Norfolk native Ishan Perera, VCOM-Virginia ’25, originally thought he would be an engineer. He spent his time in high school pursuing all kinds of engineering certificates and volunteering at nearby Tidewater Community College helping to fix computers to donate to students. But a fortuitous volunteer experience at the Children’s Hospital of Kings Daughters gave him the chance to shadow medical teams, and that changed everything.
My first day, I shadowed the residents on the neurosurgical service, and I fell in love with the pathology and the surgeries. That day, I left the hospital and turned back to see the hospital bathed in the golden light of sunset and thought to myself, ‘Wow I really did something today!’ Truthfully, I didn’t do anything to change any patients’ lives, but that is the moment I realized I wanted to be a neurosurgeon.
Ishan majored in biology at Old Dominion University and found VCOM-Virginia during his medical school search. Like so many other students and alumni, his visit to a VCOM-Virginia open house was a pivotal moment. “The people were happy and kind, the area was beautiful, and I just felt like I fit in,” he says.
Ishan’s time as a medical student began during the height of COVID, when he started as a member of the VCOM-Virginia Class of 2024. He and his classmates completed coursework online and hardly met anyone in person. Sadly, his father soon fell sick, requiring Ishan to defer his education for a year. When he returned, he says the experience was different—COVID was being safely managed—and he was able to be more social with his classmates, solidifying that attending SWAGƵwas the right choice for him.
During those first two years of didactic learning, Ishan lived across the street from campus and says his apartment was where he and his friends always went between classes and after exams. He says those times gave true meaning to SWAGƵfamily.
His faculty have supported him throughout his time at the College, solidifying the feeling of family. He loved anatomy with Dr. Millard, who he says was a great mentor and is the reason Ishan has published a research paper as a 1st author. Likewise, he says Fred Rawlins II was a mentor and taught him medicine in a way the kept Ishan wanting to learn more.
His SWAGƵexperience has been more than time spent in the classroom, however. Ishan has held a host of leadership positions, both at SWAGƵand at the Medical Society of Virginia, where he was chair of the Medical Student Section. He also started Healthcare Observations, Lexicography, and Outcomes Laboratory (HOLO Labs), which is now known as Student Research Connect. The organization is a student-run, VCOM-supported research lab that serves as a hub for research. “The lab supports students by facilitating professional development in research, providing curated projects and administrative support for student led research,” Ishan explains. “In turn, we support principal investigators by streamlining the process and handling the administrative tasks such as IRB filings, grant proposals and general meetings.”
These days, Ishan is completing a long stretch of neurosurgery audition rotations and feels prepared for what comes next.
I believe SWAGƵdoes a great job of ensuring we are comfortable with heavy workloads and that we are proficient in our knowledge/ability to apply that knowledge.
The future Dr. Perera is dedicated to pursuing a future in neurosurgery. He says he wants to work in academic neurosurgery and will work toward increasing access in the field for osteopathic students.
At the 2024 Osteopathic Medical Education Conference (OMED) in October, Ishan was one of just six finalists for the Golden Ticket, the American Osteopathic Foundation’s most prestigious scholarship award. Although he didn’t win, as a finalist, he did receive a $5,000 scholarship to help cover some of the costs related to medical school. He is grateful for both the financial support and the recognition. “I understand the stress that accompanies balancing large debts on your credit cards, while pulling maximum loans recognizing the immense compounding interest that it will build,” he says. “Being recognized for my hard work and dedication to this field, while receiving support, really does help relieve some of this stress.”
Sydney Moriarty, Ishan’s classmate and partner, says she isn’t surprised he was a finalist for the Golden Ticket scholarship. “[Ishan] has worked to improve our profession in many ways, from always putting his best foot forward on rotations and demonstrating the power of osteopathic medicine to speaking at the Educating Leaders Conference and Virginia Osteopathic Medical Association Conference, and advocating for DOs in residency applications,” she says. “Ishan pushes those around him to succeed. I cannot wait to see what is in store for his future.”
