"I am eternally grateful to UNE COM for what they did for me and my family."
In 2008, the medical director left, and I was appointed interim medical director. After a year, I was brought on as the director of the ER. In 2011, a second hospital opened and I became the medical director of the ER there as well (Bethesda Hospital East and West). Outside the hospital, I held a number of other positions: I became the medical director of the Delray Beach Fire and Rescue since 2009; I currently serve as the medical director for an Air Ambulance company called Jet Rescue, and have participated in missions to transport Americans back to the U.S. from other countries; I also continue to serve on community committees.
What message would you give to prospective or even current students of UNE COM?
(Kushnir) If you go, you can do whatever you want. You are not held back or limited at all by what UNE COM provides. If you are committed, then UNE COM can help you succeed.
When you think of UNE COM, what memories or feelings does it evoke?
(Kushnir) Warm feelings. It is a family-oriented, warm environment, and everyone, including the professors, were there to help me succeed. I remember living on the water on Hills Beach Road by Buffleheads. I was given the nickname, the MD Wannabe, because I never connected with osteopathic manipulative medicine, the trademark of an osteopathic physician; it just didn’t interest me. I had no inclination to practice or even study for it. I noticed how OMM came more naturally to my peers, who were able to figure things out by intuition and feel. It came easier to them. Instead, I had to try to memorize everything to get through it. After I failed my first exam, I sat down with now Dean Jane Carreiro, DO, who was the Chair of the OMM Department at the time. I told her that I didn’t really believe in OMM, or like it, and that I was worried I wouldn’t be able to get through the material because of it. She said she appreciated my honesty, but that if I wanted to graduate, we needed to figure something out. I remember sitting in her office, and her helping draw out a plan of what needed to be done. She told me, you will need to study more and work harder than anybody else. Looking back, I think the focus on anatomy helped my ability in thinking about other things—to apply it in different ways. Although I don’t practice OMM as an emergency medicine physician, the knowledge from practice that was acquired during those long hours in the OMM lab, gave me a significantly better understanding of anatomy. I am proud of where I come from and wouldn’t dream of doing it any differently.