Episode 23: Inna Tounkel

May 6, 2018

My biggest role model is my mom. She and my dad came to the United States from Russia as Jewish refugees when my mom was seven months pregnant with me. My mom had already been a doctor in Russia. She finished medical school and was practicing as a doctor. When my parents arrived in the United States, they spoke very little English and lived off food stamps. My mom tells me stories about how when the phone would ring, she would be too scared to pick up because she wouldn’t understand what people were saying, and it would freak her out. At the same time, she was studying to take Step again so she could repeat her residency and practice medicine. She studied for Step knowing hardly any English, with an infant, in a country without any family or help. My mom took the test, passed, and became a doctor again! Her becoming a doctor not once, but twice, has always been an amazing source of inspiration for me.

Despite all of that, I initially refused to be pre-med or go into med school. Instead, I was really passionate about public health. I had an idealistic plan where I would travel after undergrad before returning to grad school to get an MPH. But then I graduated, got into the real world, and realized that I could achieve a lot more if I got an MD. It would open more doors for me in terms of what I could do with individual patients as well as in the field of public or even global health.

I recently went on a medical brigade in Honduras with my mom and other students from NYMC. When I was younger, I would always bug my mom and ask her why she didn’t participate in Doctors Without Borders or other similar programs. She was always busy and never had the time to even consider that as a possibility, so I was beyond excited when she agreed to come.

Having my mom on the trip was such an amazing experience. I got to watch her practice medicine which is something that I’d never seen. I really admired how patient she was. She only had fifteen or twenty minutes with each patient and was effortlessly able to establish rapport with them, even through a translator. Also, I didn’t realize this before, but I learned that she is an incredible teacher. M2s and M1s were always surrounding her to hear her explain things and everyone really enjoyed working alongside her. After the trip, she even mentioned that she might go back to teaching residents again. I ended up asking my mom if she would want to do Doctors Without Borders and she responded, “Only if you do it!” So I have already started planning all of our future medical brigades! I feel extremely lucky to be able to share these experiences with her.

What are your 5 Most Recently Played Artists on Spotify?
I don't have Spotify but I love the Bob Moses station on Pandora, my other top picks are Alt J, Tame Impala, anything Beyonce, and Above and Beyond...I can honestly go on forever, I love so many different kinds of music.

If you could have any superpower, which one would you choose?
Telekinesis would be pretty cool so I can channel my inner Eleven/Matilda.

Pick something or someone from NYMC go give out a shout out to!
Shout outs to my roomies, Elsie, Minnie, and Jasmin for being an incredible support system and always having my back, Kamran for reminding me to not take life so seriously all the time (and for sharing my love for chicken nuggets), and Katya for being my fellow (Bela)russianista in crime.

If someone wanted to talk to you, they should lead with…
"Want to check out this new [insert food] place?"