Dr. Richard Ellenbogen, Professor and Chairman, and Director of the NIH-Funded Neurological Surgery Summer Student Program, recently received exciting news from Mimi Chen, Class of 2014, that she has been accepted into Tulane Medical School. Ms. Chen credits Dr. Ellenbogen and the summer program as "an integral part of her journey" toward reaching this goal. In her email to Dr. Ellenbogen, she writes:
While I never would have originally thought I'd stay in the same place for so long when I first moved down, turns out I will actually be continuing my medical studies at Tulane University School of Medicine these next four years! I'm really looking forward to continuing studying under the mentorship of Dr. Aaron Dumont, who I've worked with for almost 3 years now. I plan to continue pursuing neurosurgery and I've found that I'm more passionate now than ever before.
This all started with you and your program four years ago. As a freshly graduated high school senior, I learned so much that summer and it laid the foundations for where I wanted to go and who I wanted to be. I've met some of my most impactful mentors as a result of that opportunity, including you, who I am so grateful for in regards to so many things. Even the minute details, like taking the time out of your day to meet with me for coffee before my interview in November, meant the world. I am humbled to have been contacted to be interviewed for an article recently, and you (and Dr. Kim) are mentioned in it! I've linked it below:
http://news.tulane.edu/news/china-america-grad-finds-home-tulane
Moving forward, I am going to continue working harder than ever these next four years to learn all that I can to be the best physician I'm capable of becoming. It is a dream of mine to have the privilege to come back home to train for residency one day within the program that I essentially feel raised me.
Thank you so much, Dr. Ellenbogen. I look forward to hearing from, and potentially seeing you again soon. I hope you have a fantastic summer!
Best, Mimi
Mimi Chen
Tulane University School of Medicine
We look forward to following Mimi’s success in the future as well as that of all of our program graduates – now numbering over 100!