1. Tell us a little bit about yourself. Hello! I’m Clement Anozie, Jr. and I am originally from Houston, Texas. I graduated from St. John’s University in 2017 with a degree in Biology and a minor in Theology and Religious Studies. I am also currently applying to medical school! Currently, I am working with the Center for Nonviolence and Social Justice at Drexel University on an initiative called Healing Hurt People (HHP). Healing Hurt People is a community-focused, hospital-based program designed to reduce re-injury, retaliation, and longstanding emotional disruption among individuals ages eight to thirty in Philadelphia after they have been released from the Emergency Department. The Center is doing a lot of important work and I am excited to be a part it over the next several months.

2. Who was your favorite teacher in school and how did he or she impact you? My favorite teacher was Mr. Nash. He was the instructor for my 11^th grade English class. I really enjoyed his class because he found effective ways to incorporate literature that I could relate to such as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn into our course. He organized the classroom in a way that allowed for the students to actively engage with the material through daily discussions and reflections which enabled us to gain a deeper understanding of the subject matter. The environment he created in the classroom allowed me to excel in a subject that I once struggled with by simply teaching me to change my approach in tackling the subject matter.  

3. When did you first decide you wanted to become a doctor and why? I would say I formally made the decision to become a physician around the time I left for college. After reflecting on my surgical experiences as a child and some of the challenges that my family members faced managing chronic diseases in Nigeria, I decided that a career as a physician would be a good fit for me.

4. What area of medicine are you interested in? I am currently interested in Ophthalmology. I like the balance Ophthalmologist have between the surgical procedures that they perform and their interactions with patients in a clinician setting. More importantly, I had an ocular procedure early on in life that I recently learned was presenting me with challenges. This currently serves as my motivation to one day work with ophthalmic patients and help them address their ocular complaints.

5. What’s the coolest experience you’ve had so far on your premedical journey? The Travelers Summer Research Fellowship at Weill Cornell was a pretty cool premedical experience for me. During this experience, I was paired with an abdominal transplant surgeon at New York Presbyterian which allowed me to engage in meaningful research in the field of medicine. Specifically, I was able to explore the factors that contribute to successful kidney transplantation as well as factors that caused complications.  This experience took on a different meaning as I was able to work with an African American surgeon. In addition to making sure I got adequate exposure in the operating room, the clinic, and with my research, my Principal Investigator served as a role model for what I envision as my career in medicine.

6. What is your favorite book?  Dreams from my Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance by Barack Obama

7. Tell us one thing interesting about you that most people don’t know.  As a child, I wanted to be a Catholic Priest. I took an interest in the Priesthood because of the role my faith played in my life. I was fascinated by the leadership that Priest exemplified, the way they served as a source of strength for their parishioners and the community at large. The way Priest dressed every Sunday for the celebration of the Eucharist was pretty cool as well.

8. If you couldn’t be a doctor, what would you want to do?  If I could not be a doctor, I would go into the Business and Administrative aspect of medicine in hopes of  managing a hospital system. The hospital executives don’t per say have much patient interaction but the decisions they make have real consequences for the patients their hospitals serve. This could be an excellent way to impact the lives of patients. However, my hope is to do both practice medicine and get involved with the administrative side of the Hospital.

9. What has been your biggest obstacle as a premed and how did you (or are you) overcome it?  The MCAT was a challenge for me, in particular the CARS section which is formally known as verbal reasoning on older versions of the test. I sat for the exam a couple times and couldn’t achieve a decent score on this section. After a while, a Dean at the local medical school encouraged me to work with a learning specialist and/or neuropsychologist. My interaction with these clinicians made all the difference in my overcoming the challenges I faced on that section.

10. What do you like most about PreMed STAR?  I really like the welcoming community of Pre-medical students, Medical students, and physicians that are active on the site. Be sure to show Dr. Dale and Dr. Daniel some love for taking their time to pour into the site week after week! I really enjoy the blogs and weekly quizzes as well; they give me something to look forward to every week. The Podcasts are starting to grow on me as well. Keep an eye out for my feature on the PreMed Voice in the future. I am putting together a piece that will be useful for applicants and re-applicants for those of you preparing to tackle future admissions cycles. Stay tuned!

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