Getting Rachel Barney to discuss her career adventures is a journey in itself. She’s a mission-driven woman, without a desire for public recognition for her service. A non-traditional first-year student, Barney brings a background that touches the depths of grassroots service to the heights of the jetstreams, as a U.S. marine helicopter pilot.

Along the path to MSIH, Barney has realized her truest passion for medicine and currently serves as the class
representative for the first-year class. Born in New Jersey, Barney attended Columbia University, majoring in Chemical Engineering. In 1993, while a senior at Columbia, Rachel first experienced health care by working full-time for the New York City Emergency Medical Services (NYCEMS), in South Manhattan and the South Bronx. She graduated in winter 1995 and upgraded to paramedic with NYCEMS.

Barney’s decade between undergraduate and applying to medical school, began in 1997 with her entry into the Marine Corps to begin pilot training. The Marine Corps did not allow women to serve as pilots until 1993.

By 2000, she completed advanced flight training and was designated a Naval Aviator. In 2001, Barney was deployed to Japan. She returned just prior to September 11th and spent the next 18-months in San Diego. She was then sent to Iraq in 2003, 2004, and 2005, flying reconnaissance, medevac escort, and close air support missions.

“It was in Iraq during my first tour that I realized medicine was really what I wanted to do. My time in the military brought home the importance of service,” she said, “and the Marine Corps definitely helped me with time management, self-discipline, and a little perspective on life.”

After Barney completed a Master’s Degree in Aeronautical Science, she accepted an offer to teach English in France, while preparing for admission to medical school.

“I may be older and my experiences may be different than most other medical students,” she said “but I think the skills I gathered through those experiences will ultimately allow me to serve people more effectively than I could have otherwise.”