TouroCOM Harlem Celebrates New Class of Osteopathic Physicians at Lincoln Center

After a warm opening by Master of Ceremonies Dr. Nadege Dady, the graduates were led in procession by a bagpiper and a color guard unit, followed by a rendition of the National Anthem from international operatic soprano Celsea Bonagura; a military commissioning of two graduates; and an invocation by Executive Vice President and University Ombudsman Rabbi Moshe Krupka.

Dr. Patricia Salkin, senior vice president, academic affairs and provost of the graduate and professional divisions provided opening remarks, congratulating the Class of 2026 on behalf of President Alan Kadish and Touro leadership.

TouroCOM’s Mission

“Your journey has been guided by the mission of TouroCOM – to train osteopathic physicians with a particular emphasis on practicing medicine in underserved communities; to value public service, research and graduate medical education; and to use innovative educational techniques to graduate highly qualified osteopathic physicians,” she said, telling the graduates they’re ready to practice with the knowledge, skill, resilience and the heart to make a difference.

“Remember the patients you met in Harlem, the communities you have served, and the calling that brought you to this moment,” she urged.

TouroCOM Executive Dean and Chief Academic Officer Dr. Kenneth Steier offered congratulations and said the graduates’ compassion, empathy and human connection would distinguish them. As they begin their new journeys, he said their patients will remember how they made them feel, “the physician who stood beside them during moments of fear and vulnerability.”

Health care will present challenges and opportunities, said Dr. Steier, and technological advances, research and innovation will continue to transform medicine, “Yet no advancement will ever replace integrity, humility, ethical leadership and compassion,” he said.  

Numerous awards followed inspirational remarks from keynote speaker former New York State Governor David A. Paterson, Touro Vice President of Campus Engagement; class member Emina Dzafic; and Dr. Richard Steward, Class of 2015 and program director of the Family Medicine Residency Program at St. John’s Episcopal Hospital.

Conrad Fischer, M.D., professor of medicine at TouroCOM and program director in internal medicine; vice chair of medicine at Brookdale Hospital in Brooklyn; and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at One Brooklyn Health hospital system received the Sheldon L. Sirota Medal of Honor, a memorial award presented annually to an outstanding educator. The award is named in honor of Dr. Sheldon Sirota, New York's first osteopathic cardiothoracic heart surgeon and vice president of medical affairs for the Touro system, who had a fundamental role in founding Touro's DO schools in California, Nevada and New York.

“Epidemic of Loneliness”

An ordained minister who recently co-executive produced an Academy Award-winning documentary about gun violence against children, “All the Empty Rooms", Dr. Fischer spoke about an epidemic of loneliness that has been the subject of recent research and news reports.

“What a society we have where 65-year-olds say they’re lonely 15 percent of the time and 20, 30-year-olds say they’re lonely 40 or 50 percent of the time?” he asked rhetorically. “You have a sacred purpose that will bring you interaction with other human beings and you can dispel this disease for yourself and other people.”

Numerous student awards were presented: Briana Mosley received the Excellence in Public Health Award; Daniel Hahn, Katarina Milosavljevic, Lauren Velasquez and Abigail Smurzynski received Excellence in Research Awards; and the Dean’s Award, to students with the highest academic standing and in recognition of personal achievement and success in didactic studies and clinical rotations went to 11 students.

Jelissa Hernandez Lopez, M.S., DO, cum laude, received a scholarship award that recognizes achievements of underrepresented students from the Michael Hardy, Esq. & Geoffrey E. Eaton Scholarship Fund. Lopez emigrated with her family from Ecuador to North Carolina at eight years and pursued medicine after witnessing her grandmother’s struggles to get care for diabetes. Lopez will be a resident at UNC Southeastern in Emergency Medicine and hopes to open a free clinic for immigrants and people of color in a low-income area.

About TouroCOM, she said, “I wanted to find a medical school that would support those dreams and aspirations. TouroCOM offered a scholarship for underrepresented minorities and told me not only can I be a doctor, but I can also make the path easier for those who come after me. It’s empowering to be given the opportunity to enact positive change.”

Slightly more than half of the class will be entering primary care or other shortage specialties.  Among the most popular specialties are anesthesia, neurology, physical medicine & rehabilitation (“PM&R”), diagnostic radiology and urology.

Leading academic medical centers receiving TouroCOM students are Tufts Medical Center, Stony Brook Hospital, NYU Grossman, University of Louisville, Brown University, Henry Ford, and George Washington University.