By Dave DeFusco
When Abigail Assenza stepped onto the floors of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, she didn鈥檛 just enter one of the world鈥檚 top hospitals. She inhabited a space that mirrored her own past, where the hum of machines and hushed voices of medical professionals echoed the defining loss of her life: the death of her father from gastric cancer during her first year of college.
鈥淚 chose Sloan Kettering for a reason,鈥 said Assenza, a student in the M.S. in Physician Assistant Studies and president of the 2025 PA cohort. 鈥淚 have a personal connection to cancer. Seeing the patients there鈥攎en in their 50s with cancer鈥攖hat was my dad. Every patient felt like him.鈥
Her father鈥檚 passing left a wound, but also carved out a path. It ignited a drive that has powered her through grueling rotations, late-night study sessions and emotionally charged hospital wards across New York City and beyond.
Now deep into her clinical year, Assenza has made her mark not just through academic excellence, but through an extraordinary set of rotations that have exposed her to the full spectrum of human vulnerability鈥攆rom neonates in respiratory distress to immunocompromised cancer patients fighting invisible enemies.
Her rotation with the infectious disease team at Memorial Sloan Kettering proved transformative. There, among some of the most immunocompromised patients in the world, Assenza encountered cases of invasive fungal infections so rare that they鈥檙e studied more often in textbooks than treated in practice.
鈥淓ven after volunteering for two summers in Kenya, I鈥檇 never seen infections like the ones I saw at Sloan Kettering,鈥 she said. 鈥淪ome of the patients were severely neutropenic鈥攃ompletely unprotected. It was a patient population I had never worked with before.鈥
One case in particular stayed with her: a young patient with mucormycosis, a rare fungal infection that necessitated extensive surgery. Assenza followed that patient鈥檚 journey closely, checking in daily, offering comfort to the family and working alongside PAs to develop treatment plans.
鈥淚 was very close to that family,鈥 she said. 鈥淓ven after they were transferred out of the hospital, I kept thinking about them.鈥
The rotation was also a sobering encounter with life鈥檚 capriciousness. 鈥淭hese were pediatric patients, some who wouldn鈥檛 live to see their 18th birthday,鈥 she said. 鈥淵ou just think: Why them? Why not me? There鈥檚 no answer. But it forces you to appreciate life, to live more gratefully.鈥
Assenza鈥檚 dedication to medicine extends beyond borders. For two summers, she volunteered at Coast General Teaching and Referral Hospital in Mombasa, Kenya, working across wards and immersing herself in local culture. She plans to return annually to focus on women鈥檚 health, hygiene and mental health awareness.
鈥淭he time in Kenya shaped how I connect with patients,鈥 she said. 鈥淚t taught me humility and cultural sensitivity鈥攕kills that are just as critical as clinical knowledge.鈥
Back home, her rotation at Lenox Hill Hospital鈥檚 Neonatal Intensive Care Unit brought another level of intensity. 鈥淚t was incredible,鈥 she said. 鈥淲e learned less invasive surfactant administration, practiced intubating neonates and did daily physical exams. You鈥檙e learning the fine line between fragility and resilience.鈥
One moment stood out in particular. A baby had a collapsed lung, and Abigail helped perform a chest tube placement鈥攕omething she had studied meticulously in school.
鈥淭o go from learning about neonatal respiratory distress syndrome in class to actually administering surfactant in the NICU鈥攖hat was a full-circle moment.鈥
Assenza鈥檚 journey is built on the foundation of a rigorous PA curriculum. In moments of crisis, the training showed.
鈥淚n the NICU, when that pneumothorax case happened, I immediately thought of what we learned in the classroom,鈥 she said. 鈥淚t was surreal, reading it in a textbook, being tested on it and then actually doing it.鈥
At Mount Sinai Brooklyn, another pivotal rotation, Assenza performed bronchoscopies, inserted NG tubes and even placed central lines鈥攈ands-on experience few students are afforded.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 always get these opportunities,鈥 she said. 鈥淏ut when we do, you rise to the occasion. You summon everything you鈥檝e learned.鈥
What sets Assenza apart isn鈥檛 just her clinical prowess. It鈥檚 the empathy she brings to the bedside. She carries the memory of her father in every step, in every case, in every life she touches.
鈥淭his could happen to anyone,鈥 she said. 鈥淲e breathe the same air. What separates us is circumstance, not strength. Being a PA is about standing in that space between fear and hope and saying, 鈥業鈥檓 here. Let鈥檚 face it together.鈥欌
