Daniel Kim Is in the Right Place

 

KIS alum Daniel Kim, a fourth year medical student at New York Medical College, has matched into radiology residency at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center with Harvard Medical School. After graduating from KIS in 2011, Daniel earned his degree from Emory University in 2015 before beginning at New York Medical College (NYMC) in 2016. He graduates from NYMC in May 2021. While at NYMC, he also spent a year researching at Northwestern. Now he prepares for his upcoming residency. 

Radiology and its numerous sub-specialties are integral to patients, physicians and hospitals. Daniel will diagnose diseases in patients via reading imaging studies but will also directly treat patients through image-guided procedures – as a field, radiology offers some of the coolest, ever-evolving technology. He will also provide expert consults to physician colleagues across many specialties in medicine. But when Daniel talks more about the work a radiologist does – diagnostic review, procedures, health interventions – he uses the word meaningful.  

During high school at KIS, Daniel realized that when it comes to academics, he likes more objective studies. Being able to definitively answer a question is important. Science and math courses gave him that satisfaction. At the same time, he considered how to answer another question. When Daniel was in middle school, his grandmother was diagnosed with late stage pancreatic cancer and being near her suffering woke up new compassion. How could he help others who suffer?

Throughout your life there are moments of clarity or understanding, the sense that you know your purpose or what you want. The challenge is to hold those bright truths as you live your everyday routine. Daniel went to school, joined sports, found a breakdancing hobby. But that hope, to help people like his grandmother, that hope stayed too.

When Daniel remembers his time at KIS, he thinks first of his friends. He met his closest friends while at KIS and continues to keep in touch. With a few friends, Daniel started a breakdancing club – just for fun! – and he played tennis too. His sport experiences sparked an interest in how the body works. And his sport injuries sparked an interest in medicine too, as he worked with doctors and physical therapists to heal his body. 

Do you see how hopes, interests, and experiences come together? 

Now Daniel is waiting for residency to begin. He currently lives in Brooklyn, New York with his puppy Louie, a Westie that honors Daniel’s research at Northwestern while COVID was at its peak in 2020. As a hobby, he has a great passion for bodybuilding and makes gym time a daily routine. He knows his daily schedule is about to pick up the pace with the first year of residency starting in July 2021. As a part of his radiology training, he will complete his first year of residency in internal medicine first in Greenwich Hospital in Greenwich, Connecticut. In 2022 he will be headed for Boston to dive into radiology training. He will need to make a mental and emotional shift to accommodate long hospital hours and what it feels like to have less time to keep up with family and friends. But Daniel is confident he is in the right place. He is ready to care for others.