Penn Pals The Daily Pennsylvanian

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A relaxed fit episode this week! Instead of the usual interview on a specific topic with an interviewee, Dean talks to Post-Baccalaureate Society President and personal friend, Daniela Schmulevich. Together, they discuss their feelings about family influences, backgrounds, and future plans in medicine. They go on to speak about staying positive and bring up the concept of "imposter syndrome". Dani closes the episode out with the beautiful quote, "Write your passions in pen and your path in pencil".
Penn Pals is hosted and edited by Dean Wertz. Podcast artwork by Ava Cruz and Alec Druggan. Music by Bo Hwan Wang.

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This week, we introduce Goodwell Nzou. Dr. Goodwell takes us on his journey from Zimbabwe to researching the blood-brain barrier here in our beautiful city of Philadelphia. Born and raised in a village in rural Zimbabwe, Goodwill found interest in the natural sciences and music. Goodwill would sneak into the chemical supply closet of his school and perform experiments with old chemicals. He then traveled the world with a band playing marimba. Eventually, Goodwell moved to the states to pursue research. He also touched upon his experience of moving to a new country and absorbing and displaying different cultures.
Penn Pals is hosted and edited by Dean Wertz. Podcast artwork by Ava Cruz and Alec Druggan. Music by Bo Hwan Wang.

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This week, after a long hiatus, we have the absolute pleasure of introducing Aeri Kim. Aeri has been an instructor at Kaplan for MCAT prep for 5 years now with a background in the biological sciences and a PhD in Structural Biochemistry. Aeri begins with a small history lesson on the MCAT's founding, the purpose of the exam, and how Kaplan plays a role in teaching students. Aeri finishes the interview by explaining common timelines and recommendations for students coming into MCAT studying.
Penn Pals is hosted and edited by Dean Wertz. Podcast artwork by Ava Cruz and Alec Druggan. Music by Bo Hwan Wang.

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On this week's episode of Penn Pals we have the pleasure of talking with University of Pennsylvania's own, Dr. Sukulpa Basu. Dr. Basu received her bachelor's degree from Saint Xavier's College in India and her Masters of Science at the University of Calcutta, India. She moved to the United States to receive her Ph.D. in Philadelphia at Temple University in 2002. Since then she has been both researching and teaching courses in Physics. In the interview we trace her love of physics to tutoring her younger brother as a high schooler, as well as physics being so applicable to our lives. She states that physics is everywhere, and people should not be intimidated by the subject purely because of the math. We go further to define Dr. Basu's research, mainly theoretical condensed matter physics. We discuss theory in the scope of physics, and the properties that define matter as condensed. Although the topics were complex, Dr. Basu did a great job of breaking things down for us. Enjoy!
Penn Pals is hosted by Dean Wertz and edited by Nicky Belgrad. Podcast artwork by Ava Cruz and Alec Druggan. Music by Bo Hwan Wang.

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In this week's episode we interview Dr. Morgan Philbin, a social and behavioral scientist whose work at Columbia University explores how social-structural factors impact the health outcomes for vulnerable populations. We discussed HIV risk in the modern era, pre and post-COVID-19 outbreak. Dr. Philbin went into how legalization of marijuana will likely lower transmission rates of HIV due to prisons being hotspots for the disease. We also discussed safe habits when it came to drugs, how to get help if needed, and where to find your information. Dr. Philbin put a realistic view on what it will take to integrate healthy conversations about drugs and sex into our society.
Penn Pals is hosted by Dean Wertz and edited by Nicky Belgrad. Podcast artwork by Ava Cruz and Alec Druggan. Music by Bo Hwan Wang.

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In this episode of Penn Pals We speak with Taylor Linaburg and Samantha Ellison, two fourth year medical students at The Perelman School of Medicine. Both career-changing individuals, Taylor comes from a background of business and finance, while Sam turned to medicine from environmental policy. They discuss what it means to be a fourth year medical student, and how COVID19 has affected this. We talk about how their different paths have led these medical students to a similar place. They dive into ideas of what a doctor is and how it's okay to be unsure about what you want to do. They also stress that it is okay to "pigeon hole yourself" in some cases.
Penn Pals is hosted by Dean Wertz and edited by Nicky Belgrad. Podcast artwork by Ava Cruz and Alec Druggan. Music by Bo Hwan Wang.