The Icahn School of Medicine Class of 2021 received their MD’s and PhD’s Friday in a virtual ceremony.

Efrat Bruck is one of this year’s standouts. She’s been recognized for her work to help more women advance in medicine.

She created 30 free tutorial videos to help make medical school more accessible to students who don’t have the resources to prepare for their medical college exams.

“This was kind of a way to try to even the playing field and recruits talent and brilliant people from all demographics as well,” said Bruck.

But her biggest achievement was raising her two daughters, a 2-year-old and a 4-year-old during medical school.

“My daughters have seen me through some really tough times. Today they’re gonna see me graduate and they know that it’s happening so I’m super super excited to be sharing that with them,” said Bruck.

Bruck said it wasn’t easy. She was able to do it with support from her husband and family. Mt. Sinai was also accommodating and flexible.

"I think some of the hardest parts are when your kids are really young, being away from them for so many hours. I definitely had those two or three months to bond in the beginning but after that it was back to business,” said Bruck.

Bruck will continue to juggle motherhood and medicine. After six years of medical school she has at least four years of residency work at Mt. Sinai with a focus on anesthesiology. 
 
She's a role model now to other women in medicine, but more importantly to her daughters.

“When you’re in those hard times if you can just focus on the fact that it’s gonna end and there’s going to be a prize at the end, I think that helps get you through," she said.