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When , dean of , walked on stage in the Murphy auditorium to face a sea of on September 13, he recounted starting his own journey in medical school 30 years ago.

“It felt like stepping into something much bigger than myself,” said Dr. Kimmelman, who is also CEO of NYU Langone Health. “This relatively simple act carried a newfound responsibility. It also elicited feelings of opportunity and limitless potential.”

Entering a pioneering and flexible three-year medical program, NYU Grossman School of Medicine’s newest incoming class is truly the best of the best, culled from over 8,000 applicants.

The Navy Intelligence Officer Who Found Her Calling in a Moving Operating Room

It wasn’t until India June witnessed a surgery at sea that she saw a path to medicine.

June, from Nyack, New York, began her undergrad years at Yale in the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps program.

“Most people in my family have been in the military,” June said, citing her service-oriented values growing up. “My role as a case manager for sailors with serious health conditions was what sparked my interest in healthcare.”

“Each of you has your ‘why’—why you chose to be a doctor and why you chose NYU Grossman School of Medicine,” Dr. Kimmelman told the class. For June, that “why” became clear on a Navy ship far from shore.

June had asked to shadow a naval surgeon. “I came down after my shift, and I saw an open appendectomy on the ship while it was moving. The makeshift operating room and how steady the surgeon’s hands were really spoke to what my next steps would be.”

June took prerequisite courses one at a time across three different institutions while in the military unsure of how a medical school would view this. “So I applied to 35 schools,” she said.

“I was on active duty, working on a major geopolitical crisis, walking into my apartment late at night when I got the call from Dean Rivera [Rafael Rivera, MD, MBA, associate dean for admission and financial aid], it was just so crazy to hear directly from him that I’d been admitted to my dream school.”

4,000 Miles from Home and Chasing a Dream

For Magdalena Todorinova, the dream of medical school began 4,000 miles away in Bulgaria. Born and raised there, she moved to Queens with her mother and younger sister when she was 17.

“When we moved here in 2018, I remember walking down the street and seeing somewhere that NYU was going tuition-free [providing Full-Tuition Scholarships]. I thought what a great opportunity, and at the same time, I thought that must be so competitive there is very little chance of me getting in.”

Todorinova’s academic credits from her home country didn’t properly transfer, but her work ethic did.

“My whole life, my mom, who never went to college, has been dedicated to us learning as much as we can. We’ve been in language classes separately from regular school ever since we were 6,” she said.

During her time as an undergraduate at Hofstra University, Todorinova taught children’s rhythmic gymnastics and dance, which helped her realize how much she loved working with people of different ages. After college, she worked as a scribe in the Bronx, documenting medical encounters for primary care physicians, which solidified her goal to become an obstetrician. She hopes her future patients describe her as comforting, compassionate, and resourceful.

“I applied to as many schools as I could afford. I thought about going to Germany to medical school but wasn’t even sure I’d be able to afford to go all the way there, and I really wanted to stay close to family.”

When Dean Rivera called with her acceptance, Todorinova burst into tears. Her sister heard her from the other room and came running, saying, “Just say it out loud. I think I know what happened, but just say it.”

The Singer Who Turned Caregiving into Leadership

Osagie Aimiuwu, the current class president, initially had no clear direction toward healthcare.

During his undergrad years, Aimiuwu was an avid a cappella singer, something he hopes to rekindle once he gets settled in New York, having moved here from Maryland. He held a constellation of jobs. He worked as a medical scribe, tutor, and teaching assistant.

“I worked for a woman with multiple sclerosis for almost two years,” said Aimiuwu. “Over that time, I got to know her, her husband, and their entire family. Helping her with her activities of daily living and providing respite care introduced me to the rewards of working with families in a healing capacity.”

On being class president, Aimiuwu said: “During orientation week, I saw how diverse the class is. They all bring their own perspectives, and every person I talked to is just so passionate about why they’re here. It made me want to represent them, advocate for them, and have an excuse to bring them all together. I am so grateful to have been elected.”

The Pandemic Pivot

Joseph Turner, 24, from Austin, Texas, initially wanted nothing to do with medicine. His mother’s diagnosis with multiple sclerosis when he was seven left him distrustful of hospitals.

“I spent a lot of time in hospitals with my mom, and I didn’t have a great experience as a little kid watching her go through chemo and lose her ability to walk,” he said.

But Turner’s perspective shifted during a Latter-day Saint (Mormon) mission to Brazil that was cut short by the pandemic. Rather than return home, he stayed, studying remotely and volunteering at a local hospital. During this time, he became fluent in Portuguese. Turner realized that “the knowledge of medicine was less important than the ability to communicate with patients.”

After spending more than two years in Brazil, Turner moved to Boston and worked in a research lab. Within months, he took the MCAT and applied to medical schools. He got a call while he was working in the lab.

“I was a little bit caught off guard,” he said. “It’s a huge relief to know you got in after the years and the months of applications and the stress of not knowing what the outcome would be. It’s a very good feeling to know that you got in, particularly to NYU.”

Getting into NYU seemed to light a match in Turner’s life. Only a week later came another milestone: his wedding, where he and his wife, who are both pianists, celebrated by performing a duet arrangement of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2. A few months after that, he received a Young Investigator Award from the American Epilepsy Society for his research on brain networks in epilepsy, an honor commonly given to junior faculty and PhD researchers, making his recognition as an incoming first-year medical student especially notable.

Reflecting on the momentum behind him, Turner said, “I hope my future patients know that I’m someone who genuinely listens to them and tries to get to the bottom of their issues. I want to be someone who goes the extra mile to give people the best care.”

Facing Death, Harvard, and Rebirth

Wesley Rey Rivera, from Orlando, Florida, shares the most dramatic career change in the incoming class. At age 12, he was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, a cancer typically diagnosed at 70. When his life hung in the balance, his sister stepped forward as a bone marrow donor, making him Orlando’s first successful pediatric bone marrow transplant recipient.

The experimental treatment saved his life, but the trauma left him wanting nothing to do with hospitals.

Instead of medicine, he attended Harvard, then built a successful decade-long career in consulting. But during COVID, while isolated in San Francisco, Rivera began questioning whether success without purpose was enough.

“I could not stop thought-spiraling about if what I am doing really aligns with who I am and what I envision contributing to the world,” he said.

Rivera went on a quest to find these answers. He went to medical conferences where he learned about groundbreaking psychedelic research for neuropsychiatric conditions. Having survived cancer himself and watching his sister battle MS, Rivera recognized an opportunity to pioneer treatments that could transform lives the way his transplant had transformed his.

The transition demanded extraordinary sacrifice: completing a two-year postbaccalaureate program while working full-time, sleeping little, and watching lectures at 2.5x speed. When Dean Rivera (no relation) called with his acceptance, he was happy to be with family.

“I put him on speakerphone, and he shared the good news, and we were all jumping up and down and just super ecstatic,” he said. “Lots of happy tears. I had been working for so many years of trying to reach that moment, and because I also was optimistic that it meant that I could get into my residency at the same time.” Among the happy crowd was his wife’s grandfather who practiced as an orthopedic surgeon and clinician until he was 99 years old.

“He reinforced that NYU is just the best medical school in the country, and I knew he was right.”

Rivera hopes his future patients will describe him “as part of the family, as someone who cares for them like he would his own children.”

Media Inquiries

Arielle Sklar
Phone: 646-960-2696
Arielle.Sklar@NYULangone.org