.
What do you find rewarding about your profession? What’s challenging?
The nursing profession has enabled me to grow and experience all sorts of positions within the health care field. I have been a staff nurse, an advanced practice nurse, a chief nursing officer and a chief operating officer, and a senior clinical leader of multiple quality and safety improvement initiatives, in hospitals, nursing homes and other health care settings in Washington, D.C., Chicago and New Jersey.
I have represented our profession on various state and national and have been able to advocate the importance of having nurses involved at the highest level in creating health care environments that support safe, effective, equitable and patient centered care in all settings.
What is your favorite memory about being part of the first graduating class of RBHS?
Finishing my doctor of nursing practice degrees – a major long-term goal for me – and celebrating this with my family and friends.
How did Rutgers prepare you for your career?
I can’t really say my education at Rutgers prepared me for my career since by the time I graduated in 2014, I had been a nurse for over 40 years. However, it was a very important personal goal of mine, and allowed me to become a faculty member at Rutgers several years ago.
What advice do you have for Rutgers Health students?
My advice is to always expect change. Learn to lean into it and use it to try different things and innovate. It can be a lot of fun!
Our system of health care needs to be dramatically overhauled and we need new ideas and visions, new champions and a renewed focus on primary, population- and community-based care and health equity.
We have to do this – for our families, our communities and our world.
Alec Keon
What’s your job and where do you work?
I’m a general dentist at a family and cosmetic dentistry practice in Hamilton Square, N.J.
What compelled you to pursue the health care field?
I started as a pharmaceutical chemist, but knew it ultimately wasn’t for me. I really wanted to work with people more directly.
I ended up speaking with my own family dentist who helped me see that the profession is a good fit for people who gravitate toward the arts and sciences and enjoy working with their hands.
What do you find rewarding about your profession? What’s challenging?
There is an art to restorative dentistry that is very fulfilling. We perform high-skill, technically demanding tasks on a daily basis, which I really enjoy.
Administrative issues (insurance, etc.) can be challenging, but having a great staff behind you is huge.
What is your favorite memory about being part of the first graduating class of RBHS?
Frankly, passing the clinical board exam was one of the best feelings ever. It was the culmination of so much time, effort, and coordination.
We were well prepared and I was confident going in, but that was still one of the most stressful days of my life.
How did Rutgers prepare you for your career?
When I look back, we really did cram an incredible amount of information and skill into four short years. It gave me a good foundation and set me up for lifelong learning.
Materials and technology are rapidly changing in the dental field, and not always for the better. Most concepts we learned in school still apply today.
What advice do you have for Rutgers Health students?
“Never follow your passion, but always bring it with you.” – Mike Rowe
Jihaan Mutasim
What’s your job and where do you work?
I work for the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene as a research scientist at the Office of External Affairs, where I support policy, emergency awareness, public service announcements and executive budget hearings. Before this role, I worked in the NYC Public Health Laboratory.
What compelled you to pursue the health care field?
Growing up in a political – and a military – family, I learned to prioritize serving people, community and nation. This was one of my driving forces for my career in health and my commitment to public service.
What do you find rewarding about your profession? What’s challenging?
New York is the greatest city in the world, and witnessing the positive impact my work has in the lives of New Yorkers is very rewarding. For example, during COVID, I led the vaccine operations in the Lower East Side in Manhattan and was recognized for obtaining one of the highest vaccine rates in the city.
In my profession, you must be response-ready because no two days are alike when it comes to emergency preparedness or planning and coordination of high-level meetings. I have a to-do list and I have my day and they usually do not align and managing both can be challenging.
What is your favorite memory about being part of the first graduating class of RBHS?
There are one too many great memories, but I must say the fondest would be overcoming academic challenges and realizing my potential for growth thanks to the help and guidance from my advisers and faculties.
How did Rutgers prepare you for your career?
Rutgers prepared me not only to work in a lab but also to take initiatives and manage working relationships. It also taught me how to manage a principal, especially during times when every project may be urgent.
What advice do you have for Rutgers Health students?
Stay curious and never stop learning despite any setbacks as they are the natural part of the learning process. Stay organized and up to date on the latest advancements and literature. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it.
William Waynor
What’s your job and where do you work?
I am an associate professor and program director in the Department of Psychiatric Rehabilitation and Counseling Professions at the Rutgers School of Health Professions.
What compelled you to pursue the health care field?
My family always encouraged me to pursue education, and I loved reading literature and enjoyed writing. I wanted to pursue a career helping people, making a difference and contributing to the betterment of the world. Additionally, I always liked science and the idea of making discoveries. Working in the health care field combined my career values and interests and is an exciting and rewarding career.
What do you find rewarding about your profession? What’s challenging?
Watching my students’ achievements is one of the most gratifying experiences as a program director.
Every May when I see my students walk on the stage to receive their diplomas, I feel so proud as I know they will go out into the mental health field and provide needed services to their communities. Additionally, I feel it is a privilege to be a researcher, as I find it rewarding to contribute to the body of knowledge in my field.
With all the exciting work I get to do as a program director and associate professor, I often think that I need to clone myself to do all the projects I would like to do.
What is your favorite memory about being part of the first graduating class of RBHS?
I loved the graduation ceremony at the Rutgers football stadium. The ceremony was outdoors on a beautiful spring day and all my family attended.
My father, who was in his 80s at the time, came all the way from Florida to see his son receive a Ph.D. I was also happy that my son, who was 11 at the time, was able to see his father’s achievement.
How did Rutgers prepare you for your career?
I entered the mental health field as a practitioner. My education at RBHS prepared me to be an educator in the psychiatric rehabilitation field. In addition, through my education in RBHS, I gained skills that prepared me to become both a researcher, scholar and administrator.
What advice do you have for Rutgers Health students?
An RBHS education will challenge you, but it is worth the effort, as RBHS provides incredible opportunities for both professional and personal growth.
RBHS 10th Anniversary
In 10 years, Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences (RBHS) has seen transformational achievements that have catalyzed us, changed Rutgers, and benefitted New Jersey and our valued partners and communities.
