“I became a different person on that volunteer trip,” she remembers. “When you work with those less fortunate, it’s so apparent that you’re really helping them. It’s extremely rewarding.”

She always knew she had two passions: the medical profession, and chesed. And ever since high school, her repertoire of extra-curricular and volunteer activities—including the trip to Costa Rica—demonstrates the combination of both. As a seminary student at Bnos Chava in Israel, she volunteered in a Jerusalem hospital’s oncology ward. During college, she began serving the homeless and hungry residents of Flatbush at Masbia Soup Kitchen, and volunteered twice a year at Bobbie’s Place, a clothing store where all of the (brand-new) merchandise is free to families in need. As a sophomore, she spent several days a week with special-needs children, including a child whose brain was damaged by a tumor at age three. The next year, Tzipora sang to patients in her local hospital.

To Tzipora, it’s as important—if not more—to “come out of your own world by extending yourself to a community other than your own.”

And she’s excited to put this into practice in her career.

“As a PA, it’s not only about diagnosing and prescribing medication, it’s about considering the patient as a whole—understanding where they’re coming from, being there for the patient, listening to them deeply,” she says.

This is Tzipora Glanzman’s story.