In 2018, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai set out to welcome a new kind of student into the field of medicine when it established an institutional partnership with the U.S. Navy as a complement to its traditional pathway. This unique partnership, which the school has broadened to include all branches of the military, provides a streamlined pathway for active-duty service members to apply to medical school prior to completing their service commitment.
Borrowing from the school’s popular FlexMed program, which allows college sophomores to apply for early assurance of acceptance into medical school, the military pathway provides a mechanism for recruiting service members while integrating a layer of flexibility to ease the transition from their undergraduate careers.
In just six years since the program’s inception, the school has enrolled 20 military veterans, some of whom have been admitted through the traditional avenue of admissions while others were admitted through the early assurance program. Now the school is celebrating a major milestone: five medical students were named 2024 Tillman scholars by the Pat Tillman Foundation. Last year, three students received this honor.
Considered to be one of the most prestigious and selective scholarship awards for student veterans and spouses of veterans, the Pat Tillman scholarship provides funding to military veterans and spouses to pursue higher education and continue their service in a variety of professions, including health care. In total, nine Icahn Mount Sinai students to date have been named Tillman scholars.
“I am deeply proud of our five students and grateful for their service to our country and beyond. To be honoring the service careers of five veterans with this prestigious award is truly remarkable and a very special milestone for our school,” says David C. Thomas, MD, MS, MHPE, Dean of Medical Education and Chair of the Department of Medical Education at Icahn Mount Sinai.
Pat Tillman, a starting safety for the Arizona Cardinals, distinguished himself in the National Football League when he broke the franchise record for tackles in 2000. When the September 11 terrorist attacks took place, he walked away from professional football and joined the U.S. Army, serving tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2004, he was killed by friendly fire. His family started the Foundation to cultivate the next generation of leaders.
The 2024 Tillman Scholars from Mount Sinai are Pierce Ferriter, Michael Lemonick, Katrina Nietsch, Nicole Parkas, and Rico Pesce.
“We are deeply proud of our partnership with the military and our students, who bring invaluable background and perspective to medicine. Many years ago, we set out to become a welcoming and supportive champion and educator of our country’s distinguished veterans. And this exciting news suggests we are reaching this goal,” says Valerie Parkas, MD, Senior Associate Dean of Admissions and Recruitment, Icahn Mount Sinai.
About the 2024 Tillman Scholars
Pierce Ferriter
Former Lieutenant Pierce Ferriter served in the Navy with unique assignments as an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Officer in Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. After graduating from the United States Naval Academy in 2010, he commanded a platoon and deployed to the Horn of Africa, also known as the Somali Peninsula. In Somalia, he supported the Naval Special Warfare Development Group and the Army’s 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta in the actions against Al-Qaeda, disarming explosive devices and destroying terrorist weapons caches.
In 2014, he relocated to Guam and took command of a hostage rescue team planning, rehearsing, and conducting operations in the service of Special Operations Command Pacific. He met his wife, Anna, another naval officer, skydiving in San Diego, and they moved to Spain and got married in 2018. While she served as an EOD Company Commander, he led the Navy’s emergency response bomb squad in Europe. A rising fourth year medical student, he will graduate in 2025 and intends to pursue a residency in orthopedic surgery.
Michael Lemonick
Former Navy Lieutenant Michael Lemonick graduated with distinction from the United States Naval Academy in 2015 with a BS in Mathematics. While at Annapolis, he played on the varsity soccer team and completed additional studies in Istanbul, Turkey, and at the London School of Economics. He was inspired to serve others in a career in medicine after watching physicians provide lifesaving care to his parents for prostate cancer and breast cancer, and treating his sister for diabetes. However, it was first important for him to satisfy his competing desire to serve his country.
Following his graduation and commissioning as a Naval Officer, he completed a bilingual master’s degree in international affairs at Sciences Po in Paris, where he was selected as an Émile Boutmy International Scholar. He subsequently served two tours of duty onboard the USS Donald Cook, a guided-missile destroyer stationed in Spain, and accumulated more than 25 months at sea in support of national security objectives in the Europe and the Middle East. After serving as a Naval ROTC instructor at The Military College of South Carolina – The Citadel, he left active duty in September 2023. He is currently a rising second year medical student and aspires to be a surgeon.
Katrina Nietsch
Former Lieutenant Commander Katrina Nietsch graduated from the United States Naval Academy with a BS in Quantitative Economics and four varsity letters with the NCAA Division I women’s lacrosse team. Following commissioning, she began military flight training to become a Navy pilot. She received her Naval Aviator “Wings of Gold” in 2014 and deployed around the world flying the C-2 Greyhound, a twin-engine cargo plane. She piloted numerous MEDEVAC missions from aircraft carriers, which galvanized her interest in medicine. Inspired by one particular mission involving a patient needing critical care, she applied to medical school during her tour as an instructor pilot.
She was accepted to Icahn Mount Sinai via the Military Institutional Partnership with Mount Sinai in 2019 but deferred her acceptance to serve a final tour with Naval Special Warfare. She left the Navy in August 2022 after 11 years of service. She has a Masters of Science in Aeronautics and is now a third-year medical student. Her interests include veteran’s health, human rights advocacy, research, and mentorship. She lives with her wife, Jackie, and daughter, Rory, who was born in January. She hopes to match into an orthopedic surgery residency.
Nicole Parkas
Nicole Parkas was born and raised in northern New Jersey, where she was a first-generation high school and college graduate. She earned a BS in Biology from Montclair State University in 2016, followed by a BS in Medical Imaging in 2018 and was Valedictorian of the Rutgers University Diagnostic Medical Sonography Program. After graduation, she spent five years as a perinatal sonographer, delivering essential care to high-risk, underserved obstetric and gynecologic populations in New York City and Washington, D.C.
She mentors first-generation college students in New York City and founded a Rutgers Alumni Advocate program aimed at supporting sonographers as they navigate their transition to higher education and the workforce. Her husband, Josiah Parkas, served as a Staff Sergeant in the United States Air Force and is currently pursuing a law degree at Georgetown University Law Center. She is an incoming second-year medical student.
Rico Pesce
Former Sergeant Rico Pesce joined the Army at age 19, aiming to serve his country and gain experience before pursuing medicine. After completing rigorous training, including Airborne School and the Ranger Assessment and Selection Program, he became a Special Operations Combat Medic. He was then assigned to the 2nd Ranger Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment.
He completed five combat deployments to Afghanistan, serving as Platoon Medic, Company Senior Medic, and Battalion Aid Station Non-commissioned Officer in Charge. He provided point-of-injury care for numerous combat casualties and played a pivotal role in the management of a mass casualty event on base. On two deployments, he was selected for clandestine operations to advise and assist Afghan commandos. He was also the first openly gay Ranger in his unit.
After seven years of service, he was honorably discharged and went on to earn a BA in Computer Science from Columbia University, a joint Master’s in Translational Medicine from the University of California, Berkeley and UCSF, and a Master’s in Biomedical Sciences from New York Medical College in Valhalla, New York. Currently, he is a rising second-year medical student. He plans to become an emergency medicine physician, focusing on innovations in disaster medicine.