Alumna Gives CSTEP Scholars Practical Advice on Medical School

Applying to medical school can be daunting, especially for minority students who may not have had the educational advantages of their peers.

But Nilda I. Soto, a two-time Fordham graduate and assistant dean in the office of diversity enhancement at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, wants students to know that with the proper support, they can become doctors.

Nilda I. Soto with Fordham CSTEP students at Einstein

“This is a doable, attainable goal that you have,” she told a group of 10 incoming freshmen in Fordham’s Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program (CSTEP) for minority and economically disadvantaged students. “It’s a very disciplined endeavor but it’s doable.”

The students visited Einstein on July 22 as part of Fordham’s five-week CSTEP Summer Scholars program. Students live on the Rose Hill campus, take math and science courses, and visit medical, dental, and optometry schools.

In a conference room on the Einstein campus, Soto doled out practical advice on how to sequence college courses, when to take the MCAT, and the importance of summer internships.

Part of her goal for the afternoon was to debunk “the horror stories” about medical school admissions. Everyone’s heard a tale about the student “with the 3.88 average and the fabulous MCAT score who didn’t get in.” But admissions staff value more than scores, she said, citing her colleague in the diversity office at Einstein who “looks at the road you have traveled.”

If students can remain focused on their studies despite significant challenges, Soto said, “then we feel comfortable that you’re going to succeed in medical school.”

She cautioned, however, that the percentage of minority students in medical schools is low. She noted only 500 black men matriculated into medical school in 2013, out of 20,000 students, according to a chart from the American Association of Medical Colleges that Soto included in a packet she put together for the CSTEPpers. “If you don’t get the support and help, our numbers are going to look worse.”

A Bronx native, Soto graduated in 1974 from Thomas More College (Fordham’s undergraduate women’s college, which existed from 1964 until 1974, when it merged with Fordham College at Rose Hill). After earning a B.A. in urban studies, she worked on the Rose Hill campus for HEOP, the Higher Education Opportunity Program, and went on to earn a master’s degree from Fordham’s Graduate School of Education in 1978.

She has been at Einstein for 24 years, during which time she has worked closely with Michael Molina, CSTEP’s director at Fordham, advising CSTEP students early in their college careers.

“You have very good and focused young people,” she said, but they are competing against kids who’ve gone to high schools with extensive science equipment and resources. “And here are these kids thinking, ‘Maybe I got to dissect a frog.’ The program is needed to help level the playing field.”

Soto also accepts CSTEP students into her summer research program at Einstein and, in the case of at least one aspiring medical student, has provided extended mentorship.

CSTEPper Nabilah Nishat said the afternoon at Einstein—and the summer program—have made her goals seem more realistic.

“CSTEP showed me it’s possible to go into the health professions,” she said, “and because it’s possible, I’m inspired to go on.”

 —Nicole LaRosa

Yes, Fordham, There is a Virginia

Fordham has its share of famous alumni, but with Thanksgiving tomorrow and the official arrival of Santa Claus in New York (courtesy of the Macy’s parade), our thoughts turn to Virginia O'Hanlon, Ph.D., Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, 1930.

In 1897, Virginia, then eight years old, famously wrote the New York Sun from her family home at 115 West 95th Street in Manhattan to ask whether there was a Santa Claus.

Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.
Francis Pharcellus Church
The New York Sun
Sept. 21, 1897

(See the full text, original clipping and a picture of the extravagantly mustachioed Church at the Newseum website.)

Virginia, later Virginia O’Hanlon Douglas, went on to attend Hunter College, Columbia University and Fordham. She spent her entire career teaching in the New York City School System, and retired in 1959. She died on May 13, 1971, in Valatie, N.Y.

“What Church did was sustain a child's hope while giving her a statement of ideals that are worthwhile for the adult. He did not simply continue a myth. He gave a reason for believing,” William David Sloan, a journalism professor at the University of Arkansas, told the New York Times on the 100th anniversary of Church’s famous reply.

Sunday, Nov. 29, marks the beginning of Advent—an appropriate time to remember Virginia O’Hanlon’s timeless question, and Francis Church’s generous response. Fordham University wishes our readers a happy and safe Thanksgiving, and a joyous holiday season.

Updated Dec. 3, 2009

GSAS Alumna Named to Influential APA Committee

Scyatta A. Wallace, Ph.D., (GSAS ’02) associate professor of psychology at St. John’s University, has been appointed to the American Psychological Association’s Committee on Psychology and AIDS (COPA) for a three-year term. She began her term on Jan. 1.

"Psychologists have a lot to contribute to shaping HIV/AIDS policy and informing HIV/AIDS research given our expertise in understanding decision making and behavior," Wallace said. "This is important for informing prevention and treatment efforts."

In her new position, Scyatta will be one of six COPA members to help shape the APA’s policy regarding the HIV epidemic. All members are chosen for their expertise and commitment to AIDS-related issues.

The APA is a scientific and professional organization that represents psychology in the United States, and, with 148,000 members, the largest association of psychologists worldwide. It supports legislation on mental health issues, encourages new research initiatives and assists community-based organizations with volunteer members.

Scyatta said she first became interested in the problem of HIV among youth when she was a doctoral student at Fordham. For her practicum in applied developmental psychology, she was assigned an evaluation of HIV testing and treatment among homeless youth at a Manhattan outreach center.

Today, Scyatta’s research is funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She focuses on HIV prevention among African-American youth, and looks at factors that affect their risk-taking and substance abuse behaviors.

Scyatta taught at the SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn before moving to St. John’s in 2008.

—Janet Sassi

Trick or Treat? Mostly Treat.

Jean Marie McCormick, a 2001 graduate of Fordham College at Rose Hill, will be a contestant on the popular ABC program Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, on the episode airing on Halloween. McCormick is the daughter of the delightful Linda McCormick, confidential secretary to Father McShane, in the Office of the President at Rose Hill.

WHO: Jean Marie McCormick
WHAT: Who Wants To Be A Millionaire
WHEN: Friday, Oct. 31, 2008 | 12:30 p.m.
WHERE: WABC TV—Channel 7 (Tri-State Area Only: Elsewhere Check Local Listings)

McCormick the Younger reports that it will be strange to watch her 20-minute segment, given that she devoted an entire day to the taping. Sadly no word on whether she is, in fact, a millionaire.