Lives of Consequence
Dr. Jeremy Cushman '96
Doctor, Professor, Medical Director for Monroe County, the City of Rochester, and the Monroe-Livingston EMS System
For Dr. Jeremy Cushman ’96, each facet of his career — as teacher, researcher, administrator, policy maker and patient care provider — relies on others, and they “are all essential to my ability to successfully do what I do — and being incredibly fulfilled in doing it,” he explains.
Cushman is an associate professor of emergency medicine and public health sciences at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry where he practices as a board certified emergency physician and serves as chief of the division of prehospital medicine. His primary responsibility, however, is as the medical director for Monroe County and the City of Rochester where he oversees the regional emergency medical services system.
“I have the privilege of being able to both take care of one patient at a time, and also create policy that will direct the care of more than 130,000 people that will call our 911 center this year requesting medical help,” says Cushman. “In 10 years I don't think I have ever done the same thing two days in a row. That's why I have the best job in the world.”
When he matriculated at HWS, Cushman already had an interest in science and medicine, and found ample opportunities at the Colleges to pursue that interest. Shadowing in the emergency department at Geneva General Hospital, working as a student athletic trainer on campus with Doug Reeland, completing EMT certification and volunteering extensively, all while double-majoring in biology and biochemistry — Cushman says he “was quickly hooked.”
After working in emergency medical services after graduation, he received his M.D. from the University of Maryland, where he also completed his residency in emergency medicine. He then went on to receive his M.S. in emergency health services from the University of Maryland Baltimore County, and completed a fellowship in emergency medical services at the University of Maryland Medical Center.
In emergency medicine, Cushman explains, “the need to make quick decisions based on little information and sometimes only your experience (and gut) is an intellectual challenge like no other. The ever-changing field of both emergency and prehospital medicine means nothing becomes old, and so in addition to learning new things almost every day, I have this great opportunity to directly impact the health of not only the patient in front of me, but the entire region I serve.”
At the 2017 EMS Today conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, Cushman was presented with the John P. Pryor, MD, Street Medicine Society Award, which honors his ongoing dedication to the betterment of EMS.
Cushman currently serves Hobart and William Smith as a Trustee and medical adviser of the Colleges student-run EMS program, and is the immediate past president of the Hobart Alumni Association. He lives in Honeoye Falls, N.Y. with his wife, William Smith alumna Susan Flanders Cushman, M.S., Ph.D. ’98, who works at the Colleges as the director of introductory biology laboratories and research scientist for the Finger Lakes Institute. They have two young boys, Riley and Thomas.