thedrifter
05-22-08, 05:51 AM
From the military to med school
Thursday, May 22, 2008
BY ROBERT E. WILLIAMS III
Star-Ledger Staff
Octaviano Espinosa's appreciation for the U.S. Marines started with a green wool blanket.
"I always heard of the Marines," said Espinosa, who grew up in Nicaragua and now lives in Morristown. The military unit occupied the Central American country during the 1920s and 1930s. "(My great-grandmother) used to tell me about the war and how the Marines took care of her. It's a pretty good story," he said.
During the war, Espinosa's great-grandmother had a piece of shrapnel lodged in her jaw. A Marine wrapped her in that green blanket and took her to a hospital. "And she kept it," said Espinosa.
His great-grandmother's story and his desire to give back to a country with a history of helping his family led Espinosa to join the Marines and encouraged him to go to medical school, so he could help others. Espinosa graduated from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey yesterday.
Espinosa's family fled from Nicaragua in 1982, shortly after the Sandinista National Liberation Front came to power. Espinosa's father worked as a physician, and served as the vice president of the local Red Cross chapter in their community.
His father, who frequently traveled to the United States for medical training, decided to take $10,000 he had saved and move his family to Houston to seek political asylum.
"After the revolution, my dad was thrown in jail because they accused him of being a CIA spy," Espinosa said.
While in Houston, his father took a job in Billings, Mt., where Espinosa flourished as a student and graduated from Montana State University with a double major of biology and chemistry.
During his last year in school, Espinosa pondered his motivation for pursuing a medical degree.
"I had my reservations," Espinosa said. "In the back of my mind, I wanted to be a doctor but more because people expected me to follow in my dad's footsteps. I didn't know if I was ready to take that responsibility, so I wanted to live a little."
Espinosa, who shared his family's appreciation for the help they received from the United States, decided to consider the military. He listened to pitches from each of the branches about how much he could be paid and what positions he could probably receive. The pitch from a Marines recruiter was the ultimate challenge Espinosa was seeking.
"He said, 'We don't promise you anything,'" Espinosa said. "'We promise you sweat, blood and tears.'"
After his graduation in 1987, Espinosa's tour of duty as a private took him through Twentynine Palms, Calif., to the Marine Corps Ground Combat Center and Okinawa, Japan. His commanders encouraged him to attend Officers Candidate School in Quantico, Va., where he attended classes to become an infantry officer.
"I wanted to play a bigger role," Espinosa said. "It was always my goal to be an officer. I figured the best way to become a good leader is first to be a follower."
He earned the rank of lieutenant and served at Camp Pendleton in California, serving the majority of his six years with the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines.
During his service in 1997, he returned to Billings to help his father, who was undergoing bypass heart surgery at Billings Deaconess Hospital. A surgeon there learned Espinosa had studied pre-med and invited him to watch a couple of operations.
"What I saw was amazing," Espinosa said. "I said, 'Man, I want to be a surgeon.'"
While his father recovered, he decided to finish the one year left on his military contract and pursue his medical degree.
He enlisted in the Marines Reserves after his contract ended, met and married his wife Jennifer, now 35, a New Vernon native who attended Morristown Beard School. The couple moved to Morristown a year after their 2000 wedding and both worked for Nabisco.
Espinosa would later teach math and chemistry and work as an assistant cross-country coach at Delbarton in Morris Township before leaving in 2004 to attend medical school. A Navy scholarship covered his tuition and expenses and provided a stipend of $800 every two weeks.
He also found another challenge through the experience: balancing his role of student, Medical College Admissions Test instructor for Kaplan and family man, with the addition of his now 3-year-old son, Bridger (named after his favorite place to ski and the site of his first date with his wife).
"I was drinking coffee like a champ," Espinosa said.
Studying to be a surgeon, Espinosa worked at Morristown Memorial Hospital and University Hospital, where one of his mentors, David Livingston, advised him as he pursued one of the few military physician spots available in the Navy. As part of Espinosa's scholarship agreement, he must serve four years in the Navy, which provides doctors for the Marines.
"He was a hardworking student," Livingston said. "He has very good interpersonal skills. He was obviously very focused."
He recently learned he will serve as a surgical intern at Portsmouth Naval Hospital in Newport News, Va., where he will tend to Marines needing medical care.
"It's nice to see he got his surgical match, just as we wanted," Livingston said. "In this case, it looks like the story will have a happy ending."
Robert E. Williams III may be rwilliams@starledger.com or (973) 539-7910.
Ellie
Thursday, May 22, 2008
BY ROBERT E. WILLIAMS III
Star-Ledger Staff
Octaviano Espinosa's appreciation for the U.S. Marines started with a green wool blanket.
"I always heard of the Marines," said Espinosa, who grew up in Nicaragua and now lives in Morristown. The military unit occupied the Central American country during the 1920s and 1930s. "(My great-grandmother) used to tell me about the war and how the Marines took care of her. It's a pretty good story," he said.
During the war, Espinosa's great-grandmother had a piece of shrapnel lodged in her jaw. A Marine wrapped her in that green blanket and took her to a hospital. "And she kept it," said Espinosa.
His great-grandmother's story and his desire to give back to a country with a history of helping his family led Espinosa to join the Marines and encouraged him to go to medical school, so he could help others. Espinosa graduated from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey yesterday.
Espinosa's family fled from Nicaragua in 1982, shortly after the Sandinista National Liberation Front came to power. Espinosa's father worked as a physician, and served as the vice president of the local Red Cross chapter in their community.
His father, who frequently traveled to the United States for medical training, decided to take $10,000 he had saved and move his family to Houston to seek political asylum.
"After the revolution, my dad was thrown in jail because they accused him of being a CIA spy," Espinosa said.
While in Houston, his father took a job in Billings, Mt., where Espinosa flourished as a student and graduated from Montana State University with a double major of biology and chemistry.
During his last year in school, Espinosa pondered his motivation for pursuing a medical degree.
"I had my reservations," Espinosa said. "In the back of my mind, I wanted to be a doctor but more because people expected me to follow in my dad's footsteps. I didn't know if I was ready to take that responsibility, so I wanted to live a little."
Espinosa, who shared his family's appreciation for the help they received from the United States, decided to consider the military. He listened to pitches from each of the branches about how much he could be paid and what positions he could probably receive. The pitch from a Marines recruiter was the ultimate challenge Espinosa was seeking.
"He said, 'We don't promise you anything,'" Espinosa said. "'We promise you sweat, blood and tears.'"
After his graduation in 1987, Espinosa's tour of duty as a private took him through Twentynine Palms, Calif., to the Marine Corps Ground Combat Center and Okinawa, Japan. His commanders encouraged him to attend Officers Candidate School in Quantico, Va., where he attended classes to become an infantry officer.
"I wanted to play a bigger role," Espinosa said. "It was always my goal to be an officer. I figured the best way to become a good leader is first to be a follower."
He earned the rank of lieutenant and served at Camp Pendleton in California, serving the majority of his six years with the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines.
During his service in 1997, he returned to Billings to help his father, who was undergoing bypass heart surgery at Billings Deaconess Hospital. A surgeon there learned Espinosa had studied pre-med and invited him to watch a couple of operations.
"What I saw was amazing," Espinosa said. "I said, 'Man, I want to be a surgeon.'"
While his father recovered, he decided to finish the one year left on his military contract and pursue his medical degree.
He enlisted in the Marines Reserves after his contract ended, met and married his wife Jennifer, now 35, a New Vernon native who attended Morristown Beard School. The couple moved to Morristown a year after their 2000 wedding and both worked for Nabisco.
Espinosa would later teach math and chemistry and work as an assistant cross-country coach at Delbarton in Morris Township before leaving in 2004 to attend medical school. A Navy scholarship covered his tuition and expenses and provided a stipend of $800 every two weeks.
He also found another challenge through the experience: balancing his role of student, Medical College Admissions Test instructor for Kaplan and family man, with the addition of his now 3-year-old son, Bridger (named after his favorite place to ski and the site of his first date with his wife).
"I was drinking coffee like a champ," Espinosa said.
Studying to be a surgeon, Espinosa worked at Morristown Memorial Hospital and University Hospital, where one of his mentors, David Livingston, advised him as he pursued one of the few military physician spots available in the Navy. As part of Espinosa's scholarship agreement, he must serve four years in the Navy, which provides doctors for the Marines.
"He was a hardworking student," Livingston said. "He has very good interpersonal skills. He was obviously very focused."
He recently learned he will serve as a surgical intern at Portsmouth Naval Hospital in Newport News, Va., where he will tend to Marines needing medical care.
"It's nice to see he got his surgical match, just as we wanted," Livingston said. "In this case, it looks like the story will have a happy ending."
Robert E. Williams III may be rwilliams@starledger.com or (973) 539-7910.
Ellie