Our guest today has a very unusual path to medical school. I’m going to let her tell her story with very little intro from me. All I’ll say now is she once upon a time had a career in finance, did her postbac at Columbia and attended Rutgers New Jersey Medical School where she earned her MD. She did a residency in pediatrics, also at Rutgers, and is now in a pediatric neurology fellowship at Children’s National Medical Center.

Let’s learn more about Dr. Deborah Horenstein.

Can you tell us a little about yourself – your background, where you’re from? [1:25]

I was born in Brooklyn and grew up in Long Island. I went to college at Northwestern and started out studying theater. I became more religious (I’m Jewish), and started observing the Sabbath. I decided that a career in theater wasn’t going to coincide with my religious practices, so I switched to communications, with a minor in economics; and then decided to study econ fully. I transferred to Barnard in NY and graduated with a degree in economics.

I moved to LA, worked in finance, got married and had kids.

How did you come to pursue a career in medicine? [2:45]

I was blessed with three daughters. My youngest daughter was very complicated medically, and I became almost a fulltime caregiver. Her illness encompassed 12 different specialties. Her primary condition, which was an immune dysfunction, was actually something they’d never seen before.

She got a lot of care at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. And she needed a bone marrow transplant, which we did at Duke.

She passed away after a lot of complications. She was eight. Her name was Ariella.

I decided to use my experience to pursue becoming a physician, so I could help other children and families.

What was the hardest part of getting back into the “student” saddle? [5:50]

Definitely taking exams! Throughout my daughter’s life, I was reading a lot, researching a lot – so studying wasn’t anything new. But taking exams was hard.

How did you handle it? [6:45]

Through a lot of prayer! I definitely studied a lot – I’m a disciplined person – I put in a lot of hard work. And I used self-talk, trusting that I knew the material.

Economics doesn’t have the same kind of time-breakers as science and medicine – previous exams for me were about writing essays. It’s definitely a big challenge. Whether it’s in postbac, med school, boards – it pushes you to the time limit. Part is studying and knowing it really well; part is calming your nerves; and part is trusting and having a belief in yourself.

What was the hardest part of the application process for you? [9:20]

I was limited in where I could apply – I had a family, so I needed to be able to commute. I basically had seven schools I could apply to. The postbac program at Columbia recommends (even for the very top students) applying to 20 schools, because of the sheer number of students applying.

One of the things I didn’t have information about – I wasn’t aware of how to contact schools after applying, to stay on their radar. Once I started doing that, I got three more interviews.

There is a certain reality to the number of applications they get – if you can stay on their radar it’s a benefit.