Wright State medical student helps to fight coronavirus in New York

Juliet Corcillo is a student at the Boonshoft School of Medicine and serves in the U.S. Air Force.

Juliet Corcillo, a second-year student at the Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine, is working at the Ryan Larkin Field Hospital in New York City. The hospital was set up in a period of days inside Columbia University’s indoor soccer field and is operating as a stepdown unit for COVID-19 positive patients.

Corcillo, who serves in the U.S. Air Force, arrived there on April 10 and plans to stay through mid-June. She grew up in Staten Island, New York, and is proud to be helping residents of her home state.

“We provide our patients with the comfort and care that they need in order to continue their recovery until they are healthy enough to return home,” Corcillo said. “I am working with a group of amazing current and prior military medical professionals and special forces members. They range from doctors to EMTs and everyone in between.”

Corcillo once served as a medic in the Air Force and is going back to her roots. She’s been performing basic nursing skills such as obtaining vital signs, completing patient assessments and doing rounds with health care providers.

“New York is my home state. After taking my STEP 1 exam, I was sitting at home in Ohio doing absolutely nothing,” Corcillo said. “I found the post on North American Rescue’s webpage and jumped on it immediately. I felt compelled to help. This feels like my 9/11.”

Juliet Corcillo is working at the Ryan Larkin Field Hospital inside Columbia University’s indoor soccer field.

She has immense pride for the work being done, not only in serving her country alongside her fellow veterans but also to her home state of New York. Corcillo has found that many of the people volunteering in the field hospital have different backgrounds but a uniting drive for serving others.

“I have deeply missed this feeling of familiarity and camaraderie since leaving active duty to begin medical school,” Corcillo said. “This entire ordeal came to be over the course of one week. Through networking, military connections and social media, hundreds of volunteers came together and made this all possible. It has allowed us all to showcase the true capabilities of military medicine.”