Michelle Safransky was in ninth grade when she first realized she wanted to pursue a career in medicine. She remembers dissecting a frog in Biology class then going home to tell her parents the news.
“Hold on,” they said. Even though she was interested in science at an early age, she had never mentioned medical school. “Most people know they want to become a doctor right out of the womb,” one of them joked knowing the high cost of a medical career.
To make sure that it was the right decision, Michelle says they had her start volunteering at her local hospital. She spent the little free time she had left, after coursework and extra curriculars, volunteering.
“The more time I spent in the hospital, the more I was convinced that this was the career path for me,” says Michelle. “I love science, I also love helping people and the chaos in the hospital… I really saw myself thriving.”
Michelle leaned on financial aid and scholarships, including JVS SoCal’s Scholarship Program, to continue working towards this goal. Michelle is a multi-year recipient of the Simms/Mann Family Foundation Scholarship.
“I became very interested in neuroscience and thought I was going to go into neurosurgery” says Michelle. After graduating from UC Berkeley and majoring in molecular biology, she took the next step and applied to Boston University School of Medicine’s MD program.
At this time, the COVID-19 pandemic had just started and, of all the colleges that she applied to, Boston University was the only one doing in person lectures. Michelle says her dreams would have been derailed if not for the Simms/Mann Family Foundation Scholarship.
“Boston is a very expensive city, and we make no money,” says Michelle, adding that other types of financial aid don’t consider this fact. “It’s basically a full-time job, you don’t have time to be working and earning money, so the scholarship really helps me, especially my housing and groceries, just the day to day… “Yes definitely, just alleviates a lot of stress in achieving my dreams.”
The JVS SoCal Scholarship program helped Michelle complete medical school and the habits her parents instilled in her carry on. She’s doing an Emergency Medicine residence at NYU Langone Health and has been involved in several research projects on campus, in both Alzheimer’s Disease and Traumatic Brain Injury Neurosurgery Outcomes.
In 2025, JVS SoCal’s Scholarship Program awarded $950,000 to 237 Jewish students. Since its inception in 1972, JVS SoCal has awarded more than 6,500 scholarships totaling over $15.2 million. Today’s recipients are pursuing both undergraduate and graduate studies at colleges, universities, and vocational schools nationwide.
If you’d like to help other students achieve their goals of a higher education, please consider supporting our Scholarship fund.