With his strong faith at the center of his life, Moshe Serwatien felt called to the practice of medicine because of the way it fulfills the Torah commandments of hashavat aveidah and demut elokim. “Having a career intrinsically rooted in mitzvot and Jewish values was very inspiring and meaningful to me,” he stressed.
That faith is also what led him to Touro University – first for undergraduate studies at Lander College for Men (LCM) and then for medical school at New York Medical College (NYMC). “I chose Lander because I wanted to keep learning Torah while in college,” he explains. “I had a lot of friends who went to secular colleges and struggled to manage their schedule with respect to Jewish holidays. The academic calendar at Lander and NYMC made it easy.”
While at Lander, Moshe’s professors were instrumental in preparing him for medical school, including helping him ace the chemistry section of the MCAT. “My rabbis at Lander held me to a very high level of academic excellence and intellectual standards, so I was quite prepared for the rigors of medical school,” he said.
Moshe also appreciated the mentorship he received, with faculty at Touro guiding him toward beneficial extracurricular activities, helping him to edit and polish his personal statement and application, and practicing interview questions to make him more comfortable.
Now a student at NYMC, Moshe spends his days practicing clinical skills and attending lectures, and while the curriculum is difficult, he feels well-prepared to handle it after studying at Lander. “The intensity and difficulty of studying and mastering Talmud is comparable to medical school,” he explained. Over the next few years, he’ll have the chance to follow specialists in different areas of medicine, and he plans to use that insight to decide what kind of medicine he’d like to pursue as his career.
Regardless of what kind of doctor Moshe decides to become, he knows that practicing medicine is the path he was meant to walk. “Maimonides identifies the many Jewish values in medical practice, but my favorite part is the overwhelming beauty in the way the human body works. It's easily the most fascinating and cool field of study I've come across outside the Torah,” he muses. “Job said ‘beatzmotai tirani yah’ that in his bones he sees G-d. I can attest to that.”
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DESCRIPTION: Text, HEALTHCARE HEROES GET THEIR START AT TOURO. TOURO UNIVERSITY.
DESCRIPTION: A dark-haired male student, Moshe Serwatien, walks in a study space while wearing a black backpack. He is then seen speaking with colleagues in an outdoor area, dressed in a white coat and sitting around a small table.
MOSHE SERWATIEN: My name is Moshe Serwatien, and I'm a student here at New York Medical College.
DESCRIPTION: Moshe sits for his interview in a gray room with large windows seen on the right. In the background is a couch and hung on the wall are framed images which are out of focus. Text, Moshe Serwatien, Touro’s Lander College for Men. New York Medical College.
MOSHE SERWATIEN: I studied biology at Lander College for Men. Enjoyed it tremendously.
DESCRIPTION: Moshe types on his computer in a library. He is also reviewing and studying from a textbook on medicine.
MOSHE SERWATIEN: The rigors of undergrad really prepared me for medical school, and in addition to the college component, learning with all the rebbeim really gave me the ability to sit in a chair and study complicated topics that require thinking and more than just memorization.
DESCRIPTION: Moshe reviews research with a professor in a science lab. There is a screen with images in front of them that they point to while they discuss the images.
MOSHE SERWATIEN: What I love about medicine is seeing the way that everything comes together.
DESCRIPTION: Moshe studies a digital 3D-model of a human body on a large flat-bed screen in the Anatomage room with a fellow student. They manipulate the image by touching the screen.
MOSHE SERWATIEN: Whatever it is a person wants to do whatever good they want to do in life. Be physically healthy in order to do humanitarian aid, be physically healthy in order to be a good father, a good mother.
DESCRIPTION: Moshe, another student, and a white-haired professor stand in a science lab, reviewing petri dishes with purple solution, inspecting them by holding them up to the light and discussing the research.
MOSHE SERWATIEN: My ability to help them achieve that is intertwined with a responsibility to do that.
DESCRIPTION: Montage of New York Medical College signage, Moshe speaking with a professor, and Moshe looking directly into camera while posting in front of stairs and a large window.
MOSHE SERWATIEN: I know here at New York Medical College, I'm receiving the best instruction for becoming the best medical professional that I can be.
DESCRIPTION: Text, HEALTHCARE HEROES GET THEIR START AT TOURO. SCHOOL OF HEALTH SCIENCES, TOURO UNIVERSITY. TOURO.EDU/POWERYOURPATH
