episode 07: zachary vazquez
october 18, 2023
Interview by pRIYANKA gERA
Edited by Priyanka Gera and Michael Fortunato
Photo by Ivan Dominguez
Alright Zac, tell me a little bit about where you grew up.
The first 5 years of my life were in Jersey City. My family moved to Parsippany because they wanted to be in a quieter neighborhood when I started school. I spent 12 years there. Not entirely in Parsippany though. I did go to Denville to go to a magnet high school for introduction to healthcare. It’s called Morris County School of Technology. It’s basically a vocational school that incorporates other elements of a normal high school. I went to the College of New Jersey for my undergrad. I was there for 4 years. I did some research with one of my professors during the last 3 years there. COVID interrupted that, but we were back in the saddle the first semester of 2021, so that was nice.
Do you have a favorite part of New Jersey?
I am biased toward the Piedmonts, where I grew up. But it's a pretty good state overall.
You mentioned a vocational school, so does that mean you always were on the healthcare track? What did you want to be when you were younger?
I wanted to be an astronomer when I was really young.
Woah. Any reason you didn’t pursue that?
I don’t know. I think I got distracted by other areas of science. I liked chemistry a lot in middle school which informed the degree I would eventually pursue in college. Sometime in middle school I also started getting into the medical arts. My mom bought me a lot of anatomy books and models. When I got the opportunity to make that a core pillar of my education in high school, I took it.
This is going to be a deeper question. What do you think is the key to a long lasting friendship?
It's a good question. I think being willing to pick up where things are left off, no matter how much time is spent apart, is a component of every long lasting friendship I’ve seen. As to how you would achieve that, I have yet to discover. It may just be luck.
The last vacation you took Zac.
The year before medical school started. My family rented a house in Ocean Grove, NJ. We spent about a week and a half there.
Still New Jersey. I see the pattern.
The state’s got some nice places to visit.
Why NYMC?
I had some schools picked out when I was preparing for my MCAT and then I found out for NYU Langone I had to take the CASPER. I figured it would not be very cost-efficient to apply to only one school that required CASPER, so if other schools needed CASPER and they were in the price and geographical range I wanted, I would apply to them. NYMC was one of those schools. If it is any consolation, I did come to like the school during the presentation they gave and also not requiring any long secondary app put a lot of points in its favor.
What’s one thing you had to learn the hard way?
How to study. I was not the kid that liked to study a lot, at all. I kind of had to figure something out. In my senior year of high school, they let us study at the community college and that was the first time I had to get serious about that. For one thing, I was driving myself there so I couldn’t just study the day before on the bus ride in. I feel like I have gotten better at that since I’ve started medical school.
So what’s your study routine now?
It varies a bit. Nowadays I do RxBricks after listening or going to lecture, to reinforce the topic. Then do practice tests with that or do the class anki. But, in general, I spend like 30 minutes to an hour outside of lecture on that topic for every hour in lecture, but it’s hard. I forget at the end of every module how I studied.
Do you follow your head or your heart?
I follow my pancreas.
[laughs] I’m not sure how that works.
I guess I’d like to say head, most of the time.
What did you do during the summer this year?
I was in the neuroscience research program at WMC.
Ooo. How did that go?
It was pretty cool. They had us working with attendings or residents there on their research projects. I got to work with a doctor I’ve been shadowing since earlier this year. And the last week of my time there, they let me jump in on rotations with neurologists and radiation oncologists. I was supposed to shadow another neurosurgeon, but he didn’t have anything scheduled after I got out of the morning mandatory session, but I still got to shadow the doctor I am doing research with.
I know you want to do neurosurgery. So did this program solidify your decision?
I feel like it made it harder to decide between that and neurology because now I know a little bit more about what neurologists do. But, I still like how hands-on surgery is. I'm still trying to figure out how much that means to me though.
Who is your role model?
I would say my grandma. For as long as I have been alive, she has been working her tail off either supporting her kids or her grandkids. She is in her 80s now, but still trying to be active helping us. Nowadays, it is more like giving her something to do, but she has always been an integral part of the family. Supporting my parents so they could focus on their careers, making sure that we had something in the house all the time when I was growing up.
Aw. She sounds like an amazing person ❤️. Let me guess, she lives in NJ though right?
[laughs] Yes, she does.
Do you have any phobias?
Thalassophobia. Fear of the ocean. I don’t like cloudy water. It might be when I was a kid, there was a creek at the end of our street, and it floods sometimes. There is a little area of stagnant water where dirt collects. When I was a kid, I did not realize that it was not solid land, so I fell in. It was kind of scary. No one noticed either for the first 30 seconds. I thought I would have to crawl my way out of there through the leaves and the bridge that was near there. That day forward, I only really swim in pools. I try not to go anywhere where my feet won't touch the ground.
On a lighter note, which song would you sing at karaoke night?
“Teo Torriatte” is pretty good. But any Queen song, I think.
How could someone gain your trust?
Communication would be key. I will tolerate people needing more time to do things, if I am warned ahead of time so it’s not a last minute scramble to make sure everything is getting done.
What are you feeling grateful for today Zac?
This week being a self-study week. I appreciate them doing that now.
If you could live in a book genre, which would you choose?
If I could be the detective, I’d like to be in mystery.
Woah, wait. Is that your secret calling?
I like a good mystery. A good head scratcher.
Favorite mystery book?
Um. I’d say I like the genre as a whole, even if I haven’t read a whole ton of mystery books nowadays. I used to as a kid. I kind of like mystery-style games now.
Which mystery game did you last play?
It’s called “Shadows of Doubt.” It’s kind of a detective simulator about solving murder cases. It’s supposed to be a futuristic city but it takes place in the 1980s, so I guess it's future punk or something.
What’s one thing you will never do again?
There is this theme park in NJ. It is called Mountain Creek. It used to be called Action Park-–if you are familiar with how many lawsuits they’ve been in. they are not exactly known for safety, but they have one ride called “H2-Oh-NO!” Going down is like being waterboarded. I’m glad I tried it once, but I do not think I am ever going back. It is also a completely dark tube, so it plays into the thalassophobia.
Do you have any hidden talents?
I don’t know if I can still call this a talent, but I used to play the piano. I started when I was 5. I haven’t been in practice lately.
Wait, but I know you can bake and cook too. You didn’t mention that at all.
I can dissect a chicken with a pair of cooking shears. I don't know if people want to know that.
Well, now they will. Who did you learn to cook from?
The internet mostly.
Was it in college? Or when did you start?
It was in my junior year of high school. I started watching a lot of Chef John on Food Wishes and Binging with Babish. They are pretty good cooks. I really got into during COVID though, when I was basically making all the meals my family was eating.
That’s a lot of practice.
Oh yeah.
Last question. Words of advice to M1s.
Study with buddies. You will know things your peers don’t, and your peers will know things you don’t. You can come together and mix the knowledge.
Contact Zachary at zvazquez@student.touro.edu.
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