Brief Profile:
I have interests in underserved medicine. I did research in medical engineering. I led a service club in college. I worked as an ophthalmic assistant. I love cooking.
// Applications //
Application Cycle One: 06/18/2015
Undergraduate Area of study: Engineering/Technology
Summary of Experience:
After trekking all the way over to Spokane to interview at my state school, I get an ugly rejection. Boooo UW ending all my WWAMI dreams. Oh well. I didn't really want to go to medical school in Spokane anyways, especially since it didn't even look like UW had their own medical building over in Spokane, and next year's preclinical years are going to be taught by Gonzaga faculty (so I heard). The research opportunities were also scarce unless someone is okay settling with opportunities by EWU or Gonzaga or only summer research somewhere else. Bye, UW! Sorry we didn't jibe!
Summary of Experience:
When I was notified of my II via text, I had to blink a few times to make sure I wasn't mistaken. I get to visit Boston University!!! :)
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The interview was an excellent day! The day opened with Dr. Witzburg giving us a presentation about the history of BUSM and an overview of the curriculum -- he is a really good speaker so I felt totally awake even though it was early in the morning! Afterwards was the interview which was one-on-one in my faculty member's office. The questions were straightforward and directly related to my application--my interviewer really read my application which was nice! All that hard work and writing was actually read! :) I liked how the interview was in the morning because then once I was done, I felt totally relaxed and spent the rest of my day open-eyed and simply trying to absorb as much information about the school as I could! Highlights for me include the fact that BMC is the "safety net" hospital for the greater Boston area and works with various community health centers to serve people from all sorts of backgrounds. Additionally, the ED accepts anyone who walks in the door regardless of SES and ability to pay. The students and faculty mentioned that many of the patients seen at BMC don't speak English as their primary language, so they all have great experience with the tricky situation of working with an interpreter and communicating clearly despite language barriers. I also really admired how students and faculty actively take opportunities to learn languages such as Spanish and Creole in an attempt to better serve their patients! The faculty who are at BU truly seem like they are there not because they receive a good salary (in fact, there are rumors many could get much better paying jobs at other nearby hospitals), but because they want to work at BMC and serve the disadvantaged that come to BMC. I absolutely LOVE this dedication to underserved medicine and hope for good news! All fingers crossed though, because I know how low yield this school is. Still, one can hope!
Summary of Experience:
Love from UCI! :D Stoked because UCI's opportunities to train in underserved medicine sound really awesome! Can't wait to visit!
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I stepped off the plane and was immediately blinded by sun... Sun??? Who sees the sun in late-fall/almost winter??? Welcome to myself to So-Cal, haha!
My interview experience here was excellent. My student host was so kind and offered to pick me up from the airport! From there, every other UCI student I met was equally nice and generous!! LOVED the atmosphere already! :)
I went to the pizza dinner the night before the interview and it was a superrrrrr relaxed environment. I got to meet a good number of the other interviewees and a good number of students, who all seemed very happy with where they were and UCI. During the actual interview day itself, there was an excellent breakfast and collection of morning sessions, including the chance to meet more students and a tour of the UCI medical campus. I didn't get to see the Orange County hospital though because it is located about 20 minutes away by car from the school itself... this is one thing to consider--living here without a car would be really difficult. The interviews themselves were not until after lunch. I had a student interviewer, a short, kind-of MMI style interview session, and a faculty interview all in the afternoon. The student interview was really excellent because you could tell the school purposely made matches based on something the applicant and interviewer had in common. For me, both the student and I came from the same undergraduate college and so we had an excellent time reminiscing about the undergrad days!! Easily the most comfortable interview ever! :) My faculty interview was also nice but my faculty member did not read my app beforehand--too bad! I kind of wanted to figure out what it was that we had in common for UCI to pair us! My faculty interviewer basically asked me to talk about myself and asked questions as they thought necessary.
Overall impression is a plus: I loved the many opportunities to become involved in service for the underserved in participating of one of UCI's 7 different student-run clinics (including one that involves travelling to Mexico!!) and plethora of international opportunities! The school's focus on ultrasound was also really interesting and appealing because it makes sense--ultrasound is indeed a relatively affordable and portable tool that is a powerful point-of-care diagnostic (and possibly treatment as well!). The UCI students really do learn ultrasound for all parts of the body as they go through anatomy--being graduated a pro at this one technique has lots of potential applications for sure!
Summary of Experience:
Wow, I liked the Icahn School of Medicine a lot more than I anticipated! I LOVED how the students were all really friendly and nice despite being super busy! The students run a free clinic that is right by the school every Saturday which also facilitates students from MS3 and MS4 mentoring MS1s and MS2s. Also, the facilities were all pretty new and the place even had a full-blown Step 2 simulation center! Students get to rotate at hospitals owned by Mt. Sinai that they said serve up to 50% of NYC's population (I think? Something like that) -- this means definitely lots of chances to learn how to interact with a diverse group of people! Also a huge plus is the student housing situation -- students are guaranteed student housing for all four years for ~$700 a month... next to Central Park in Manhattan?? Practically unheard of! The interview itself was really comfortable and informative -- fingers crossed for the best!
Summary of Experience:
Ahhhh accepted by Pritzker!! And here I was worried that I wouldn't get accepted here because I was too nervous for my first interview! Can't wait to see again at second look!! :)
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My first interview was a great experience! The people at Pritzker were so welcoming, and their med students all looked really happy! :) I LOVE how this school has a focus in training students to work with the underserved around the South Side of Chicago. Also, Pritzker's ER has an open-door policy, meaning medical students can drop by any time to learn, help, and immerse themselves in caring for patients. Definitely a top choice!!! Waiting to hear back from them will be a test of patience....
Summary of Experience:
Case Western Reserve in Cleveland! I'd never been to Cleveland before so this interview experience was an adventure!!
I lived in downtown Cleveland and my first impression of the city was that it had a young, hipster feel. The place is filled with bars and clubs and my hotel even had a live DJ in the lobby that keep playing until 1 in the morning! Also, I happened to be in town during a Browns game so there were lots of orange colored jerseys around town but an almost matching number of the visiting team jersey color. From talking to locals, I guess it's a little bit of a running joke that Cleveland teams are terrible so the stadiums are always full of the opposing team color more than the Cleveland color. Oh well, someone has to cheer for the losing team, right?
Anyways, CWRU is located about 20 minutes east of downtown. I noticed that once I left downtown on my way to CWRU, there were areas of urban decay, but the Cleveland Clinic is actively looking to rebuild many of these regions. In fact, the area that the hospital now owns is SO BIG that they have their own ZIP CODE in Cleveland. The medical school itself is located right next to the undergraduate campus and surrounded by many, many hospitals, including Rainbow Babies and a VA. One thing that struck me was the architecture - the hospitals here look really unique. No boring buildings here!
The people I met were really, really nice! My first interviewer was a faculty member who escorted me personally to his office so I didn't run the risk of getting lost -- this was nice!! I had lunch with the other interviewees and some M1 and M2 students, then we had a tour of the campus. The medical school itself is kind of an old building but the hospitals didn't disappoint! Next I had my student interviewer and we got along just fabulously!! She and I actually had so much in common which made it fun to talk with her. All my interviewers were fun and conversational and really relaxed. :)
In summary: plus points for CWRU = the IQ curriculum where students actively learn in small groups (kind of like Northwestern's PBL although CWRU will argue that IQ is not PBL...), very friendly and happy students, excellent clinical resources. Not so sure points for CWRU: Cleveland. It really is a different setting and not as popping and fun as Chicago or New York per se, but the reputation of CWRU and plentiful research opportunities make it a strong, strong program!
Summary of Experience:
FIRST ACCEPTANCE!!! HOW WHY WHAT IS THIS!!!!!!!!!! :D :D I got my email while at work and it took all my will power not to scream in front of patients! Ahhhhh I loved this school for it's waterfront campus right next to Lake Michigan, PBL curriculum, plentiful research opportunities, and location right in the heart of downtown Chicago! Whooo!!!!! I'm still in disbelief and find myself having to re-read my acceptance email to remember it's true!
One thing that may stop me from going here is how they don't let us choose whether we go into IP or ECMH for clinical experiences... they said they need to randomize who goes into what program for "research reasons" but what if I just really, really want to do ECMH and have exposure to community / underserved health???? Hmmmmr.
