‘I’m a Helper’: Student Affairs Leader is a Champion for Student Success 
Black History Month

February 8, 2024

Husband, father, brother, sports fanatic, foodie, former member of the Yelp Elite Squad.

Kareem Calliste, senior associate director of career services at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM), is a lot of things. The quality he's likely appreciated for the most by PCOM students: he's a helper.

“I want to help,” said Calliste. “With all of the students I work with, I want to see them achieve their goals and help them as much as possible.” 

In his role with the Office of Student Affairs, Calliste wears many hats. His primary responsibility is assisting students in navigating the often challenging transition from their undergraduate education to medical or graduate school.

The workload is rigorous and can often be unforgiving. The challenges for students also vary widely by program. 

“It all depends on the students,” he said. “Students in different programs have different issues and challenges they're working to overcome.”

Calliste got his start as an undergraduate at Lincoln University. As a political science major, he envisioned a life in public policy, but would eventually find his way into higher education. He attended Widener University for graduate school, earning his master's in public administration.

While at Widener, Calliste got a job as a graduate assistant in the career services office. Up to that point, he hadn't ever considered a career in higher education. “I thought to myself, ‘Wow! I kind of like this,’” he said.

Following the advice of a career counselor in the office, he started looking for jobs in higher education and eventually landed at Peirce College in Center City, Philadelphia.

After a decade at Peirce and two years at Cabrini University, Calliste came to PCOM, where he's been for seven years.  

The hardest part of his job? Not being able to help enough. 

“There's only so much I can do,” he said. “I can't take the MCAT for them. I can't sit in their classes with them. I really just want to see them succeed and I try to do as much as I can, in whatever way I can, to help them succeed.”

For Calliste, part of ensuring student success is through representation.

“I appreciate the fact that students look to me as someone that they can come to,” he said. “It's very important for me to be someone who students can see as a visible presence on campus, so if they feel they need to speak to someone, I'm certainly here for them.”

Calliste has also found other ways to connect with students, notably as a transplant from Brooklyn, New York. “Everybody knows I'm from New York,” he said. “It's tough because I'm not an Eagles fan. I'm a huge Giants and Yankees fan, so I get a lot of flak because I went to college in this area, but it's all in good fun.”

His other passions include being a dad to his 13-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter, attending sporting events, being a fan of the Star Wars and Marvel franchises, and trying out new foods or restaurants. “I used to write reviews for Yelp,” he shared. “I was considered what they call ‘Yelp Elite,’ but the pandemic made it hard to go out and review restaurants, so they took away my elite status.”

Calliste lives in the Lower Gwynedd section of Montgomery County with his wife and their two children.

From February 1 to February 29, PCOM joins others around the country in observing Black History Month. This important celebration honors the histories, cultures and contributions of those who identify as Black or African American. At PCOM, we recognize our faculty, students and staff who identify as such and will highlight their stories throughout the month.

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