F-1 Pod: Recent Episodes
Zach Zhao and Shada Sinclair
Applying to medical school as an international student can be a tortuous and lonely path. We see inspiring stories of role models from whom we desire to seek advice. After joining F-1 Doctors' leadership, Zach and Shada wanted to show that our F-1 role models are much more than stellar resumes and accolades. The F-1 pod was created to shine a spotlight on the journeys, the failures, and the setbacks so that you too can be motivated to be a future F1-doc.
Hello F-1 Pod Family! JooEun (Jay) Kang is our next interviewee as we turn 180 degrees from medical humanities to computational research. She is our very first MD-PhD interviewee of F-1 Pod (besides Zach). JooEun is an incoming anesthesia resident at Brigham and Women's Hospital, hailing from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. When she is not characterizing the genetic biomarkers of suicide and depression, you can find Jooeun juggling outdoor activities, and visual art, and keeping her amazing streaks in both Duolingo and NYT Crossword. Stay tuned and we guarantee you that this interview will also be one for the books.
If you want to reach out to us with suggestions and collaborations, please feel free to email Raghavee and Zach at education.f1doctors@gmail.com or find us on Instagram @f1doctors!
Our website is https://www.f1doctor.com if you want to get to know more about our organization and get started with your journey toward medical school by talking to one of our dedicated mentors!
Hello lovely F-1 Pod Listeners! How have you all been? Raghavee and I will bring you an episode filled with banter, wisdom, and positive energy today interviewing Ruba, who is currently a medical student at Stanford Medicine. Ruba was born and raised in Nigeria and completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Rochester. Without taking gap years, Ruba is now balancing clinical medicine, medical education, medical humanities, and global health at Stanford. Ruba is deeply passionate about neuroscience and is now answering his calling for a career caring for others through neurology or neurosurgery. Outside of medicine, Ruba is also a deeply passionate fiction writer and singer.
If you are interested in the US StrongART Organization that Ruba initiated, you can learn more at its website: https://urstrongart.wixsite.com/maskpainting
If you want to reach out to us with suggestions and collaborations, please feel free to email Raghavee and Zach at education.f1doctors@gmail.com or find us on Instagram @f1doctors!
Our website is https://www.f1doctor.com if you want to get to know more about our organization and get started with your journey toward medical school by talking to one of our dedicated mentors!
Join us on this episode"Finding Common Grounds: Leila's Journey as a DO Student and Advocate for Holistic Medicine" as we delve into the remarkable journey of Leila, a determined individual who overcame challenges to pursue her dream of studying osteopathic medicine in the US. Born and raised in Iran, Leila moved to Toronto at the age of 19 with minimal knowledge of English. After dedicating a year to mastering the language, she enrolled in York University, where she developed a passion for research and completed an honors thesis on the effects of chemotherapy drugs on chromosome separation. It was during this time that her mother's battle with breast cancer sparked Leila's deep interest in medicine. Despite struggling with the CARS section of the MCAT, she applied to DO schools in the US and was accepted into Kansas City University, marking the beginning of her journey to becoming a physician. Through her experiences, Leila aims to inspire and guide students interested in pursuing osteopathic medicine in the US, sharing invaluable insights and lessons learned along the way. Tune in to gain inspiration from Leila's unwavering determination and resilience as she pursues her passion for medicine.
If you want to reach out to us with suggestions and collaborations, please feel free to email Raghavee and Zach at education.f1doctors@gmail.com or find us on Instagram @f1doctors!
Our website is https://www.f1doctor.com if you want to get to know more about our organization and get started with your journey toward medical school by talking to one of our dedicated mentors!
In this captivating episode, we delve into the life of Vongai, a remarkable individual who wears multiple hats - a medical student, storyteller, writer, and poet. Join us as we embark on a journey through her unique experiences, from living in six different countries to being influenced by her father, an animal science researcher, to pursue biology and medicine.
Vongai's observant eyes and diverse life encounters have woven her creativity into numerous stories, articles, and poems. Through her words, she transports us to different worlds, engaging our hearts and minds.
But Vongai's story doesn't stop there. We also explore her advocacy work with students who face disabilities and chronic illnesses. Her deep understanding of vulnerable patient populations has enriched her perspective on healthcare and fueled her passion for creating inclusive spaces for all.
Discover how Vongai's love for storytelling, her international upbringing, and her father's influence has shaped her path as she navigates the intersection of art, science, and empathy. Her journey is a testament to the power of embracing diverse passions and advocating for those who need it most.
If you want to reach out to us with suggestions and collaborations, please feel free to email Raghavee and Zach at education.f1doctors@gmail.com or find us on Instagram @f1doctors!
Our website is https://www.f1doctor.com if you want to get to know more about our organization and get started with your journey toward medical school by talking to one of our dedicated mentors!
Hello, our lovely listeners! I hope you all really enjoyed our chat with Nicole two weeks ago! We are so excited to keep following Nicole’s journey in the next few years and will definitely share her exciting updates during residency with you!
This week, we had the wonderful opportunity to chat with Yong (Daniel) Shen. Dan is a third-year medical student at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons in the Bassett program. You will hear his wide range of experiences and unique perspectives on life and the world of medicine, such as martial arts, intramural rowing, photography, cross-country skiing, and even mixology, to name a few others. He also served as a co-leader of the Harvard iGEM group and ran a project at the Harvard Innovation Lab on genetically modifying bacteria to digest plastic waste.
After graduating, Dan spent a year in the Canadian subarctic in Yellowknife, learning about Indigenous culture and history and trying to live life fully in the Great North. In this episode, Raghavee and I got to speak with him about physical and mental health in healthcare, his transformative experience in the Canadian subarctic, and the lessons he has learned in community health and rural medicine in the Columbia-Bassett Program so far!
If you want to reach out to us with suggestions and collaborations, please feel free to email Raghavee and Zach at education.f1doctors@gmail.com or find us on Instagram @f1doctors!
Our website is https://www.f1doctor.com if you want to get to know more about our organization and get started with your journey toward medical school by talking to one of our dedicated mentors!
What’s up, F-1 Pod listeners! Last week, we had an amazing conversation with Gabi, and we hope you all enjoyed listening to her wisdom. If you want to hear more from her, feel free to email her via the F-1 Doctors website.
This week, we get to interview a friend of ours, the ALMOST Dr. Ng. Nicole Ng is currently a fourth-year medical student at the VCU School of Medicine. She'll soon be starting her residency in internal medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine. Nicole is interested in gastroenterology, particularly hepatology. During this episode, we took a journey with her around the globe, from Beijing to Hong Kong, and from Vancouver to Richmond. Navigating through so many different cultures gave her unique perspectives, admirable resilience, and cheerful optimism.
Nicole has also devoted her time throughout undergrad and medical school to serving the Asian Pacific Islander(API) community. She has contributed immensely to APAMSA, an affinity group for API medical students, both at her local chapter but also at the national level. But that is not all! Nicole also surprised us thoroughly with her fascination with Egyptology and her fine palate as a Yelp Elite. So, make sure to tune in to this episode to hear more about Nicole's journey. As always, thanks for being a part of the F-1 Pod Family!
If you want to reach out to us, please feel free to email Raghavee and Zach at education.f1doctors@gmail.com or find us on Instagram @f1doctors! Our website is https://www.f1doctor.com if you want to get to know more about our organization and want to get started with your journey toward medical school by talking to one of our dedicated mentors!
Welcome, listeners! Hope you all had a blast tuning in to our last episode with Azan. Now, it's time to sit back, relax, and enjoy our chat with the amazing Gabriela - a third-year med student at Yale School of Medicine. She has come a long way from São Paulo, Brazil, and pursued her passion for Cognitive Neuroscience at Brown University.
But hold up, there's more to Gabi than just hitting the books! Back in the day, she was a multi-talented kid who could rock the drums, loved goofing around, and had a heart of gold that dreamed of being a vet. Fast forward to today, and Gabi's still crushing it - exploring the intricate connections between sleep and pediatric ADHD symptoms.
We'll be getting into the nitty-gritty of Gabi's journey, her thoughts on pursuing psychiatry, and how she balances it all with some well-deserved playtime. So, don't miss out on this inspiring med student's story. Let's dive in!
If you want to reach out to us, please feel free to email Raghavee and Zach at education.f1doctors@gmail.com or find us on Instagram @f1doctors! Our website is https://www.f1doctor.com if you want to get to know more about our organization and want to get started with your journey toward medical school by talking to one of our dedicated mentors!
Hello F-1 Pod family! After a long hiatus, the F-1 Pod is finally coming back with its second season!! And let us tell you, season 2 will surely not disappoint. We have some fun-filled episodes lined up for your education and entertainment. We are beyond excited and honored to introduce our first guest for this season, and we are starting the season with a bang. This man is behind the creation of F-1 Doctors in 2020 and was also the inspiration for many of us to join F-1 doctors back in the day, and we are talking about none other than Azan!!! So in this episode, we will hear about the inception of the organization, how an MBA degree has augmented Azan’s aspiration as a physician, and most importantly, the most transformative experience throughout his journey.
If you want to reach out to us, please feel free to email Raghavee and Zach at education.f1doctors@gmail.com or find us on Instagram @f1doctors!
Our website is https://www.f1doctor.com if you want to get to know more about our organization and want to get started with your journey toward medical school by talking to one of our dedicated mentors!
Hi everyone, we are getting back from our hiatus with season 2 this Friday, March 24th! For this season, we are coming back with even more interesting stories to share with you all, and we just want to say thank you for being patient with us!
Season 2 is going to be a continuation of season 1, focusing on people’s stories, journeys, successes, and obstacles that international medical students and attendings face. But this season, we will bring even more diverse perspectives. From marveling at the beauty of the earth as a private pilot to curating connoisseur-level food reviews as a Yelp Elite, all of our guests this season, with dynamic personalities who balance life in and out of medicine, will have so much to offer. This season, we will have 14 episodes, and our guests range from first-year medical students (MDs, DOs, MD-MBA, and MD-PhDs) to attendings.
Stay tuned and subscribe and give us a follow so you don't miss any new episodes. See you all on Friday!
Hello F-1 Pod family! Did you miss us last week? Well, we’re back this week with the final installment of season 1 of the F-1 Pod! It’s been such an exciting ride! This week, Shada interviews Dr. Sherry-Ann Brown, MD, PhD who is originally from Jamaica and also went to Wesleyan University. She and Shada have those two things in common. She completed her medical training at the University of Connecticut and followed up with a fellowship in cardiology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Dr. Brown is an accomplished physician-investigator and in this episode, she underscored the value of a liberal arts education and her hobbies such as doing a radio show for the campus station and writing for the campus newspaper. Dr. Brown encourages us to go for what we want and to be intentional when setting goals. In her opinion, we should have mentors who can nurture our growth and potential in different areas of our lives. After listening, I’m sure you’ll all agree we can take a few pages out of her book!
We will be making updates about season 2 on our Instagram. If you want to reach out to us, please feel free to email Shada and Zach at education.f1doctors@gmail.com or find us on Instagram @folasworld, @general_zhao_chicken, and most importantly @f1doctors for the best med school tips!
Our website is https://www.f1doctor.com if you want to get to know more about our organization and want to get started with your journey towards medical school by talking to one of our dedicated mentors!
Happy Friday F-1 Pod! We are so excited to be back with this wonderful episode! This week, Zach interviewed two star members of the F-1 Doctors leadership, Nicole and Kalina, who are actually mentor and mentee. Nicole Belliard Martuscelli is a third-year medical student at Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University and Kalina Tenorio is a second-year medical student at Emory University School of Medicine. During this interview, we got to hear their perspective on what mentorship means to them, how to best utilize the F-1 Doctors platform, and, most importantly, where they envision F-1 Doctors in the future. We also talked extensively on what drew them to medicine and they shared their insights on the pros and cons of the Brazilian and American Healthcare system. If you are interested in hearing their first-person narrative on how F-1 Doctors platform has helped international pre-meds on getting into medical school, please tune in to this week’s episode.
New episodes are released every other Friday at 12pm EST. If you want to reach out to us, please feel free to email Shada and Zach at education.f1doctors@gmail.com or find us on Instagram @folasworld, @general_zhao_chicken, and most importantly @f1doctors for the best med school tips!
Nicole’s instagram: @nicamartu
Kalina’s instagram: @kalinatenorio
TedTalk link to “A doctor’s touch”: https://www.ted.com/talks/abraham_verghese_a_doctor_s_touch?language=en
Our website is https://www.f1doctor.com if you want to get to know more about our organization and want to get started with your journey towards medical school by talking to one of our dedicated mentors!
Happy Friday all the F-1 Pod Listeners! We hope you have a lovely weekend! This week, Shada partnered up with her classmate Ruba and interviewed their wonderful classmate Nirvikalpa Natarajan, who is currently a medical student at Stanford. Nirvikalpa embodies a multitude of identities, a mother, a medical student, a writer, a meditator, and tells us about how she works towards that union every day. She enlightens us with her journey to medicine from India to the US as an established oromaxillofacial surgeon and how she builds resilience and optimism in the process of unlearning and relearning. We also got to hear about her love for meditation and writing. If you want to hear about her encounter in a monastery in the Himalayas and how that has changed her life trajectory, please tune in to this week’s episode!
New episodes are released every other Friday at 12pm EST. If you want to reach out to us, please feel free to email Shada and Zach at education.f1doctors@gmail.com or find us on Instagram @folasworld, @general_zhao_chicken, and most importantly @f1doctors for the best med school tips!
Our website is https://www.f1doctor.com if you want to get to know more about our organization and want to get started with your journey towards medical school by talking to one of our dedicated mentors!
In this week’s episode, Shada had the pleasure of interviewing our former Website Leader, Salvatore Capotosto. Sal, originally from Italy, is a current MS2 at Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University. Sal’s journey to becoming an F-1 doc is anything but linear. He shares with us his unique journey of playing professional soccer in Europe to starting a new life in Texas. As you’ll see, his love of soccer permeates many aspects of his life and allowed him to overcome many obstacles that came along the way. Stay tuned if you want to learn how Sal’s discipline and sacrifice allowed him to defy the barriers and challenges such as the MCAT on his journey to becoming an F-1 Doc.
New episodes are released every other Friday at 12pm EST. If you want to reach out to us, please feel free to email Shada and Zach at education.f1doctors@gmail.com or find us on Instagram @folasworld, @general_zhao_chicken, and most importantly @f1doctors for the best med school tips!
Our website is https://www.f1doctor.com if you want to get to know more about our organization and want to get started with your journey towards medical school by talking to one of our dedicated mentors!
We hope everyone is staying warm/cool no matter where you are in the world in 2022! This week, we got to interview a natural leader, a charismatic friend, and a great ping pong enthusiast, Cyrus Buckman, who is a current MS2 at the Stanford University School of Medicine. During this interview, Cyrus shared with us his leadership experience and how to “lead from within”, his unique insight into how to sustain a meaningful and lasting impact through global health, and how to maintain his momentum in the face of challenges and obstacles. Tune in to this episode so that you don’t miss our spicy hot seat questions during which Shada turned salty! Follow us and share F1 POD with your friends! New episodes are released every other Friday at 12pm EST. If you want to follow us, please find us on Instagram @folasworld, @general_zhao_chicken, and most importantly @f1doctors for the best med school tips!
Our website is https://www.f1doctor.com if you want to get to know more about our organization and want to get started with your journey towards medical school by talking to one of our dedicated mentors!
Happy New Year F-1 Pod fam! This week, we had the pleasure of interviewing the enigmatic Brian Fleischer, a current MS2 at Yale School of Medicine. Originally from Ghana, Brian grew up in a household of teachers but was inspired to expand his horizons and tap into his scientific genius! This journey led him to Stanford where he was faced with the challenges of being a first-generation, international student. Press play if you want to hear Brian’s hilarious, yet the touching journey to becoming an F-1 doc!
Follow us and share F1 POD with your friends! New episodes are released every other Friday at 12pm EST. If you want to follow us, please find us on Instagram @folasworld, @general_zhao_chicken, and most importantly @f1doctors for the best med school tips!
Our website is https://www.f1doctor.com if you want to get to know more about our organization and want to get started with your journey towards medical school by talking to one of our dedicated mentors!
Happy holidays, our lovely listeners of the F-1 Pod!! This week, right before all the festivities, we share our interview of our compassionate and former fearless team lead of F-1 Docs, Rachel Chehayeb. During this episode, we take a deep dive into Rachel’s journey from a rural village in Lebanon to Yale. Stay tuned if you want to learn how her international school experience planted the seed of studying medicine abroad and how she finds momentum to further the missions of F-1 Doctors. If you want to hear how Zach ALMOST got fired, stay tuned!
Follow us and share the beauty of the F1 POD with your friends! New episodes are released every other Friday at 12pm EST. If you want to follow us, please find us on Instagram @folasworld, @general_zhao_chicken, and most importantly @f1doctors for the best med school tips!
Our website is https://www.f1doctor.com if you want to get to know more about our organization and want to get started with your journey towards medical school by talking to one of our dedicated mentors!
This week, we will kick off the first season of the F-1 Pod with an in-depth interview of us, your lovely hosts, Zach and Shada by Sam, our vibrant guest interviewer. During this interview, we will go back to our upbringings, delve into how we fell in love with medicine, and how medical schools are going for us. We were grilled with some hottest ~hot seat~ questions. F-1 Pod-ers, get excited! Follow us and share the beauty of the F1 POD with your friends! New episodes are released every other Friday at 12pm EST. If you want to follow us, please find us on Instagram @folasworld, @general_zhao_chicken, and most importantly @f1doctors for the best med school tips!
Welcome to the very first episode F-1 Pod! During this short but exciting episode, the hosts Zach Zhao and Shada Sinclair share the origin story of this podcast and the greater role the F-1 Doctors community played in supporting international students pursuing health professional degrees in the United States! To connect with us visit f1doctor.com or visit @f1doctors on Instagram. Our hosts can also be found @folasadesworld and @general_zhao_chicken.