BGE Pulse Podcast: Zoe Aziz (G’19), Systems Medicine Alumna and Nurse Practitioner

Welcome to BGE Pulse, a podcast with members of the Georgetown University Biomedical Graduate Education (BGE) community!

This episode, Digital Communications Assistant Benjamin Nochimson (G’27) speaks with Arezo (Zoe) Aziz, a nurse practitioner currently working in inpatient breast/gynecological medicine at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. Zoe earned her M.S. in Systems Medicine at Georgetown in 2019, and she continued on to receive her MSN from Columbia University and her DNP from Sacred Heart. Through the course of the conversation, Zoe shares insights about what brought her to Georgetown, the support and opportunities she received at Georgetown, and how she has used her education to become an effective clinical provider.

Benjamin Nochimson: Hello and welcome to BGE Pulse, the podcast where we talk to members of the Georgetown Biomedical Graduate Education community to learn about their careers and what they studied while they were at Georgetown. Today, we talked to Zoe Aziz, a 2019 graduate with an M.S. in Systems Medicine. Zoe went on to earn her MSN at Columbia University and then her DNP at Sacred Heart.

She now works as a nurse practitioner at Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York City. It was a pleasure to speak with Zoe, and I look forward to sharing my conversation with her.

Intro Music

Benjamin Nochimson: So I started recording. Can you talk to me about, sort of the systems program at Georgetown? When you were there, what you studied and what you got up to while you were at Georgetown?

Zoe Aziz: Yeah, absolutely. So, when I graduated from my bachelor’s program, I kind of didn’t know what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to do something clinical, but I was a little bit lost. And so my last semester in my bachelor’s program, I did, like, probably like, a baby thesis, I would say, like, something really small.

I had chosen to do something, focusing on genetics and kind of like clinical trials, focusing on very hyper specific mutations and targeted therapies. And, you know, I didn’t know at the time that Systems Medicine was a program that was available to us. So while I was kind of doing this PowerPoint in this long paper on this, I was kind of just researching and just like generally kind of looking around for more information.

And I found that Georgetown had this program, I applied very quickly and I got in very quickly. And so it was very much a whirlwind. And it very much is a testament to how everything happens for a reason. Because I want to Georgetown. I took all these incredible classes. Dr. V. made it at her absolute mission to kind of help us explore our interests and get us to where we want to be in our careers and our lives.

And so I was able to do some, some research as well as some clinical work and some shadowing, and I realized that I really wanted to become an advanced practice provider or a nurse practitioner. And she kind of guided me and mentored me throughout the process of applying to that. And I started my nursing program, like right after Systems Medicine.

So this very much was like a like a kickstarting point for me doing this program. And it’s something that I will always look back on fondly. And Dr. V., like I said, continues to be a mentor. And so I’m very grateful for my experience at Georgetown.

Benjamin Nochimson: That’s awesome. So, coming out of undergrad, I think a lot of students probably experience the same thing. I certainly did myself of kind of, you know, not knowing exactly what to do. And so it sounds like, Dr. V. especially, but also Georgetown and the systems program were, kind of instrumental in shaping something or like forming some kind of a path.

Is that right?

Zoe Aziz: Yeah, absolutely. So where I went to undergrad, it was a very, very large institution. A lot of my classes had like close to a thousand students. And, and it was really hard to find good mentors, even those that were willing to kind of give advice were so spread thin. I mean, it was a public institution. So, you know, like, for example, our counselors had like a case load of like 400 students each.

So it’s hard to even get an appointment with them, let alone kind of sit down and really talk about like, what my concerns are and what I want out of my life and my career. And so when I came to Georgetown, it was very much like a breath of fresh air, like Dr. V. was so available to us.

She very much like even tailored certain parts of the curriculum to, you know, things that we said that we wanted, which was so special. And even outside of just Systems Medicine specifically, I remember meeting with some of the, kind of people that work in BGE and things like that. And, you know, I was still kind of questioning a little bit towards the end of my first semester, like, should I become an NP, like, should I just go to medical school?

Should I focus on research? Like, what should I do? And so I met with somebody just like in the BGE office. So we went over the the logistics of applying to different programs and like what made sense for me. And like that was kind of like my final okay, like I kind of know what I want to do now, which was so helpful too.

Benjamin Nochimson: Yeah. That’s great. I’m glad that BGE, has that kind of like, you know, person to person guidance. That’s really nice to hear. So what, what led you to kind of go I mean, I know you have your bachelor’s, obviously, and the M.S. from Georgetown, but you also have the MSN and the DNP. Yeah. So what, what does each kind of successive step after the M.S. and Systems Medicine at Georgetown, what is what does each offer and how is it…

How has it kind of played into what you do now?

Zoe Aziz: Yeah. So, while I was in my second semester, my last semester at Georgetown, I was able to work with Dr. Collins, who was a really world-renowned radiation oncologist focusing on prostate cancer. So I worked with him as well as some of the nurse practitioners on his team. I did a little bit of like a clinical focused research project with some of his, like, residents and fellows.

And during that time, I spent a lot of time shadowing both him and the other providers. So that kind of allowed me to focus on, like, oncology. And that’s kind of why I’m doing that now. But also kind of helped me, like, help make my final decision that I wanted to become a nurse practitioner. So when I met with Dr. V. and I kind of told her, like, oh my gosh, I had this realization, like, this is what I want to do.

We kind of researched together. And I found this program at Columbia that was an M.S. into a DNP, a lot of times to become a nurse practitioner, you know, I mean, all the time you have to become a nurse first. And this program kind of did seamlessly. So I decided like, this would be the quickest way. This would be, like, the most, well-rounded way to do this.

And so I kind of applied while I was in Systems Medicine and found out that I got in. I started my journey there. It was very intense. It was like a full-time job. It was 15 months, very quick. And then once I was over, there was an option to continue on to do the DNP there. But unfortunately, the coronavirus pandemic kind of hit, so a lot of things went remote.

And, you know, it just didn’t seem to make sense to continue there based on like, finances and some other things. So I decided to kind of take a year, get some clinical care as a nurse, which was so helpful, so intense being a provider like a nurse at that time. And it was very much like orientation by fire.

I learned like a lot of different things in a very short period of time. And then I started my DNP at a different institution, like maybe like a year later while I continued to work. And I always say, again, everything happens for a reason, because if I stayed at Columbia and the whole program there, I probably wouldn’t get bedside experience.

I truly think that was like the foundation to who I am as a provider now. It’s getting that experience at the bedside and seeing like the the challenges with patients, what they go through on a day to day. All that was so, so helpful. And so that kind of led led me to where I am now. Definitely not an easy journey that year because of all the turmoil surrounding all the patients being, you know, so sick and deteriorating and just not having so many resources.

But it was very much like, like a foundational knowledge that I really needed.

Benjamin Nochimson: Yeah. Well, that’s. Yeah, that’s really cool. Could you explain, what you, what you do now? I know that you work at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, which I understand is a pretty prestigious institution to work for. So could you explain kind of what you do there?

Zoe Aziz: Yeah, absolutely. So when I finished my DNP, I knew I wanted to go into some sort of subspecialty care. So my DNP focused on, kind of becoming a family nurse practitioner and getting that certification. And a lot of times when, when you have that, degree or that certification, you end up working in outpatient or in primary care or something like that.

Oncology is a very niche kind of profession and field. So, while I was in my DNP, I was kind of doing some more research, kind of like I did in my undergrad. And I found out that Memorial Sloan Kettering has this fellowship for advanced practice providers. It’s about a year long. There’s so many different options, and I really had to do some soul searching to decide what I wanted.

And so I ended up doing the solid tumor track. So I did that for about a year. They rotated us through all the different solid tumors. So we did like breast, GYN, thoracic, genitourinary, all these different things. And also some like subspecialty areas that we got to choose ourselves, which was very cool, like as electives. And so while I was there, I got to do inpatient and outpatient work.

And I really kind of helped me understand where I wanted to be. And so I kind of focused and honed in on like, kind of women’s health. And now I’m, an advanced practice provider on the inpatient side, on the breast and GYN teams. And so I kind of float between the two, which is like really nice variety.

And it’s something that kind of, I always say that sometimes you do something and it just kind of clicks. That makes sense. And that was kind of like the best click moment for me during fellowship with those two teams. And so it’s been really, wonderful. And the patients are so lovely. And there are a lot of difficult conversations on, like, complex kind of medical issues to, like face and deal with, but it’s really made me a better provider.

I think over the course of the last year, year and a half.

Benjamin Nochimson: Yeah, that’s wonderful. I, I really admire, really a lot of health professionals, actually. My, my dad is an emergency doc.

Zoe Aziz: And that’s so rough.

Benjamin Nochimson: Yeah, yeah. So I hear the stories, but, yeah, I, I, I have a pretty deep admiration for, you know, people who take, you know, health care seriously and taking care of other people. Is that, like, I know it’s kind of a gimme question, but, like, could you speak a little to, like, the satisfaction that you get out of the work and like, the, the why and like why you do it?

Zoe Aziz: Yeah, absolutely. So I’m first generation here in the States, a first generation student and kind of like college graduate. And so I just, I always think back to my own family, you know, like they moved here probably in the late ‘80s, early ‘90s, kind of like trying to get away from war and violence and all of that back where we’re from.

And they’ve had so many different chronic health issues over the years. And I just like, think back and I wonder how they survived all of that, because to have these language barriers, to have these cultural barriers, just like not having that education here, is so difficult. And I see that there are so many disparities for these patients, even patients that were born and raised here.

And, you know, like it’s if you don’t have medical knowledge, you just don’t know what to ask for and what to look for. There’s so many gaps in care. And I think that’s probably like the driving force of why I wanted to do this. I’ve seen, you know, people in my own family not get proper care. We have stories of family members back home that should very much still be alive that didn’t have access to proper care.

And so if I can make a difference in any way kind of helping patients that otherwise would not get good medical care, it’s something that is very satisfying and fulfilling for me. And actually, during fellowship, I had a very like déjà vu type moment. Like, I took care of a patient that spoke the same language as me.

She had just moved to the States a year prior. She had lived in a refugee camp for several years. She had gotten diagnosed with like early stage breast cancer, had her resection, just did not have proper follow up or education. So she didn’t end up taking her hormonal therapy. And then she set up an MSK, just trying to establish care because it was a last-ditch kind of Hail Mary effort.

And she had metastatic disease, like all over her body and just didn’t understand why this happened. Didn’t have a place to stay. Her husband lost her job trying to get her to the hospital. She had many kids. She had several kids in a different state. She had a young child with her. It was just like, probably the worst possible situation you could imagine.

And it was just so, like, heartbreaking but also fulfilling to get to sit there with her and like, you know, I took a couple of extra minutes. I helped them get a place to stay for the night, like I translated for them. I explained kind of what she was there acutely for in the time that I had. And, you know, those interactions are just so like, meaningful to me.

It’s just like a real privilege to be able to kind of provide that for anybody. Really.

Benjamin Nochimson: Yeah. That that’s wonderful. That’s really nice. And I’m glad that you. Yeah, I’m glad that you do this. I’m glad that you found your calling. This is, you know, it’s very wonderful. It’s great. I guess, do you have any, do you have any advice for, any, maybe current students or, like, potential students?

I know that you serve, do you actually still serve as an academic mentor at Georgetown?

Zoe Aziz: So I took the spring off, but I very much, planning on helping, like, for future semesters. I think I was just kind of transitioning into my full-time role outside of fellowship. So I took a little bit of a break, but it’s something that’s so meaningful and that I love to do. So I’ll be continuing to be a mentor to just, you know, and future semesters.

Benjamin Nochimson: Awesome. So, yeah, what kind of advice do you have for, really any I mean, I guess potential students, current students or anybody in the field, I guess.

Zoe Aziz: Yeah, absolutely. So I would say for, for students doing systems medicine, I think a lot of times, like in our cohort especially, I think we are all so happy to be there and learning so much, but we are all just so worried about the future because we were kind of in this in this area where we’re trying to figure out what we want to do and applying to other professional programs, and I would just say like absorb everything you can in the moment.

Like you have such amazing mentors at Georgetown and they’re all there to help you. And this is just not something that’s going to be available to you moving forward. I mean, you know, it very much could be depending on what schools and, and institutions you end up working in and studying in, but it’s just not common. And it’s something that I know I noticed as soon as I left is like, wow, that was special.

And that’s not something that’s always available to you. I would also say take advantage of every opportunity that you have. You know, a lot of times when students are so like, they have such tunnel vision, this is what I want to do, that something is offered to them and it doesn’t immediately make sense in the moment. And they say, oh, no, know, like I’m okay.

But I think, you know, just being open and flexible to different opportunities might actually really shape who you’re meant to be. Like everything. Again, I’ve said this like 50 times, but everything really does happen for a reason. I never thought that I would end up in D.C. doing systems medicine, and I did and it like shaped my whole career basically.

So you just have to be open to like the universe. Whatever opportunities come your way and just be like teachable and flexible and, you know, saying no to something might, you know, show that you’re not a flexible person or you’re not, you know, amenable to doing different things that you didn’t initially, you know, see yourself doing. And that might close you off to other things in the future.

You know, being an open person and being like, enthusiastic, being teachable is really important. And it’s like, those are like core skills that you need to be a clinician or a researcher or anything. And so I think, you know, that’s probably my biggest piece of advice.

Benjamin Nochimson: Great. Yeah. That’s good advice for anybody. That’s good life advice.

Zoe Aziz: I would just say like there are so many opportunities out there and, you know, you just have to be open and look for them, you know, that’s really the only other thing that I would say to any student or, or anybody that wants to go into any sort of health or research profession, you know, sometimes you just you find things and you don’t expect to.

And that’s kind of been like my whole career so far. So.

Benjamin Nochimson: Well that’s great. What’s, what’s next for you? Are you, you, I guess, happy and content at your current job and going to, you know, keep doing it.

Zoe Aziz: Yeah, yeah, I really love what I do. I think the patients are so wonderful and so grateful. Just a little challenging kind of. Their reality seems to be, most times, I think this is definitely something that I want to continue to do. I’m just kind of trying to adjust to doing a little bit more research as well, like maybe some clinical trial research or like some more academic research.

So, you know, very I think I’m very early in my career still. So I’m just trying to kind of be open to whatever comes my way.

Benjamin Nochimson: Yeah, definitely. I think a lot of students are probably interested in doing some kind of research, whether they’re system students or other programs. Is there, like, was that a part of your, journey at Georgetown or academically? Was research a big component to it? And what kind of opportunities were there?

Zoe Aziz: Yeah. So during our second semester, we did, I believe it was called a capstone, if I’m not mistaken. Dr. V. kind of met with all of us individually and asked us, you know, what? What do you want? Like, what’s your dream? What areas are you interested in? And she kind of helped try her best to match us to things that she thought would be helpful.

So for me, she matched me to something where I could do like clinical shadowing, but also do like a project focusing on like PSA levels and like prostate cancer recurrences and things like that. So that’s very much a big part of the curriculum. And I’m also since leaving Georgetown, I found different opportunities where I’ve done like summer fellowships and like even during my DNP program, it was more like quality improvement research, but it was still research.

So there’s definitely going to be opportunities to do research after Georgetown, regardless of whether you go into a research profession or you go into a clinical profession. Research is very much like foundational for, you know, like kind of like clinical decision making and questioning and critical thinking. And it’s something they very much encourage. So it’s been like a big part of my career up until this point.

And now I’ve kind of been doing more like quality improvement research, mentoring at MSK and things like that. But I’m definitely looking forward to doing some more things where I’m like, kind of spearheading it myself.

Benjamin Nochimson: So yeah, that’s really cool. What, this will be the last one, I promise you. What, what are some other paths of, like, people in your cohort that you know, of? Like, does everyone…does it have to be like, clinical or research, or is that kind of the, you know, the way that it goes?

Zoe Aziz: No. So I know, one of my colleagues, I haven’t spoken to her in a bit, but I think she also works at MSK. She works on like, bioinformatics and like also you could get like industry jobs after doing systems medicine as well. I think it’s all about networking like Dr. V. has so many different amazing kind of professionals come in and speak to us and they’re not all like clinicians.

And so just like networking with them, you know, I always say like, you can get in touch with people via LinkedIn after they come and give a lecture. Just like being very strategic and like, just like enthusiastic about what you’re learning and what you want to do. And it opens so many doors, like, you would be so surprised at how many people are willing to take you on and allow you to shadow or, you know, do like an internship after or even during the program.

So I would say, you know, a lot of people went into research, a lot of people went to medical school. There are some people that got, like their Ph.D. specifically or ended up getting some sort of job in like a lab. But there’s also people that ended up like an industry and hospitals doing kind of more like data driven work, which is, which is great as well.

Systems medicine is like so close to my heart still. And, you know, I love to help and, you know, advocate for the program in any way that I can. And I look forward to continuing to do that so well.

Benjamin Nochimson: We really appreciate it. And I appreciate your time and getting, to meet you a little bit and learn about what you do. I’m very impressed. And I I’m glad there are people like you out there.

Zoe Aziz: Thank you so much. Thank you for speaking with me. And, you know, I look forward to seeing where this ends up.

Benjamin Nochimson: So yeah, we’re very excited about this. All right. Thanks, Zoe!

Zoe Aziz: Yeah. No worries. Have a good one.

Benjamin Nochimson: You too. Bye Bye.

Stay tuned for more episodes of BGE Pulse!