Benjamin Kahn’s story could be turned into a documentary, one that, in his past life, he may have assembled himself.

After all, it isn’t often that an Emmy Award-winning producer leaves behind the glitz and glamour to pursue a career in medicine. The 2020 St. George’s University graduate—a quintissential career changer—is now less than two months away from starting his internship year at NYC Health + Hospitals/Coney Island , at a time and in a place where care is most crucial.

“We are the first class of graduates to embark on our medical careers during these unsettling times in the middle of this pandemic,” Dr. Kahn said. “This is one of those life-changing events for our generation. And in facing this challenge, we not only join our brothers and sisters on the forefront in the battle to save lives from this novel virus, but we also get to set the precedent for the future and for those who will be following us.

“I look at this not only as a personal duty to grow into that role, but a privilege to serve my community the very best way I can and to take care of my patients with the greatest level of care.”

SHOW BIZ

Dr. Kahn’s career in television began at Syracuse University’s prestigious SI Newhouse School of Public Communications, which has produced such on-screen personalities as Ted Koppel, Steve Kroft, and Bob Costas. He earned his degree in TV and film production and set off to tell stories through his camera lens. His work included a documentary titled “A Walk in the Dark,” which chronicled how a man whose eyesight was taken from him following an automobile accident and then worked to overcome his disability to succeed in school.

“He hadn’t been back to New York City since his car accident and was afraid to go back there independently,” Dr. Kahn said. “My goal was to empower him and help him go back to face his fear. We went on a road trip to Manhattan and he was able to experience the sights and sounds of New York City again through a different perspective.”

The film won Best Short Documentary at the New York International Film and Video Festival and opened up doors for him in the world of television. He went on to work as a producer for such outlets as The Glenn Beck Program, ESPN, SNY, as well as NBC, for which his work on “George to the Rescue,” a home renovation series that helped local families impacted by tragedy, earned a New York Emmy Award.

With wear and tear from the job, however, he discovered that he had torn his labrum, an injury that required surgery. His hospital stay reinforced a feeling that he had been having of late—that he wanted something more.

“I felt vulnerable. I had never really hurt myself before, and it was a very difficult recovery,” he said. “My doctor was very integral in making a real difference in my life. He explained everything to me and become involved in my life. So I asked if could shadow him one day to see what it was like.”

When he did, it changed the course of Dr. Kahn’s life. He was struck by the doctor’s professionalism, interaction with patients, and impact on their lives.

“It lit a fire in my belly,” he added. “In TV, there’s an authenticity to everything, but there’s also an element of fabrication done behind the camera. But when I was shadowing him, I remember thinking ‘this is real.’ I just felt like I wanted to make more of a difference in people’s lives.”

A NEW FRONTIER

With no science background, Dr. Kahn “took the leap of faith and never looked back.” He put up high marks on his prerequisite courses at Hunter College and Stony Brook University. It was then that he learned about the Emmy win—and opportunities that came with it—but by that point had committed to his second career.

“I made the decision that I was all in,” he said. “I felt like I had closure at that point, and that all the experiences that I had in television had led me to medicine. I learned how to perform in high pressure environments, to work well with a team, and that everybody is just as important as the next.”

At age 30, he applied to and enrolled at SGU. It took time for him to find a rhythm, but with the help of the University’s student support services, he developed strong study skills and test-taking habits.

While he described himself as being “all business” during his two basic science years in Grenada, he took in all that the island had to offer. The knowledge and skills he acquired set him up well to excel in clinical training, which he completed in Brooklyn.

“It wasn’t easy; I really had to work for it,” Dr. Kahn said. “In the end, I just feel so blessed to have been given the opportunity to become a doctor, and the confidence and the tools that I need to succeed.”

He’ll return to Brooklyn for residency at Coney Island Hospital, joining a 371-bed facility in one of the NYC Health + Hospital system’s 11 acute care facilities across the five boroughs. He will enter a transitional year and then turn his sights to continuing with a position in dermatology or internal medicine.

Coming from a family of dentists, from an award-winning stint in television, and making a late start to his second career, Dr. Kahn’s path to becoming a physician has not been a straight line, but he firmly believes that his experiences will only help his future patients.

“I have a different perspective on everything,” he said. “My background and my experience at SGU molded me into the person and the physician that I am today, and I look forward to getting started.” 

– Brett Mauser

“Can you start tomorrow?”

Alex Kurjatko, MD ’11, a locum tenens physician, was in Oregon at the time. The call came from Morristown Medical Center in New Jersey, where COVID-19 continued to run rampant. He’s just one of hundreds of doctors who rushed to the tri-state area’s side to combat the virus.

In the span of 48 hours, Dr. Kurjatko obtained an emergency medical license in New Jersey—a process that usually takes weeks—made a pitstop at his residence in Minnesota, and traveled to Morristown to begin work on April 1.

“It’s nice to put my critical care training to use, and to return to an area where I did so many of my rotations as a medical student,” he said.

Dr. Kurjatko has been a locum tenens—Latin for “one who holds the place of”—since completing his surgery critical care fellowship at the Mayo Clinic. It has allowed him to travel throughout the US, obtaining licensure in seven states. Jobs tend to be in rural America where the physicians per capita can’t compare to urban areas. But with hospitals turning entire departments into intensive care units as a result of COVID-19, there was a dire need for physicians with critical care backgrounds.

Morristown has had to make some adjustments on the fly, with the projected number of intensive care patients challenging its capacity to hold them, necessitating new boundaries—and additional physicians. It was initially supposed to be a four-day stint for Dr. Kurjatko, but he’s now slated to work there through at least the end of May.

For Dr. Kurjatko, who has stepped into situations at crucial times before, it was a natural fit.

“Traveling has made it easy for me to step into situations like this and hit the ground running,” he said. “I don’t just want to sit back and watch everything happen and not be there to help people one way or the other.”

– Brett Mauser

Most patient visits start with obtaining a medical history, an all-important record of allergies, illnesses, and more that helps physicians formulate a diagnosis. With the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic sweeping the United States and countries around the world, clues in these histories can not only help an individual but affect the treatment of much larger populations.

“Infectious disease physicians are very good diagnosticians,” said Lorena Polo, MD ’13, an ID physician at First Choice Health Centers, an outpatient facility in East Hartford, CT. “You have to take very good histories from the patient. You have to be a good listener. And then you take the bits and pieces of information, see where they might have been exposed, create a story, and come up with a diagnosis.”

She remembers her first COVID-positive patient well—a patient in their 20s—well after the disease emerged elsewhere. Since then, her practice has seen a steady flow of patients who present with COVID-19 symptoms—fever, cough, shortness of breath. While some are admitted at local hospitals, a vast majority are treated at home. Even if patients have mild or no symptoms, they still pose the threat of transmitting the disease to other community members.

“A very large number of patients are battling this illness or recovering from it at home,” she said. “Often on the news, they are only showing the mortality or high morbidity aspects of the disease. And while important, this has also created a sense of anxiety because patients don’t know what to expect. Being afraid is a natural human response to the unknown, and we want to prevent that by making sure our patients are well informed.”

With governmental regulations changing by the week or even the day, Dr. Polo and her colleagues have made a point to stay up to the minute themselves so they can safely care for their patients. The situation is changing so quickly that infectious disease fellowship books are being updated with COVID-19 information as it becomes available.

Infectious disease physicians are more than prepared for common afflictions such as influenza, pneumonia, staph infections, and more. With familiarity, the symptoms are easy to identify and the procedure to treat is spelled out. However, like past outbreaks of diseases such as SARS, MERS, and Ebola, the COVID-19 pandemic has challenged the healthcare community to come up with a treatment and a cure in a short period of time.

“We’ve trained for infections that may have been imported from other countries. We live in a society where there’s a lot of travel both domestically and internationally. We’re familiar with it because of the way that society has worked,” Dr. Polo said. “But no amount of fellowship training can prepare you for such a complex disease. It’s a very unique and challenging time.”

–Brett Mauser