The Future Minority Doctor Podcast

Marina Capella; Zulma Curet
  • 5.0 (16)
  • Education
  • Updated Monthly

Dr. Zulma and Dr. Marina want to inspire and empower a rising generation of under-represented high school and college students to become doctors. Learn what it's like to be a doctor, how to overcome challenges, how to apply to medical school, and be inspired by other minority doctors!

  1. Mar 29

    109: Over-efforting Towards Burnout

    In this episode, Dr. Marina and Dr. Zulma tackle a pattern they've lived and witnessed repeatedly: over-efforting to the point of burnout. As students of color, both doctors felt the pressure to do everything just to feel like enough during the application process, and they've seen the same cycle play out in countless mentees through the Future Minority Doctor coaching program. They make the case for working smarter, not harder — breaking down how to identify high-yield application components that actually move the needle, so you can build a competitive application without running yourself into the ground. Honest, validating, and practical — this episode is a reminder that you were always enough.

    35 min

  2. Mar 9

    108: What it takes to Become a Doctor

    Dr. Marina and Dr. Zulma reflect on their own journeys to becoming physicians while sharing practical advice for students planning to apply to medical school. They discuss how to strategically use the undergraduate years to prepare a strong application—from gaining research, clinical, and volunteer experience to planning the right time to take the MCAT. This episode emphasizes the importance of thinking ahead and building a clear plan to avoid reaching application season unprepared.

    35 min

  3. Feb 20

    107 Dr. Pilar Dechet

    On the Future Minority Doctor, Dr. Pilar Dechet, orthopedic surgeon at Intermountain Healthcare in Salt Lake City, reflects on building a sustainable career after the intensity of residency. She shares how she navigated motherhood, chose flexibility in her schedule, and learned to prioritize presence at home without compromising patient care. Dr. Dechet also discusses breaking barriers in orthopedics, serving Spanish-speaking communities, and why preserving the human connection remains central to great medicine.

  4. Jan 9

    106 Ace PREview & CASPer

    A growing number of MD and DO schools require Situational Judgement Tests, and PREview and CASPer are by far the most popular options. In this episode, Dr. Capella interviews Nathalie Garcia about her recent success on these tests, differences between the two, and walk you through some sample questions. These tips will help you get your best score.

    39 min

  5. 12/19/2025

    105 Drafting Your Own LOR

    Even the most generous letter-writers are busy people, and they often only see one facet of who you are. In this episode, Drs. Marina and Zulma show you how to draft an outline—or even a full template—that helps your recommender highlight your best qualities with crisp anecdotes and minimal overlap across letters. It's a way for you to give your advocates the spotlight controls so they can make you shine.

    23 min

  6. 12/12/2025

    104 The AMCAS Fee Waiver

    The AMCAS Fee Waiver system can feel like a bureaucratic hydra with many heads, none of them friendly. But Drs. Marina and Zulma are here with the map and lantern. In this episode, they walk you through who actually qualifies, why the rules twist in tricky ways across family circumstances and states, and how to gather documentation before the January scramble begins. With just the primary and secondary application costs soaring past $2,000, this is the financial lifeline you don’t want to miss.

    16 min

  7. 12/05/2025

    103 Structured Video Interviews

    Structured video interviews are becoming a more common for medical-school applicants, and those prompts for a 90-second mini-essay can feel like being asked for a webcam Hamlet on-the-fly. Never fear! In this episode, Drs. Marina and Zulma break down how to craft a crisp personal story, master your nonverbal presence, and avoid the dreaded mid-sentence cutoff.

    23 min

  8. 11/17/2025

    102 Dr Robert Texeira, Reconstructive Surgery

    Dr Texeira has a wide array of skills. Though he is best known for his outstanding work with reconstructing injured hands, he also performs plastic surgery and neurologic surgeries in the shoulder, neck and back. In this episode, he discusses tips for survival he’s picked up in his 21 years of training, including the importance of asking for help early and often, how to survive a toxic work culture, how to always be learning and incorporating recent breakthroughs into your practice, along with first-hand (ahem) experience of the hazards of ATVs and snowblowers.

    41 min
See All (109)

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
16 Ratings

About

Dr. Zulma and Dr. Marina want to inspire and empower a rising generation of under-represented high school and college students to become doctors. Learn what it's like to be a doctor, how to overcome challenges, how to apply to medical school, and be inspired by other minority doctors!

Information