LEFT: Omri Ayalon '05 dribbling a basketball during his playing days; RIGHT: Dr. Ayalon performing surgery in his blue medical scrubs

Men's Basketball 1/23/2024 11:41:00 AM

Alumni Spotlight: Omri Ayalon '05, Men's Basketball

Men's Basketball 1/23/2024 11:41:00 AM

Alumni Spotlight: Omri Ayalon '05, Men's Basketball

Omri Ayalon '05 during his playing days (left) and performing surgery (right)

Alumni Spotlights are Q&A's with former Brandeis student-athletes, across a myriad of disciplines, as they reflect on their Brandeis experience and how it has shaped their lives today. Read more spotlight features here.

Name: Omri Ayalon '05
Sport: Men's Basketball
Current job: Orthopedic Hand and Upper Extemity Surgeon, NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital

Dr. Omri Ayalon is an orthopedic surgeon at NYU Langone Health specializing in surgery of the hand, wrist, elbow, and shoulder and has subspecialty training in nerve surgery and amputation reconstruction. In addition to his clinical practice, he is the Associate Director of the Hand Surgery Fellowship Training program and the Co-Director of the Center for Amputation Reconstruction at NYU. He completed his orthopedic surgery residency and hand surgery fellowships at NYU and prior to this, medical school at Dartmouth College. He received his B.S. in Biology and Anthropology at Brandeis University in Waltham, MA.

Omri currently lives in Brooklyn, NY with his wife and two children and never misses an opportunity to hoop in pickup runs, men's league games, or reminding his kids to keep their elbows in on their jumpers.

What drew you to Brandeis in the first place?

Very simply, I was looking for a place that would challenge me academically and athletically, and Brandeis fit the bill on both counts. The UAA is a special conference, and one that I felt across the board is composed of schools I would have loved to be at, and compete against in terms of the caliber of their athletes and the academics at those schools.

In addition, I have a neat family connection to the school. My grandfather studied veterinary medicine at Middlesex College, which was the veterinary school located in what is now the Castle on campus, at a time when admission to such institutions was limited to marginalized populations.

How about the medical profession? How did you end up in orthopedic surgery?

For me the decision to go to medical school was thanks to a biology professor at Brandeis, Dan Perlman, who suggested medicine as a good way to combine physical and social sciences, meaning doing science but also interacting with people. Once in medical school, after being exposed to the different fields of medicine, orthopedic surgery was a natural fit as I have always liked putting broken things back together.

As a surgeon I get to fix and reconstruct broken or cut nerves, tendons, ligaments, and bones. It requires some creativity and physicality, which I like, and it helps people get back to their activities and lives. It's fun taking care of patients of all ages and walks of life, from newborn babies to the elderly, not to mention the professional athletes and musicians.

Describe your overall experience as a student-athlete. What does it mean to you now/what did it mean to you while you were an undergraduate?

Life as a student athlete was extremely rewarding and fun. The academic and social life on campus, even without athletics, is superb. I felt lucky to extend that community with my teammates and the athletic department staff and athletes on other teams. I really enjoyed pushing myself and my teammates on the court and watching how that internal competition made us better as a whole. The culture at Brandeis, academically and athletically, was both supportive and challenging. It gave me the room I needed to challenge myself as much as I wanted. This balance has stayed with me to this day, with lessons of cooperation and healthy competition allowing me to succeed in my professional life.

Do you have any advice for current or future Brandeis student-athletes?

Try to be deliberate and get everything out of the experience. If there's something you are curious about, try it. A class, a skill, an internship, whatever it is, go for it, because that act of putting yourself out there is a skill that will ultimately get you where you want to go in life.

As athletes, we are lucky in that we learn the value of putting team goals before our own success. I would urge you to try this out during your time as a studen-athlete, take it upon yourself to see what you can do individually to help your team succeed. This will pay off later as well.

Most of all, of course, enjoy this time being a student-athlete because it is extremely fun!

Do you keep in touch with any of your former Brandeis teammates? How?

Going through an experience like being a student-athlete with teammates creates a unique bond, and I am still in touch with some of my former teammates; some intermittently and some more closely than others - for example one of my teammates was the best man at my wedding!

Basketball was and still is a common thread among us and means of community that we continue to this day. In addition, I have kept in touch with many of our opponents in the UAA, playing in leagues or even collaborating in work settings. The network that we are lucky to have from Brandeis and the schools we compete against is second to none.

Looking back on your basketball career at Brandeis, do you have any one or two moments that you look back on and cherish?

Beating NYU is always a highlight! It is always fun to think about when my personal success on the court actually helped our team succeed. My senior year we had a very talented freshman class that helped push me to be better and vice versa. Everything seemed to click at home game against NYU where we pulled out a very close victory in front of our home crowd which really brought our team together and served as a jumping-off point for later years' success.

Also, long road trips flying to UAA games will always hold a special place for me, balancing school work and the fun times on the road will always be remembered.

What personal or professional accomplishments are you most proud of since you graduated?

I am very grateful to be able to help people who are in need to get back to their lives, sports, or professions when they encounter injury or disease. Medical and surgical training is a long road, but one that I am extremely grateful and satisfied for undertaking. More specifically, starting a center at NYU that is dedicated to treating people with limb amputations to develop new techniques and surgeries that allow them to use prostheses to recreate normal hand function has been very gratifying.

Most importantly, I am proud of the life I have with my family. Ari, my wife who I met at Brandeis, works with healthcare start-ups and supports and pushes me to succeed every step of the way; my son Lev and daughter Eliana make me proud every day for being who they are and making us laugh.

Go 'Deis!

Lightly edited for clarity

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