Rowan-Virtua SOM student named ‘Woman to Watch’ as she honors brother’s memory

Yashaswi Parikh has wanted to work as a pediatrician for as long as she can remember—long before her brother, Om, was diagnosed with a rare type of brain tumor that sent him in and out of hospitals for three years. But the care shown by Om’s doctors only strengthened her desire to work in the field, and when she attended her admissions interview at Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine (SOM) just a few weeks after Om’s passing, she did so having just had a firsthand look at the incalculable difference that doctors make in the lives of their patients’ and their families.

“I saw how meaningful it was for the relationships that my brother had with his doctors, and how much he trusted them, and the impact they made on his life…This is a career where I'll be able to take care of kids and make a difference for them, just like my brother's doctors made for him,” she said.

Parikh didn’t wait long to begin making an impact herself. Together with her family, she started the Om Foundation, honoring the memory of her brother while supporting pediatric cancer research. Through the foundation, Parikh, her family, and hundreds of community volunteers have raised thousands of dollars in funds, including $210,000 raised thus far to establish the Om Parikh Memorial Fund for Pediatric Cancer Research at Rutgers Cancer Institute, as well as an additional pledge of $50,000 for Child Life programs.

For her work with the foundation and her future in pediatric oncology, the Rowan-Virtua SOM student was recently named a “Woman to Watch” as part of SJ Magazine’s annual “Women of Excellence” awards and honored at a ceremony on September 9.

“It forced me to reflect on the past eight years of my life; I hadn't really taken time to look back on how far I've come and how far the foundation has come, because it's just been constant movement,” she said.

It’s the community that’s been built in Om’s memory that Parikh finds most powerful. Every year, hundreds partake in the Om Memorial 5K Run & Walk, and the foundation sponsors other programming in support of pediatric cancer awareness and positivity—one of Om’s traits, among many, that Parikh wishes to carry forward through the foundation.

“It's truly so humbling, because we as a family have been able to benefit in the sense that it's been so healing for us to see that, even though my brother's not physically here anymore, his legacy and his optimism have persisted through a movement driven by over 200 volunteers that show up year after year,” said Parikh.

She recalled one story that illustrates, to her, the spirit that she hopes to keep alive though the foundation. When Om was in school, a classmate of his was once being bullied. Om defended him, standing up to the bully when no other classmate would. Years later, after Om had passed, his school created an award in his honor and in collaboration with the foundation. Their first recipient was that same bully, who shared that Om’s intervention had been a transformative moment for him.

“He said that he had grown as a person, that he was inspired and held accountable by my brother,” said Parikh. “That was really powerful to us…We’ve had so many full circle moments in that way.”

Now preparing to graduate in May, Parikh awaits the results of her residency applications to find out where she’ll be heading come Match Day. She’s recently moved to New York for her fall rotations, and she’s also finishing up work as a research intern at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Amid the nonstop pace of school, clinicals, research, and her work with the foundation, the SJ Mag award was a rare opportunity to take a breath and look back on all that Parikh has accomplished—something that feels is still too early in her career to do, she says with genuine humility.

There is one point of pride, though, that Parikh is eager to brag about.

“At the end of the day, what I'm proudest of is being known as my brother's sister,” she said. “I have so much pride in my brother and pride in the patients who are just like him, who are fighting these battles every day.”