Navy SEAL Mason Blacker still vividly recalls the life-changing event that inspired him to pursue a career in medicine.

“One of my teammates got shot in the head in Iraq, and there was a neurosurgeon with us that did a decompressive craniectomy that saved his life. I was hooked after that,” Blacker said. “It still took three more deployments and a lot more time, but that was the turning point where I realized I want to try to make that transition to medical school.”

In order to get there, Blacker completed prerequisite courses and studied for the MCAT while serving on the frontlines in Afghanistan, where he was still stationed when he ultimately received his acceptance to NYU Grossman School of Medicine.

“The big draw for me on top of the free tuition was the three-year MD pathway,” Blacker said. “I knew what I wanted to do, so coming in and having that immediate access to and support from the Department of Neurosurgery and NYU Grossman School of Medicine advisers to guide me through the journey was a huge benefit.”

Every student admitted into the MD pathway at NYU Grossman School of Medicine automatically receives a scholarship to cover the full cost of medical school tuition. When the school’s accelerated three-year MD pathway was introduced in 2013, it was the first of its kind at a nationally ranked academic medical center. It allows students to earn their MD more quickly than the traditional four-year track, while also providing early access to faculty mentors and opportunities to conduct research. As of 2023, every student now graduates in three years with an option to pursue a secondary degree in the fourth year, but when Blacker enrolled, he applied and was accepted to the three-year pathway.

“You Give 100 Percent”

“If I had to use one word to describe him, it would be disciplined,” said Joan F. Cangiarella, MD, senior associate dean for education, faculty, and academic affairs. “I think the three-year pathway was perfect for him because he already knew what he wanted to do. He was older than our typical incoming students, had a family, and already had a whole career before coming to medical school. His military service also instilled resiliency.”

Blacker, who shares two daughters with his wife of 14 years, is no stranger to service. A graduate of Western Illinois University, he worked as an EMT for all four years as an undergraduate. In 2009, he enlisted as a Navy SEAL and began working as a special operations combat medic.

He has been deployed five times, serving in 14 countries and providing medical aid in refugee camps and war-torn areas of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Yemen. Blacker says that serving overseas and being in contact with citizens of the various nations has been great preparation for his goal of serving a diverse community as a neurosurgeon.

“When you’re on a mission, or when you’re with your patients, you give 100 percent,” he said, noting that the military and medicine both require discipline, planning, preparation, teamwork, communication, innovation, and sacrifice. “You’re there, you’re engaged, no matter what.”

“We Take Care of Our Own”

Elisabeth J. Cohen, MD, vice chair for academic affairs in the Department of Ophthalmology, serves as an adviser to three-year MD pathway students. Blacker went to Dr. Cohen in the winter of 2021 with a personal matter. His dad, living in central Illinois, had been diagnosed with lung cancer that had spread to his brain. He underwent chemotherapy, which was depleting him physically and mentally but wasn’t effectively attacking the cancer.

“The doctors back home basically told him he had four to six months to live,” Blacker said. “I sat down with Dr. Cohen and basically said I needed to take a couple weeks off from school to go back to Illinois, get my affairs in order, spend time with my dad. I told her about his diagnosis and how the treatment wasn’t working and she said, he’s coming here and we’re going to get this figured out.”

Blacker’s father saw Abraham Chachoau, MD, a renowned oncologist, and director of the Lung Cancer Center at NYU Langone’s Perlmutter Cancer Center. On a biopsy, the tumor stained 100 percent positive for PDL 1, meaning his father could get immunotherapy instead of chemotherapy. Doctors immediately stopped chemotherapy and started him on immunotherapy, and he is now thriving two years later.

“He’s alive and doing great and that’s because Dr. Cohen stood up and she said, ‘We take care of our own.’ I couldn’t be more grateful to her and to NYU Grossman School of Medicine for what they’ve done for my family.”

“Our students are people and that means there will be bumps in the road,” said Dr. Cohen. “We want to make sure that they get the best education and become the most highly skilled doctors they can be, but we also care deeply about their quality of life. When there are family challenges, we’re there to support whenever we can.”

“I Couldn’t Be More Grateful”

After graduating on May 15, Blacker and his family will move to Phoenix, where he will complete his residency in neurosurgery at Barrow Neurological Institute with the goal of becoming a Navy neurosurgeon and advance research and clinical treatment of mild traumatic brain injury as it pertains to actual physiological changes within the nervous system.

Prior to 2023, the three-year MD pathway guaranteed students direct progression into an NYU Grossman School of Medicine residency program, pending successful completion of medical school training. However, after welcoming their second daughter during Blacker’s first year of medical school, he and his wife realized they needed to be closer to their support system.

“We kind of realized, well, shoot, we’re not going to be able to stay here,” Blacker said. “I immediately brought that to the school’s attention and they were super supportive. No one treated me differently and I couldn’t be more grateful.”

Blacker’s advancement to the prestigious residency program is a testament to both his talents and the training he has received here, said Dr. Cohen.

“He’s super smart, super hard working, and has wonderful emotional intelligence,” she said. “He’s a little bit of a gentle giant and just a tremendous person. We are sorry to see him leave, but we want him to do what’s best for his family. We’re proud that a three-year pathway student could successfully advance to their first-choice program in a competitive field such as neurosurgery.”