St. George’s University School of Medicine graduate Marc A. Milano, MD ’01, currently serves as chairman of emergency medicine at Newark Beth Israel (NBI) Medical Center and regional director of emergency medicine at Robert Wood Johnson Barnabas Health. He was named Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Faculty member of the year in 2020, won the Envision Health Genesis Cup in 2019 and the ACEP Clinical Excellence Award in 2020, and was Physician of the Year 2014 at Bayshore Community Hospital.
While Dr. Milano’s success is in no short supply, at one time he wasn’t even considering medicine as a career path. His parents had planted the seed, trying to inspire him to pursue medicine, according to Dr. Milano. Always having a passion for helping people during challenging times, he ultimately found that medicine allowed him to do what he loves through his life’s work.
He credits SGU and his determination to become an MD for preparing him well for clinicals and residency. While rotating at NBI, an affiliated hospital at the time, Dr. Milano carved a path for residency there, matched, and eventually rose to chief resident. Now, returning to NBI as chairman of emergency medicine truly feels like a full-circle moment for the New Jersey native.
Dr. Milano sat down with SGU News to share more of his journey and how SGU helped him along the way.
SGU: What is your favorite part of your job?
Dr. Milano: I love sitting down and holding the hand of an anxious or frightened patient and helping to calm them through whatever is going on with them—to provide reassurance, which I think is one of the best therapies we can administer. In fact, I train my students and residents that reassurance is a great prescription. You don’t need an electronic health record or a prescription pad to order it—it’s free, and no one is allergic to it!
SGU: How did you choose your specialty? What about it is appealing to you?
Dr. Milano: I chose emergency medicine because I knew I would never get bored or complacent. It is a fast-paced, high-energy specialty, which absolutely aligns with my personality.
SGU: How did SGU help prepare you for your career and specialty?
Dr. Milano: By supporting me as a student, particularly in the clinical years, SGU really helped guide me, which allowed me to end up in the program of my choice.
SGU: What was your experience in residency? What did it feel like to be named chief resident?
Dr. Milano: Residency was one of the best times of my life. I was one of the first ever SGU students to match into NBI. This was precedent-setting, as the program has since opened its doors to many more SGU graduates over the last 20+ years. We are proud and fortunate to have a great relationship with SGU.
When I was rotating at NBI as a student, the MD program was only a few years old. I recall during one of my rotations getting a moment of the attention of the department chair. I seized the opportunity and let him know that I wanted to train at NBI. Fortunately, I matched there. I am exceedingly proud to have represented SGU and continue to do so. Becoming chief resident was a dream come true, and it laid the foundation of my leadership journey.
SGU: What are your ultimate career plans?
Dr. Milano: I want to provide the highest quality, safest, and most compassionate care to my patients. I also want to train residents and students to be compassionate, competent physicians.
SGU: What advice do you have for aspiring medical students considering SGU?
Dr. Milano: Don’t wait. Take control of your life and if your heart is set on a career in medicine, SGU will give you the gift of that opportunity.
