a totally undistinguished student, School in Perth Amboy, then held sev- eral dead-end jobs before taking a position as an orderly at Perth Amboy General Hospital. Two years later, he joined the U.S. Army with the intent of becoming a medic but, instead, was assigned to the military police. Follow- Middlesex County College, later trans- ferring to Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, in Newark. He applied to 12 medical schools-- and promptly received negative responses from 11. Rutgers Medical School was the only one to offer him any interviews. One a U.S. Navy corpsman. Dr. Burke be- was central to his acceptance. Never- theless, months passed with no word from the medical school. Then, unex- pectedly one evening in late August, he was contacted by Elizabeth Vale in the admissions office at Rutgers Medical School and offered a place in the two weeks. He enthusiastically accept- ed the offer. That evening, he wrote became a doctor, he would focus on the needs of underprivileged children and those with disabilities. Dr. Porto (right), reminisced about the medical school's excellent faculty. Dr. Burke was inspired by the late Christian Hansen, MD, professor of pediatrics, a tireless advocate for the worldwide, and the late Lawrence T. Taft, MD, professor and chair, De- partment of Pediatrics, who encour- aged Dr. Burke's interest in pediatric neurology, cerebral palsy, and devel- opmental disabilities. continued at Rutgers Medical School in its second four-year class, receiving his doctor of medicine degree in 1975. He began his residency at the Univer- sity of Rochester but later returned to this state to study genetics and birth defects with Theodore Kushnick, MD, at New Jersey Medical School. His in- dress the needs of children with phys- ical and developmental disabilities and those with genetic disorders. Burke, MD '75, MPH, and Manuel M. Porto, MD '75, about their experiences in the Class of 1975 at Rutgers Medical School. At one point, Dr. Burke said that his being accepted to medical school was a miracle. What did that mean? He later clarified this as he described the evolution of his medical career over the last 40 years. |