Your Expert, Guide, Cheerleader, Friend

Akhil was raised in the Greater Chicago and Philadelphia areas. Beginning in high school, he worked as a tutor for Kumon Learning Center, performed hepatocellular carcinoma research at the Baruch Blumberg Institute, and became certified as an EMT. He then attended Northwestern University in Evanston, IL and graduated with a degree in Economics and Biological Sciences with a Concentration in Neurobiology as well as a Certificate in Leadership. During his time at Northwestern, he participated in peer-tutoring, basic science research, and was the President of the largest cultural organization on campus. In addition, he was an active member of the dance community, serving as the captain for the University’s bhangra dance team. During his senior year, he worked as a Business Analyst for ExplORer Surgical, a surgical startup in Chicago that solidified his passion for pursuing orthopaedics in the future. Following graduation, he matriculated to the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University and obtained his MBA at the Fox School of Business at Temple University.

In medical school, he continued to teach, mentor, and advise undergraduate students. He currently serves as a USMLE Step 1 tutor for Inspira Advantage. He conducted interviews for prospective undergraduate applicants and served as an advisor for prospective medical school applicants. Throughout medical school, he pursued orthopaedic surgery research at the Rothman Orthopaedic Institute  and Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush, and was able to publish his research and abstracts. He has over 20 abstract presentations and publications, many of them as first author. He received a 257 (~95th percentile) on USMLE Step 1 and is currently on his clinical rotations.

Altogether, he has been teaching a wide range of subjects for more than 10 years and has tutored for several board exams including the SAT, MCAT, and USMLE Step 1. He has a strong commitment to education and mentorship and believes that hard work, passion, and a willingness to ask for help are the keys to reaching one’s goals. He understands the complexities of the medical school admission process, and wishes to work closely with his students to form an individualized plan and provide personalized attention and guidance.

He is currently a third-year medical student and is interested in pursuing a residency in orthopaedic surgery. He recently completed a prestigious orthopaedic research fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital. In his free time, he enjoys basketball, trying out new recipes, rooting for the Sixers and Bears, and discovering new coffeeshops in Philadelphia. BEAR DOWN!

Andrew is a fourth-year medical student at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai pursuing a career in Anesthesiology who has a startup valued at $12 million which focuses on providing affordable vision care across the US, has >20 peer-reviewed publications, and is looking to continue to help others in their medical careers. Originally from the greater Pittsburgh area, Andrew went to public school for all his life, and attended the University of Pittsburgh where he majored in computational chemistry with a focus in biology. He conducted research through the Department of Biomedical Informatics where he published a paper in Scientific Reports on long non-coding RNA SNHG7 and its impact in breast cancer. He graduated in 3 years from Pitt and went straight to medical school at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. During his first year there, he joined multiple research labs focusing on large-data analysis and machine learning. He also co-founded Retina Technologies Inc., a company aimed disrupt vision care by leveraging virtual reality, retinal imaging, and machine learning onto a portable platform to provide affordable, accessible, and accurate vision screening across the country. He served as the CTO for the company, spearheading 4 clinical trials, submitting 3 provisional patents and 1 non-provisional PCT patent, and built both the hardware and software from the ground up. He has continued his involvement in both his research and the company throughout all 4 years of medical school and is applying to residency programs for Anesthesiology.  

‍

Anush Swaminathan is a 3rd year MD-PhD student at the Yale School of Medicine. Anush is originally from New Jersey, and graduated summa cum laude from Boston University in 2018 with honors in both Biology and Philosophy. At BU, Anush was a Trustee Scholar covering his full cost of attendance for all four years, and received the Provost's Award for Academic Excellence, Biology Department Excellence in Scholarship prize, and the Philosophy department Robert S. Cohen award for interdisciplinary studies. Anush was selected for prestigious science research fellowships at the Weizmann Institute in Israel and the EPFL in Switzerland, and conducted research at Harvard Medical School in biochemistry for 4 years (the last 3 years of undergrad and his gap year). Anush also worked in ethics and the philosophy of science, with his philosophy thesis work being on the role of animal models in helping basic science transition into translational research.

Anush was accepted into many top MD-PhD programs, including Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Cornell Tri-I, NYU, UChicago, and UMichigan, choosing Yale for the Yale System, strength in immunology and genetics research, and amazing culture. Anush serves on the YNHH Ethics Committee, and was the leader of the Bioethics Interest Group and the Internal Medicine Interest Group. Currently having completed his first 2 years of medical school and in his first year of a PhD in Genetics, Anush has an intimate understanding of both the medical school and graduate school admissions process, having helped organize MD and MD-PhD interviews for applicants. Anush has also independently mentored dozens of applicants for MD, MD-PhD, DO, and BS/MD programs, with his mentees being accepted to their top-choice programs across the country, including Harvard, Columbia, WashU, UTSW, Stanford, and UWashington.

Anush’s strengths are in his ability to work closely with mentees, helping strengthen their voice to tell their own unique stories. As a first-generation medical student, Anush is aware of the pitfalls in the medical school admissions process and is committed to helping students personalize their strongest application. Anush has extensive experience with school selection, primary and secondary applications, essay editing, and mock interviewing. At Inspira, Anush hopes to further his passion for mentee advocacy by supporting the goals and vision of his clients, and helping them fashion the strongest application possible.

Audra is a GMAT/GRE tutor based in Brooklyn, New York. With over six years of experience teaching hundreds of students both one-on-one and in the classroom, Audra helps business school and graduate school applicants maximize their testing performance with personalized instruction focused on their areas of need. Audra has achieved a 98th-percentile score of 750 on the GMAT and a 335/340 on GRE. She loves sharing her knowledge and helping each client reach their potential!

Audra received her B.A. in Liberal Arts from St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland in 2013. The degree is equivalent to a double major in Philosophy and the History of Mathematics and Science, and a double minor in Classics and Comparative Literature. She is currently attending the online Master of Computer and Information Technology program at the University of Pennsylvania. In her free time, Audra enjoys reading and performing with the sketch comedy group Punchline Loading... in New York City.

Having grown up in the rural Midwest followed by attending University of Iowa for undergrad, Callie is now a student at Yale School of Medicine and will be pursuing a career in psychiatry. She has five years of tutoring experience and has been involved with curriculum reform and health justice advocacy. Her research interests include qualitative research on the lived experience of having mental illnesses as well as health disparities research. Along with Inspira, Callie is involved in Yale's first generation-low income student group as well as the LGBTQ affinity group and is passionate about helping prospective students with diverse backgrounds discuss these parts of their identities in their applications.

Carmen studied at Yale School of Medicine. While pursuing human physiology and Hindi as a Boston University Kilachand Honors College student, Carmen pursued her passion for medicine and public health by working in underserved communities as an EMT, physical therapist assistant, and research assistant. These opportunities greatly influenced her to pursue her Masters of Public Health in biostatistics and epidemiology at Boston University, where she received training in SAS/RStudio coding as well as quantitative global health research.

During her medical school application cycle, Carmen ultimately was deciding between University of Michigan’s full tuition Dean Scholarship, Baylor, Boston University, and Yale, finally choosing Yale for the research opportunities, Yale System, and desire to stay near family and friends. As the former premed liaison for the Yale Student National Medical Association/Latino Medical Student Association, Carmen has extensive mentoring experience through Yale’s Program to Advance Training in Health & Sciences (PATHS), where she helped organize the framework for the first PATHS cohort to receive mentorship from Yale medical students.

As Inspira, she has mentored dozens of premedical students, helping students obtain interviews and acceptances to medical schools such as Johns Hopkins, NYU, Yale, UTSW, University of Pittsburgh, University of Chicago, Brown, Dartmouth, Boston University, and more. As a seasoned mentor, Carmen brings her experience with AMCAS, AACOMAS, and TMDSAS applications as well as early assurance medical school programs to Inspira. Carmen’s strengths include helping students convey their unique strengths and narratives as well as helping students formulate a holistic, insightful application.

Christopher is a New York City native and a graduate of SUNY Binghamton, where he obtained a B.S. in Integrative Neuroscience with a minor in Health and Wellness Studies. As an active contributor to several Neuroscience and Nutrition related research projects, he was invited to present his work at several academic conferences across the United States. Chris was also actively involved in campus life, and held executive board positions for several social and academic student-run organizations.

Following graduation, Chris was hired as a research coordinator for Columbia University’s Center for Liver Disease and Transplantation. While working, he completed a M.S. in Health Systems Science from Binghamton University’s Watson School of Engineering. During this time, Chris applied to medical school and was accepted by several top programs, including the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.  

As a medical student, Chris continued his involvement with research and received several peer reviewed publications. He served as a Chair for the Student High Value Care Committee, where he oversaw one of several student-run clinical quality improvement initiatives. He graduated from medical school in 2021 and remains at Mount Sinai as a resident within the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine.

Chris has a long history of working with students. During his junior year of college, he worked as a science tutor for Binghamton University’s athletic department. During his senior year, he took on the additional role of “At Risk Student Advisor.” Under this role, he was paired with student athletes who were at risk for failing to meet the minimum academic standards required to compete. He met with these students regularly, holding sessions focused on topics such as time management, test taking strategy, and career planning. Following his first year of medical school, Chris worked as an MCAT instructor for students enrolled in Mount Sinai’s Chapter of the North East Regional Alliance (NERA) for Medical Preparation. In addition to providing MCAT tutoring, he held regular one-on-one sessions focused on personal statement writing and application building. He has also held several work-shops focused on demystifying the medical school application process. Chris has a thorough understanding of the medical school admissions process and a passion for helping students reach their full potential.

Dave is currently an Emergency Medicine physician in his second year of residency at the MGH/Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency. He is passionate about global health, healthcare technology, and entrepreneurship. He also enjoys a good breakfast burrito and getting outside as much as possible.

‍
Before medical school, Dave co-founded an agricultural social enterprise in Uganda, which has improved the incomes of many small-holder farmers and strengthened food security in East Africa. He completed an MD-MBA at Dartmouth, where he was elected to the A.O.A. Honor Society as well as nominated by his peers to the Gold Humanism Honor Society.

‍
During medical school, Dave evaluated the effectiveness of new vaccine introductions in Rwanda as a Healthcare Policy Fellow at the Rwandan Ministry of Health. He also received the Albert Schweitzer Fellowship Award to develop an after-school mentoring program for at-risk youth. Drawn to the potential for technology to improve access to care and healthcare quality, Dave began consulting for digital health and tech-enabled healthcare delivery companies during his MBA and continues still today. He has also worked in healthcare venture capital and impact investing.

‍
In residency, Dave has continued to pursue his interest in leveraging innovation to improve health. He teaches a workshop on healthcare start-up formation and early-stage fundraising, in addition to researching how machine learning can improve ED operations. He has kept his global health interests alive by serving on the organizing committee of American College of Emergency Physicians’ (ACEP) International Emergency annual conference and conducting research to improve the integration of humanitarian disaster responses with longer-term development objectives.

‍
Dave has served in both form and informal advisory roles to medical school applicants, healthcare entrepreneurs, and residency applicants. He enjoys meeting new people bent on improving healthcare and helping them accomplish their goals.

David is currently a neurosurgeon in his seventh year of residency at Vanderbilt University. David graduated from UCLA as a Regent’s Scholar with a B.S. in Neuroscience and subsequently attended the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine on a full-ride, merit-based scholarship. At The University of Chicago, David was awarded a two-year Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) research grant and, at Vanderbilt University, David was awarded a two-year NIH/F32 NRSA research grant to study the molecular biology of GBM, one of the deadliest forms of brain cancer.

During his time at The Pritzker School of Medicine, David was heavily involved with the medical school admissions process. Throughout his first five years, he interviewed hundreds of medical school applicants and, in his final year of medical school, he was selected by faculty to be one of three students to serve as a voting member on the admissions committee. During his time at Pritzker, David reviewed 500+ applications, interviewed over 750+ applicants, and worked closely with the Office of Admissions in coordinating interview days, organizing revisit weekends, and fine-tuning the application process.

Since graduating from The University of Chicago, David has mentored 60+ students throughout their medical school admissions process. His knowledge and experience go beyond simple application and essay completion. David helps applicants perfect their interview skills, create strategic medical school application lists, obtain the highest quality letter of recommendations, navigate waitlists and multiple admission offers, and helps applicants construct application stories that truly highlight their best and most appealing attributes. Simply put, David has the insider knowledge and mentoring experience to help applicants put together their best application package.

Dylan is a graduate of Williams College with a B.A. in Chemistry and Comparative Literature. He led the peer-tutoring program for his junior and senior years and received the Frederick C. Hagedorn, Jr. Premedical Prize, which is awarded annually by the premedical adviser at Williams College to one premedical student in the senior class in recognition of academic achievement and the embodiment of the principles of the medical profession.

Dylan spent three years at Stanford Medical School, where he was the first student to play a varsity sport (baseball) while enrolled in the medical school. He founded the Global Surgery Interest Group and was Co-President of the Neurosurgery Interest Group. He interned at the World Health Organization in Geneva after his first year, and took a leave of absence to pursue a Ph.D. in Clinical Neurosciences at Cambridge University on a Gates-Cambridge Scholarship. He is a third year Ph.D. student and will return to Stanford next year to complete medical school.

With over 40 peer-reviewed publications, Dylan’s research interest is in improving neurosurgical care in low-and middle-income countries and is currently in Cali, Colombia leading a study on implementing resource-stratified guidelines for treatment of severe traumatic brain injury.

As an Inspira Advantage team member, Dylan has coached students during the admissions process with students being admitted to medical schools at Brown, U. Penn, USC, Harvard, Stanford, UCLA, Dartmouth and UCSF. He has consulted for a Fulbright Award winner and current PhD student at Berkeley, a Gates Cambridge Scholar, and two Gates Cambridge finalists.

Ezra is a 3rd year medical student at the University of Pennsylvania. Originally from New York City, he grew up in Cherry Hill, NJ before attending the University of Pennsylvania for undergrad. As an undergraduate student he student Economics with minors in Math and Chemisty. He graduated with honors, phi beta kappa, summa cum laude, and was awarded a prize for excellence in Economics. While in undergrad he conducted research in healthcare economics, captained the campus Medical Emergency Response Team, taught CPR, and wrote for The Pennsylvania Punch Bowl humor magazine. He applied for medical school during his senior year and decided to stay at the University of Pennsylvania for medical school because of its academic excellence and broad array of research opportunities in healthcare services.

As a medical student he has continued working in healthcare economics research, for which he was awarded the Leonard Davis Institute summer scholarship. He also worked with Puentes de Salud, a South Philadelphia health clinic for low-income spanish-speaking patients. He is the current treasurer of the Plastic Surgery Interest Group, and a former leader of the Maimonides Jewish student organization. This coming cycle he plans to apply to general surgery residency.

Apart from medicine, Ezra really enjoys reading, baking bread, quoting 200s comedy movies, sailing, and travel.

Fatuma Rinderknecht is a current 3rd year medical student at UC San Francisco, hoping to go into the field of dermatology. She grew up in Davis, CA and attended Davis Senior High School. She then attended Harvard University, where she graduated cum laude with a BA in Human Evolutionary Biology and a secondary in Global Health and Health Sciences. While at Harvard, Fatuma conducted atherosclerosis research at the Harvard School of Public Health and Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, Germany. In addition to her research, she also spent her time in college volunteering in community clinics and working as a tutor and college counselor. After college, Fatuma worked as a clinical research coordinator at the UC San Francisco Department of Pediatric Cardiology and volunteered as an eligibility specialist at a free clinic. She then began medical school and concurrently pursued a Masters of Science, where she focused her thesis research on a dermatological condition known as Hidradenitis Suppurativa. While in medical school, Fatuma has started an organization to provide mentorship to pre-medical students from underrepresented backgrounds and has received a Deans Award for Public Service. She is very passionate about helping students reach their full potential and achieve their dreams of becoming physicians and hopes to do the same at Inspira.

Garrett was born in Torrance, CA in the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area. He graduated summa cum laude from the College of Engineering at Cornell University with a B.S. in Biological Engineering and a concentration in Biomedical Engineering in three and a half years. He worked alongside Dr. Jan Lammerding, completing research focused on how lamin protein mutations affected cancer cell migration. In his senior year, he was inducted into the Tau Beta Pi Engineering National Honors society.

After college, he took one gap year and worked as a tutor for an education company. He then went on to attend medical school at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. His interest in the interaction between medicine and technology led to him to complete a MD/MS dual degree program in Biomedical Informatics, where he was awarded best thesis presentation by his department. In medical school, he served as a mentor for underprivileged high school students interested in STEM. He also assisted and guided premedical students through a buddy program created by his school's chapter of the Asian Pacific American Medical Student Association. He has written multiple publications in the fields of predictive modeling and machine learning, while honing his coding skills in medical school. He is currently applying into radiology residency.

Garrett is an energetic and supportive mentor who eagerly looks to bring his abilities to Inspira. He is passionate about coaching and working with prospective medical school candidates to help them achieve their personal dreams

Harrison graduated summa cum laude with a 4.0 GPA from the University of Alabama in the spring of 2021. During his four years in college, Harrison completed his undergraduate degree while simultaneously enrolled in an accelerated master's program, enabling him to earn both a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology and a Master of Science in Biology in the same four-year stint.

Additionally, Harrison was awarded the University of Alabama’s Presidential Scholarship, a full-tuition scholarship; the Grantland and Louise Scholarship for outstanding performance as a microbiology student; and full funding for his graduate research project. Throughout his time in college, Harrison was both involved in and led a variety of integrative research projects that investigated topics such as deforestation and the neuroendocrine stress response, sex change in hermaphroditic fish, and the interplay of disease and microbiome assemblage.

His participation in these projects earned him first, second, and third authorship in prep on three different publications. Outside of the classroom and laboratory, Harrison co-founded an organ donation awareness club, obtained an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) license while enrolled in classes, and tutored local students ages K-12. Over the course of his preparation for the MCAT, Harrison focused on collecting a variety of high-value, low-cost resources and crafted a study plan that was unique to his needs.

After achieving his goal score in the 97th percentile on the MCAT, he decided to pursue tutoring as a professional endeavor. Harrison’s tutoring system centers around open communication with his students that allows them to work together to diagnose problems, curate detailed MCAT preparation plans, and compile pointed content review. He looks forward to working with you, side-by-side, as you achieve your goal score and gain admission into your dream medical school!

Howard obtained his Bachelor of Science in Biology, magna cum laude, from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). He then moved to the healthcare mecca of Boston, where he received my MD degree from Harvard Medical School (HMS). While at HMS, Howard was on the HMS admission committee where he read applications, interviewed candidates and attended meetings where candidates are selected. While in medical school, he also enrolled at Harvard Business School, and graduated with an MD/MBA degree in 2019. Howard is currently at Stanford Hospital for his residency in Interventional Radiology. Howard has extensive experience working with both traditional and non-traditional candidates.

Jennifer is a 4th year medical student at the Mayo Clinic School of Medicine. She is originally from Ohio, and graduated with honors from the University of Chicago in 2013 with a degree in psychology and biology. After graduation, Jennifer served in the Peace Corps in Paraguay. After completing her service, Jennifer worked as a Clinical Research Coordinator for the Univ. of Washington on various projects in general surgery and vascular surgery.

During her time at the Mayo Clinic School of Medicine, Jennifer was elected national president-elect of the American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA), has published seven peer-reviewed publications on women’s health and medical education, and was interviewed by Reuters Health and ABC News for her curriculum on Human Trafficking for medical students. She pursues her passion for education and mentorship as an academic tutor for the Mayo Clinic, leading multiple lectures for medical board review courses and privately tutoring students.

Jennifer’s strengths are in service, advocacy, and education. To further explore these interests, she completed a Master’s in Public Health between her third and fourth year of medical school. Jennifer gained acceptance into every public health school to which she applied, including Harvard, Yale, UC Berkeley, Emory, Johns Hopkins, and the Univ. of Washington. She ultimately chose Columbia University for its wealth of research and networking opportunities. She is currently applying for residency in OB/GYN at top ranked programs. Her interests are in minimally invasive surgery, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and global health.

As a non-traditional med student, Jennifer brings a wealth of life and work experience to her perspective as an admissions expert. As a first-generation medical student, she is also personally familiar with scholarship application processes.

Jennifer has mentored many pre-medical and medical students on research, academic writing, networking, career planning, and medical school and residency applications. Her last mentee interviewed for medical school at several ivy league programs. She has experience with school selection, primary and secondary applications, essay editing, and mock interviewing. At Inspira Jennifers gets to do what she enjoys most, which is helping other students identify their own passions and highlight their strengths to put together the best application package possible.

Jonathan is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University where he majored in in Neuroscience. While an undergraduate, he did extensive basic and clinical research in the fields of Neurology, Orthopedics, and Anesthesiology. After graduating with Honors, he completed his MD at Hofstra-Northwell School of Medicine, where he performed research in Anesthesiology and participated in a healthcare administrative internship.

Jonathan also served as a member of the Admissions Committee while at the Hofstra-Northwell School of Medicine, both for the MD and BS/MD programs. He was intimately involved in the application process, where he interviewed numerous candidates and gained extensive training in application review. Jonathan is currently a resident in Anesthesiology at New York Presbyterian-Weill Cornell. He has published papers on infection prevention and quality improvement protocols during residency.

Jonathan has spent time in healthcare administration and intends to pursue this extensively after completing residency, giving him a unique perspective of the high-level changes in healthcare applicable to incoming applicants. Jonathan has also founded his own start-up company dedicated to infection prevention in the healthcare setting. The company has filed patents, raised seven figures in investment dollars, and is bringing product to the market at large. He was the winner of Innovate LI, Innovator of the Year award for his work on the company.

Joseph grew up in a small town in Kansas, where he was the only student from his graduating class of ~70 to “make the leap” to a legitimate, 4-year university.

Fast forward four years: Joseph graduated summa cum laude with a B.S. in Neurobiology, addended with an awkwardly long list of honors. For instance, in his junior and senior years, he received the annual award recognizing the biology department’s top student, per faculty consensus. In addition, he was also honored with more than a handful of semi-redundant accolades for “excellence in biomedical research”. Outside of the biology department, Joseph was named as 1 of 20 University Scholars in my graduating class of >5,000 students. Concurrently, he worked jobs as a teaching assistant in biochemistry and physiology courses, and played an integral role in establishing a pre-med advisor faculty position within the university’s honors program. Joseph also published a first-author study elucidating the molecular mechanism underlying a phenomenon of paradoxically prolonged vasoconstriction largely responsible for downstream infarctions secondary to vascular insult.

Three months after graduating from KU, he began medical school at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. This is where Joseph felt he really refined a lot of the studying and test-taking strategies he expects to explore en route to masterminding an individualized game plan with every nuance uniquely dedicated to identifying and exploiting the challenges (aka, opportunities) wedged between you and your full potential- which, in his experience, frequently exceeds students’ initial goals.

He has also been an MCAT tutor for three years; helping over hundreds of students crush the overly lengthy exam and, ultimately, get into medical school. All these years of MCAT tutoring have uniquely positioned him to guide future physicians along what is ubiquitously regarded as the most treacherous segment on the truly lifelong journey of medical education.

Katherine graduated summa cum laude from Columbia University with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering in 2020. She is currently in her first year at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Katherine was inducted in the engineering honor society, Tau Beta Pi, and received the Robert Edward Reiss Award in Chemical Engineering for outstanding promise in biochemical engineering.

In college, Katherine conducted clinical research at the Penn Frontotemporal Degeneration Center and the New York Presbyterian Neurological Intensive Care Unit. Katherine was a teaching assistant for chemistry lab and lead a clinical research program at the Mt. Sinai hospital system. She also served as president for her Greek organization and was a pianist in a classical chamber ensemble.

In medical school, Katherine has already joined clinical research projects, community clinics, and interest groups. She is interested in pursuing a career in a surgical subspecialty. Katherine is actively involved in the admissions process as an interviewer and has spent much of her time mentoring others applying to medical school. Over the years through tutoring, teaching and mentoring, Katherine has been passionate about helping others. Having just recently gone through the medical school admissions process herself, she is dedicated to helping others navigate applying, and she is very excited to work with students.

In December of 2021, Kayla graduated with distinction from The Fredrick Meijer Honors College at Grand Valley State University, with a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Science with an emphasis in Microbiology and a minor in Spanish. While there, she was accepted as a junior at Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D School of Medicine, through the early acceptance partnership (EAP) track. She was the only student in her cohort to be accepted to the EAP class of 2026.

Kayla earned the Grand Valley Award for Excellence and The Presidential Scholarship, which covered the full cost of attendance. She was nominated for the I Am Grand Valley Award, which highlights students’ commitment to leadership and on-campus initiative, three years in a row. In addition, she was selected by the faculty of the Department of Biomedical Science as a graduate of distinction - an honor attributed to less than 2% of the graduating class.

During her time as a student, Kayla served as the president of the Ethics Bowl Team, and was proud to represent her university at national competition twice. She was actively involved in undergraduate research, and completed her honors thesis on role of carbonate in mediating yeast to hyphae conversion in the pathogenic fungus, Candida albicans. She then went on to conduct immunology research at The University of Iowa.
‍

Kayla has been a tutor for over 6 years, and is passionate about crafting personalize success plans for her students. After taking the MCAT in September, 2020, she went to develop a six-week study program, which she taught online during the height of the COVID19 pandemic. She also offered numerous one night CARS crash course sessions, in addition to tutoring college biology, microbiology and genetics. She was the top tutor at The Grand Valley Tutoring Center in 2021, having conducted over 250 sessions in one semester. She has served a diverse range of students, including veterans, adult-learners, and those with disabilities.

Once in medical school, Kayla plans to pursue an academic distinction in global medicine and public health, as well as continue research in infectious disease and immunology.

Maxwell is currently working as a medical assistant in Massachusetts during his gap year while applying to MD programs. Maxwell studied Computational Neuroscience with a minor in Ethnicity, Migration, Rights at Harvard for undergrad. His teaching experience started in high school as a teaching assistant and tutor for chemistry, biology, and math courses. In college, he was a course assistant for an advanced integrated science class and a tutor/afterschool counselor for children in Boston's Chinatown. Maxwell has over a year of MCAT teaching experience, both working with students 1-on-1 and co-teaching larger classes.

He's excited to make the MCAT at least a little more fun and engaging by thinking about conceptual connections and real-world applications! Maxwell's also happy to answer any questions about applying to medical school as a first-generation college and medical student.

Micah is originally from New York and grew up in New Jersey. He is a 2019 graduate of the University of Michigan, where he obtained his Honors B.S degree in Neuroscience. Micah excelled in his studies, receiving Honors recognition for his neuroscience thesis, and graduating at the top 3% of all graduates. He worked alongside Dr. Tim Bruns in the Peripheral Neural Engineering and Urodynamics Lab which combined his two interest, urological medicine with neuroscience pathophysiology. In his research, Micah focused on identifying associations between neural stimulation therapy and sexual dysfunction, earning the Underwood Alger Scholarship for his research, and presenting to the Society for Neuroscience. He also worked alongside Dr. Joph Steckel, Vice Chairman of Urology at the Smith Institute for Urology as a research fellow.

While in college, Micah volunteered as a teaching assistant for elementary school students and worked as a private tutor for organic chemistry and biochemistry. He served as an executive member of the Sports Medicine Club where he focused on mentoring premedical students. He continued his efforts to teach and mentor students during his gap year where he worked as the primary biology, chemistry, and physics teacher at a middle school in New York City and continued working as a private tutor and premed mentor. Micah has experience in school selection, primary and secondary application writing, and interview preparation.

Micah was accepted into several top medical school programs and decided to attend the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai where he is currently a second-year student. There, he volunteers as a high school mentor and currently serves as the Public Outreach Coordinator for the Medical Discovery of Careers program. He focuses on mentoring students in their efforts to pursue careers in medicine. He is a member of the Urology Minimally Invasive Surgery research group under the leadership of Dr. Michael Palese. He has authored several publications and presented his research to the American Urology Association. Along with his other work, Micah is an avid musician who composes, records, and performs music in New York City.

‍

Mohammad was born in Manhattan, raised in the U.S., Middle East, and Southeast Asia, and ultimately decided to return home for college. He attended Columbia University graduating with a B.A. in Biology where he started his academic career publishing a novel GAPDH sequence for Anethum Graveolens. He was later accepted to a respected research summer research fellowship with grant funding from SUNY Downstate to conduct bench research on immune mediated cancer cell killing mechanisms. He spent time at New York University’s Bellevue as a summer fellow completing both research in prostate cancer and a wide range of clinical rotations.

After receiving over 10 medical school acceptances, he decided to continue his education at the Icahn School of Medicine where he was  awarded a prestigious summer research fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering. There he wrote multiple publications including both a paper and a book chapter on gynecological malignancies and several abstracts regarding geriatric assessment in cancer patients. During his time in medical school, he co-founded the first evidenced based medicine student group, wrote for various student publications between Mount Sinai and the University of Pennsylvania, served on the steering committee of a student group for under-represented students, and interviewed prospective students as an Admissions Committee member.

He is now a resident in radiation oncology at the Oregon Health and Sciences University with an expected graduation date of July 2023. During residency he has continued to publish research on topics ranging from gynecological malignancies in Central Africa to breast cancer treatment techniques and quality improvement in the radiation oncology outpatient clinic. He continues his academic path in quality improvement and entrepreneurship.

At Inspira, Mohammad is excited to help pre-medical students through the arduous but rewarding path to becoming a physician.

Nicole was born and raised in New Rochelle, NY, a suburb of New York City. She graduated from the College of Human Ecology at Cornell University with a B.S. in Human Biology, Health, and Society, and a minor in Human Development. In her senior year, she was named a Frank and Rosa Rhodes Scholar, an honor bestowed on one outstanding student in each of the seven colleges at Cornell each year.

After college, she took one gap year, where she worked as a Clinical Research Aide in the Department of Anesthesiology at Weill Cornell Medicine. In this role, Nicole designed and executed clinical trials, chart reviews, and quality improvement projects across a variety of topics, particularly in cardiac and global health anesthesia. She then went on to medical school at the University of Virginia, where she is currently a fourth year medical student applying to residency in neurology.

Throughout medical school, Nicole has developed a passion for medical education and curricular development. She has spearheaded a number of initiatives and curricula in student wellness, mindfulness, and burnout prevention. She is especially committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion and anti-racism in medical education. Nicole has been inducted into the Raven Society, the highest honor that can be bestowed at the University of Virginia, based on her outstanding academic record, contributions to the University and Charlottesville communities, and promise in the field of medicine. She is also a member of the Gold Humanism Honor Society.

Nicole is a committed and enthusiastic mentor, who is excited to bring her talents and energy to Inspira. She is especially interested in working with first in their family applicants  and those who experienced academic challenges on their path to medical school. There were times along her own journey when Nicole did not think she would be able to get into medical school, and she enjoys helping applicants find strength in their vulnerabilities. Nicole is just as fulfilled working with students as she is with patients, and feels privileged to help other future physicians tell their story and pursue their calling.

At Berkeley, Olivia explored Public Health through her coursework and through her work in a student run clinic, the Suitcase Clinic, as well as through advising on campus health policy. She worked as a Wellness Coordinator for the clinic, providing mental health first aid to unhoused members of the Berkeley community. She also worked alongside UC Berkeley administrators to edit title IX policies and host events to protect sexual health on campus. Olivia graduated Phi Beta Kappa from UC Berkeley with Bachelors degrees in Public Health and Integrative Biology.

After graduation, she built upon her undergraduate research experiences to further her Public Health career as a Research Assistant for the California Emerging Infections Program. In this role, she conducted surveillance research on infectious diseases in the Bay Area, and contributed to CDC COVID research on healthcare personnel health outcomes during the pandemic.

Olivia is now a first year medical student at the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J Tyson School of Medicine. She is currently establishing a student organization in advocacy and organized medicine, and cultivating a research project related to housing policy and health outcomes. She hopes to get an MPH and eventually work in health policy while practicing medicine.

Outside of Public Health and schooling, Olivia has been a tutor since she was in high school. She has tutored a wide variety of STEM topics for students ages 8-24, and is excited to apply this experience in mentoring students going through the medical school admissions process.

Pearl's previous experiences include working in Health Economics and Outcomes Research at Pfizer Oncology,  and at the diabetes information company Close Concerns. She has spoken as a patient advocate at the FDA, conducted research at prestigious institutions including the National Institutes of Health, Mt. Sinai Medical Center, Perelman School of Medicine/Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Northwell Health Cohen Children's Medical Center, and JFK Hospital Hackensack Meriden Health. Pearl has published numerous abstracts and manuscripts in multiple journals, and presented at National Conferences including the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Neurological Association and American Society of Radiation Oncology Annual meetings.

At ZSOM she is part of the selective IMPACcT and KLAR Leadership programs, President of the American Medical Association chapter,  is in charge of the Education and Local Outreach/Partnerships for the Community Service Committee, and a youth mentor in the Medical Science Youth Program. She is pursuing a Humanities in Medicine concentration through the GOLD foundation, and is an EMT.

During her undergrad at the University of Pennsylvania,  she was involved in tour guiding, the Professional Women's Alumni Alliance, Fox Leadership Fellowship Program, Puentes de Salud bilingual after school literacy program, was a Calculus tutor, and a part of Penn's Global Initiatives Abroad Team, as well as a member of the Penn Association for Gender Equity. She is a life-long Girl Scout and has earned her Gold, Silver, and Bronze Awards.

At Inspira, Pearl is excited to work with pre-medical students through the challenging yet rewarding journey of becoming a physician.

After moving around between India and Canada until he was three, Praruj settled down in North Carolina, and hasn’t left since. He grew up in Charlotte, NC, and moved to Durham, NC in 2013 to attend the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics. Two years later, he moved down the street to attend Duke, where he completed a B.S. in Neuroscience. Now, he is a third-year pursuing an M.D. at Duke, with the eventual goal of becoming an ophthalmologist.

Praruj took an early interest in the neurological sciences due to family experiences with neurodegenerative disease. This led him to pursue a neuroscience major, get involved in neuronal imaging research, and contribute to global neurosurgery initiatives during his undergraduate education. Eventually, his experiences in the neuronal imaging of visual processing pathways in zebrafish led him to explore vision research in medical school. Now, he studies how retinal and choroidal imaging can be used to predict the presence of neurodegenerative disease, and is excited to pursue a career exploring the relationship between the eye and systemic diseases.

As a year-round swimmer during high school with a year-long stint as a rower in college, Praruj recognizes that balancing personal passions with medical aspirations is a challenging process which requires creative solutions. Praruj has extensive experience with tutoring student athletes in organic chemistry, biochemistry, and molecular biology while at Duke. He has also had years of experience advising athletes, colleagues, and friends on the medical school admission process, including editing of primary and secondary applications as well as interview preparation. He is excited to have the opportunity to work with aspiring physicians to help them realize their dreams and pursue fulfilling medical careers!

Rahul earned his undergraduate degree with College Honors in Biology and Spanish from Washington University in St. Louis, where he was also a member of the Lock and Chain Honorary Society. His love for teaching began in high school where he tutored children from underprivileged areas in Chicago, but he formally expanded on this in college at WashU where he served as a Teacher’s Assistant for introductory Biology and Spanish courses. Rahul also worked in the admissions office as a campus tour guide and an interviewer for prospective students.

After his undergraduate studies, he entered medical school at the University of Illinois College of Medicine in his hometown of Chicago. Throughout medical school, Rahul simultaneously worked in laboratory of John Crispino at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, studying the role of chromosome 21 genes in normal and malignant hematopoiesis; his work was funded by Alpha Omega Alpha (Carolyn L. Kuckein Award), the American Society of Hematology (HONORS Award) , and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (Medical Research Fellowship).

During medical school, Rahul also served as his university's representative to the Illinois State Medical Society and American Medical Association, co-founded a Business of Medicine club which included consulting projects with local pharmaceutical companies, served as a TA/tutor for their clinical medicine course and USMLE prep,  and continued rigorous research supported by the James Scholar program. He also spent time working with the Washington University in St. Louis pre-health office, helping to compile a database of recent graduates who entered medical and other healthcare-related professional schools with application metrics to better direct prospective applicants.

In 2019, Rahul began residency in Internal Medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania as part of the Physician-Scientist Track. He will be completing his residency in June 2021 and staying on at Penn to start my fellowship in Hematology/Oncology.

Ray obtained his MD from the University of Pittsburgh, where he conducted patient education research at Pitt Neurosurgery. As a student entrepreneur, he was awarded in multiple pitch competitions and hackathons, including 2nd prize at IBM Blue Hack. During medical school, he co-founded his startup, Labkind, a web-based platform for cross-disciplinary collaboration among science research labs. Before his medical education, Ray engineered human stem cells at Columbia University and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He is a co-inventor of a methodology to genomically edit human neural stem cells.

Ray has extensive experience mentoring both traditional and non-traditional applicants to medical school. He believes every applicant has a unique path to medicine, and he enjoys helping applicants develop a highly successful and compelling application to medical school.

Rohil was born and brought up in the city of Kolkata in eastern India. He knew he wanted to be a physician at an early age but his academic interests were in math and engineering. To get the opportunity to marry these interests together, Rohil took a leap of faith and moved to the US to study Biomedical Engineering at Johns Hopkins. After this, he chose to attend medical school at Yale where he did a dedicated year of research on the applications of machine learning in radiology.

Currently Rohil is finishing up medical school and applying for residency programs in diagnostic and interventional radiology. Throughout this journey, he feels lucky enough to be mentored by many and have been fortunate to pass this onto others. Rohil finds mentoring others (in HS, college, and now medical school) very gratifying and he hopes to continue these experiences at Inspira! He hopes to work with ambitious pre-meds/medical students and guide them on their journey to the next steps.

Originally from Los Angeles, Sabiha went to UCLA for undergraduate and pursued a degree in the psychology. She was hoping to eventually apply to medical school and become a psychiatrist. She was involved in multiple extracurriculars one of which included volunteer work at St. Mary's Medical Center. While doing pre-requisite coursework, Sabiha began to research job outlook and satisfaction for healthcare professionals. She also asked physicians at the hospital and nurse practitioners at the hospital about their own personal experiences. The response she got was mixed. Many of the physicians reported their satisfaction to be either just "ok" or "I wish I had chosen something else" with the occasional " I love it." The NPs on the other hand were more likely to report happiness, job satisfaction, and opportunities for growth.  

Sabiha then made the decision to apply to nurse practitioner school. Today, she is 1 semester shy from graduation from a DNP program at UMASS. She can honestly say this was the best career decision she could have made. She hopes to be an inspiration to upcoming candidates in helping them decide what is the best fit for their professional career.

Stephen Yoffie has always been a passionate student and educator. From his time at Washington University, where Stephen studied biomedical engineering, he has excelled in his course work and made it a point to share that knowledge with others. Concurrently with his classes, Stephen engaged in research ranging from colorectal carcinoma to prosthesis development. Additionally, he took on many teaching roles throughout his time in college, including as the Head Program Manager of the First-year Summer Academic Program, as a teacher for the Young Scientist Program, and as a teacher and tutor through Kaplan Test Prep. While Stephen was pursuing his own path toward medicine, he also hoped to help others in their own journeys.

After graduating from Washington University, Stephen enrolled in the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Alongside his studies, he continues to invest his time in pursuits such as research and education. Specifically, Stephen has served as a teacher through Mount Sinai's MedPrep program and the Northeast Regional Alliance where he has engaged students to excite them about careers in medicine. Stephen also has served as a student member of the Icahn School of Medicine FlexMed admissions committee, where he has developed an further understanding of the nuances of the application process. Along with his work at Inspira, Stephen is currently between his second and third years of medical school, where he is pursuing a Masters degree in Public Health from Columbia University.

Synthia is a 4th year medical student applying into psychiatry at the Keck School of Medicine (KSOM) of the University of Southern California (USC). She graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with honors as a psychobiology major. During her gap year, she worked as a SSAT/SAT/ACT Math and Sciences coach and tutored high school physics and math.

Since her first job as a self-employed private physics tutor, Synthia has been passionate about teaching. She continued this passion in college where she taught college physics to UCLA students and worked as a teaching assistant for a life science laboratory course. In medical school, she facilitated discussions about diet and exercise to promote health education among high school students and organized a program called Camp Cardiac for high school students to learn about the field of cardiology. Throughout all her years in higher education, she has also assisted friends and family with undergraduate and graduate school applications. At Keck, she helped with admissions by interviewing and evaluating several applicants.

Tejal graduated summa cum laude and with highest departmental honors from UCLA, where she majored in Human Biology and Society. While at UCLA, Tejal was extensively involved in campus life, community service, and research projects. As a resident assistant, Tejal mentored 90+ first year students on matters ranging from academic counseling to personal emergencies and hosted large-scale programs to help students feel at home. As a student researcher, Tejal collaborated on projects in the Ronald Reagan Emergency Department, enhancing ED protocol efficiency, and at Cedars Sinai, studying genetic mechanisms of birth outcomes with this work culminating in award-winning oral and poster presentations. She also served her local community, working to provide healthcare to unsheltered folks with the Venice Family Clinic and tutoring LGBT+ youth at the LALGBT center.

Now in her fourth year at Keck School of Medicine, Tejal has continued her legacy of academic excellence, innovative research, and service to those around her. She has been extensively involved in advocating for human rights – creating toolkits for policy makers, presenting research at the national Physicians for Human Rights student conference, and educating peers on border health topics. In addition, she plays a vital role in campus life, serving as a Graduate Student Government senator, board member of various student organizations, and mentor for underclassmen. She also serves as a tutor for the system blocks and USMLE step exams. Tejal was awarded the Saban Research Scholarship for her work on the impact of social complexity on high-risk infact outcomes. She was also recognized as an Alexander/Kaiser Permanente Endowed Scholar for demonstrated leadership and service commitment. Tejal was elected to the prestigious Alpha Omega Alpha honor society and will graduate in the spring with Highest Distinction (representing consistent excellence, awarded to <10% of seniors) and Dean’s Recognition (outstanding clinical record in 3rd and 4th year).
‍

Throughout her academic career, Tejal has a long history of serving as a tutor and mentor for her peers. She has significant experience tutoring, from tutoring high school AP classes to teaching group classes for USMLE Step 1 preparation. Furthermore, she has experience reviewing and editing personal statements for undergraduate and graduate school admissions and has consistently received excellent feedback. Tejal has also conducted countless interviews for the MD admissions program at KSOM and reviewed applications/personal statements for scholarship consideration at UCLA, giving her special insight into what admissions committees are looking for in a strong applicant. She has also provided private consultations for students applying to medical school prior to joining Inspira. Tejal is excited to bring her enthusiasm for teaching and mentorship to Inspira to prepare applicants for success in the next step of their medical school journey!

Varsha is a current 4th-year medical student at Baylor College of Medicine, pursuing a residency in Internal Medicine. She grew up in San Jose, California, and graduated as valedictorian of Notre Dame High School. She was accepted to the Rice/Baylor Medical Scholars program, a highly selective BA/MD program with a Trustee Scholarship. She graduated from Rice University cum laude with a BA in Psychology.

While at Rice University, Varsha conducted fertility research at Baylor College of Medicine. She founded the first Indian Classical dance team in Houston, leading the troupe to many national victories and performing at a few Rockets’ games. She also spent her time in college as a Gold Award advisor for Girl Scouts of the USA and as a member of student government.

Varsha has continued fundraising for and running medical camps for a small clinic in her native village in South India in medical school. She also has worked as a science tutor for middle schoolers and an anatomy tutor for first-year students. She is the Southern Chair of Medical Education for the AAMC and has served as an admissions interviewer for Baylor College of Medicine for over two years.

Having combed through the applications of and interviewed dozens of students, she knows what will get you noticed and get committee members to advocate for you! Varsha is passionate about building a unique brand for her mentees that is consistent through essays, recommendation letters, and interviews to highlight a student’s strongest attributes.

Whit is a 2020 graduate from the University of Michigan Medical School, where he was involved in student government, joined the Path of Excellence in Medical Ethics, and was Editor-in-Chief of the Michigan Journal of Medicine, among other activities.

Prior to medical school, he studied at Amherst College, earning a BA with Distinction while double-majoring in Mathematics and Economics. He conducted research at the University of Michigan's Michigan Cardiovascular Outcomes Research and Reporting Program (MCORRP), played in the Amherst Symphony Orchestra, and qualified for the NAQT National Tournament with Amherst College Quizbowl.

While in medical school, Whit decided to pursue a career in healthcare policy, electing not to continue to residency. While this puts him in a small minority of MDs without further clinical training, his nontraditional path affords a unique perspective on the key decisions facing students who may not know exactly what they want as they head into the medical school applications process.

Whit enjoys board gaming, crossword puzzles, and cooking.

A biomedical engineer by training, Zach developed a passion for global health and emergency medicine after becoming licensed as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT-B) through the United States NREMT. He has since worked with emergency medical response teams in Missouri, Arizona, and California, and earned certifications in FEMA Incident Command and Management Systems (IS-100/200/700) as well as EMS instruction through the National Association of EMS Educators. In 2018, Zach co-founded the 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization LFR International, with the goal of alleviating the global burden of traumatic injury in low- and middle-income countries.

Since 2012, he has had experience with executive structuring and nonprofit management through Play it Forward , a 501(c)(3) organization, as a member of the Youth Advisory Board. He has developed several biomedical devices including a low-cost prosthetic, and a univentricular assist pump, as well as conducted metabolomics research at the UCLA Semel Institute of Neuroscience.