Ā鶹Ēų

Dr. Mark Apfelbaum ā€™74YUHS ā€™77YC was part of a team involved in caring for President Bill Clinton earlier this year. For Apfelbaum, an interventional cardiologist, the opportunity to treat any patient is a dream fulfilled. ā€œFor as long as I can remember, I always wanted to be a doctor,ā€ he said. ā€œWhen anyone asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, that was my answer.ā€ Apfelbaum came to YU because it was one of the few places where he could follow both his dreams and his faith. ā€œI knew that medical school and life as a doctor were going to be pretty rigorous and wouldnā€™t leave me a lot of free time to continue with my Judaic studies,ā€ he said. ā€œI saw YU as my last chance for intensive Judaic studies for a whileā€”at least until I was established professionally.ā€ The dual curriculum prepared him for the strenuous demands of medical school by inculcating in him a habit of rigorous study, said Apfelbaum. ā€œI spent the first part of the day studying Talmud, the Bible and Jewish history, philosophy and literature, and then I had a full course load of secular studies including science and labs beginning at 4 or 5:30,ā€ he recalled. "I think more thank anything, YU helped shape my analytical abilities." ā€œSo I was going to school five days a week and getting home late in the night, every night. It taught me early on that I had to structure my time and get things done efficiently or Iā€™d get flooded with work. When I got to medical school [at Columbia University], I remember other students complaining that we had to be in class until 3:30. There were several other YU graduates at Columbia, and we thought it was greatā€”we had all this time we hadnā€™t had before.ā€ Among the many YU professors who influenced him was Dr. Moshe Sokolow, who taught a Tanakh class that stayed with him over the years as particularly outstanding. ā€œIā€™ve often told my wife and children what a great professor I had in Dr. Sokolow,ā€ he said, ā€œand then recently, he was a scholar-in-residence at my synagogue. After hearing him give a talk, my wife turned to me and said, ā€˜I finally understand what youā€™ve been talking about all these years. Heā€™s absolutely fascinating.ā€ President Clinton and Dr. Apfelbaumā€™s other patients may not realize it, but the intricacies of the Talmud and those of the heart have more in common than they think. ā€œMore than anything [else], YU helped shape my analytical abilities,ā€ Apfelbaum said. ā€œLearning Talmud is one of the more difficult things Iā€™ve ever done in any academic segment of my life. It takes sharp critical thinking and analysis, both of which are also an [essential] part of being a doctor. I learned those skills during my years at Ā鶹Ēų.ā€