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COM Outlook . Fall 2013
tory when he attended Emory University
in Atlanta, Georgia. “I would be backstage
waiting to go on in a show while I was
studying for my organic chemistry final,”
he said. “Everybody seemed to think it was
quite interesting that I was pursuing these
diverse interests at the same time.”
Looming on the immediate horizon,
however, were two life-altering epipha-
nies that would propel his life in direc-
tions even he couldn’t have portended.
Coming Out…Weighing Options
While attending Emory University, Dr.
Jackowitz continued to perform in plays,
believing he had the talent required to
make it as an entertainer in the cutthroat
world of theater. Suddenly, however, an
icy dose of reality shook him to his core
while concurrently providing him with a
meaningful moment of clarity. “When I
was younger, I had the lead role in every
show. But when I got to college, that was
no longer the case,” said Dr. Jackowitz,
who was shattered when he failed to win
the lead role of Tevye in the university’s
production of
Fiddler on the Roof
.
Although he earned a secondary cast
assignment, Dr. Jackowitz knew he had
learned a very valuable lesson while work-
ing alongside the lead actor. “I realized I
did not possess the acting talent needed to
be successful,” he admitted. “He was a real
actor who was truly talented. I was good,
but I knew I wasn’t in the same league at
all. I was really devastated, but it was a
valuable lesson many people don’t learn
until much later in life. In retrospect, it
taught me I didn’t need to be on stage in
order to fulfill my passion for theater.”
The feelings of desolation he initially ex-
perienced were also compounded by a tu-
multuous inner struggle that had been sim-
mering for years—and was about to break
free. “I came out of the closet when I was
in college, which occurred at a time when
I was very anxious about what my life was
going to be like,” admitted Dr. Jackowitz,
who now faced the nerve-wracking task
of revealing his sexual preference to his
parents. “When I was in high school and
college, I thought I was the only gay person
in the world. It was a different world, a
different community, and a different time
back in the 1980s. My folks did not take it
very well, although my dad dealt with the
news better than my mom did. I was the
golden child, so it went very quickly from
‘Yay, Michael’s coming home’ to ‘Oh my
God, Michael’s coming home.’”
Fortunately, Dr. Jackowitz’s coming-
out experience ultimately resulted in an
extremely life-affirming outcome. After
initially struggling to cope with her son’s
forthright disclosure, Dr. Jackowitz’s
mother—in a selfless show of love—relied
on a combination of therapy and self-help
materials to not only accept his homosexu-
ality, but embrace it in the most extraor-
dinary way. “My mom ended up going
back to school to become a psychologist,”
he explained. “She has since written a
book called
The Rest of the Way
based on
our experiences and opened a psychology
practice in Orlando that is helping gays
and lesbians deal with their various issues.
In fact, a significant portion of her practice
involves working with parents who just
found out their kids are gay.”
In 1985, the future physician/producer
made a fateful decision. “Once I realized
I lacked the acting ability needed to make
it in the business, I took a class in theater
administration, which proved to be a piv-
otal moment for me,” he stated. “I asked
myself, ‘Am I a premed student applying
to medical school as I have been preparing
for my whole life, or do I pursue a theater
career?’ I realized I was too scared to be
in the theater world at that time because I
didn’t think it was a reputable career.”
SECOM…Medicine...Producing
With his theater plans on hold for the
foreseeable future, Dr. Jackowitz refocused
his efforts on attending medical school—a
process that was hastened thanks to his
uncle’s connections at a relatively new
college in North Miami Beach. “My uncle
told me about Southeastern College of
Osteopathic Medicine (SECOM), which
sounded really interesting,” he explained.
“I thought it would be great to go back
home and attend medical school, so I ap-
plied to SECOM and was accepted.”
The next few years would fly by in a
blur for Dr. Jackowitz, whose time was
consumed with activities such as attend-
Examining an X-ray at SECOM.
Enjoying a jovial SECOM moment.
Dr. Jackowitz and Daniel Radcliffe.
With Glee star Darren Criss.
Dr. Jackowitz and Brooke Shields.
