Alumni in Medicine: Jonathan Zaid, M.D. ’04

• Internal Medicine Physician, Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals
• Assistant Professor, Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University
• M.D. Drexel University College of Medicine
• B.S. in Biology, The George Washington University

Describe your responsibilities and day-to-day work.
Every day of the week is different, which is something I enjoy. I’m the Medical Director of my office and navigate the logistics of running a primary care clinic each day. In addition to seeing my patients in the clinic, I precept at the resident clinic weekly and teach first-year medical students.

What is the most rewarding part of your work?
Teaching. Something I enjoy the most is explaining complex topics in simplified terms. For patients, it helps them feel like they are taking ownership of their care and they are more invested in their health. For students and residents, I hope to impart my passion for explaining why things are the way they are in the body so that they can in turn be better teachers to their patients.

How did your passion for medicine/health care begin and were there any specific experiences that had an impact on you?
Mr. Newman’s ninth grade biology class will always remain with me. I still remember dissecting the frog and conducting the compass experiment by pricking areas on our own bodies to investigate the nervous system. What especially stood out for me was creating our own science hypotheses and designing experiments that would prove or disprove them. This, in conjunction with Mr. Mike Levy’s English class, was the beginning of the feeling that not everything in the world is known by “adults” and if we want answers, we need to start thinking about creative ways to find them. Questioning things is fundamental to science and education; through various teachers during my 10 years, this has been a thread that shaped who I am today.

How has your Moorestown Friends education served you in your career and life?
Equality and justice were major themes from my education at MFS, and the value of being an empathetic contributor to our world was prioritized. I try to bring this to my practice and teaching through recognition of the social determinants of health and understanding barriers to care for patients from all backgrounds. Prescribing the best course of treatment in the world doesn’t mean anything if the patient doesn’t trust their providers or can’t access it.

Do you have any additional MFS stories or memories you would like to share that were influential in your life?
The camaraderie of MFS baseball will stay with me forever. Playing the game I loved with my best friends and led by two people I could not admire more, Coach Obermeier and Coach Sherby, was a favorite part of my school experience.

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