Page 8 - RU Robert Wood Johnson Medicine • Summer 2020

Mom’s intuition proved correct. Based on her strong academics and promise as a fencer, Thompson was awarded a scholarship to Temple University, a perennial top-10 fencing school. Three months into her freshman year, she became a starter for the team. She was a four-time NCAA championship qualifier, as well as a second-team All-American, and the first four-time conference champion of the National Intercollegiate Women’s Fencing Association.
Thompson continued to compete internationally for Team USA and was twice named Temple’s Student Athlete of the Year. Meanwhile, she pursued an ambition she’d had since the age of 3: to become a doctor. She majored in biology, minored in psychology, and graduated with honors. After taking a year off to train and compete in fencing, she matriculated at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.
Thompson finished sixth in the national point standings in 2016, just one place shy of making it onto the Olympic team. Choosing to earn the dual MD/MBA degree offered by the medical school, Thompson took a year off between her second and third years to complete her MBA at Rutgers Business School–Newark. Meanwhile, she fenced for the U.S. National Team and was named Pan American Team Champion.
This past year, Thompson took a one-year leave of absence to devote herself to Olympic training and to solidifying her third-place national points standing. She fences for the advanced team at Westbrook, where she is the only senior woman saber fencer. Her brother, Khalil, another strong Olympic contender, also fences for Westbrook, giving her special joy.
To improve her position in the residency match, she is doing research in the sports medicine division of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at New York University.
While a difficult challenge, she will return to the medical school in the fall, to complete her fourth year while competing in the remaining qualifying tournaments. “Everyone at the medical school has been so supportive,
Left: Kamali Thompson with her team mates at
the Salt Lake City World Cup Team Event, December 2019. n Below: Kamali at the Seoul Grand Prix,
April 2019.
“Everyone at the medical school has been so supportive, allowing me time off to train, compete, and go as far as I can,” Thompson says. “At the same time, they’re keeping me up-to- date so I’m ready to apply for residencies in the fall.”
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PHOTOS COURTESY OF KAMALI THOMPSON ’21