McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston MD program · Sample interviewer (fictional)
Fictional interviewer written for this sample; the employers are invented.
Nisha Varadarajan, MD (she/her)
Associate Professor of Internal Medicine · General internist and clerkship co-director · Houston, Texas
About
I'm a general internist who splits my time between an inpatient medicine service and a primary care clinic where many patients are uninsured or on a county financial assistance plan. I co-direct the third-year internal medicine clerkship, so I spend a lot of time watching students learn to present patients and admit what they don't know. I've interviewed MD applicants since 2018 and usually read the full file beforehand. I'm most interested in what you noticed and changed, not your title. I also care a lot about how people handle the moment something doesn't go their way.
Experience
McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston - Associate Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of General Medicine, 2019 - present - Inpatient attending about 12 weeks a year; weekly continuity clinic. - Co-director, internal medicine clerkship, since 2021. - MD admissions interviewer since 2018; small-group facilitator for first-year clinical skills.
Westchase General Hospital (Houston, TX) - Hospitalist, 2014 - 2019 - Led a discharge-medication reconciliation project with pharmacy that reduced 30-day readmissions on her unit. - Precepted residents and physician assistant students.
Bayou Primary Care Partners (Pasadena, TX) - Staff Physician, 2012 - 2014 - Outpatient primary care, mostly diabetes and hypertension, with a large Spanish-speaking panel.
Education
- Residency, Internal Medicine, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, 2009 - 2012
- MD, Baylor College of Medicine, 2009
- BA, Psychology, Rice University, 2004; worked two years as a clinical research coordinator before medical school.
Volunteering
- Volunteer physician, Eastwood Neighborhood Health Night, a monthly free clinic for uninsured adults, 2013 - present.
- Mentor for first-generation premedical students through a local college pipeline program.
Languages
English, Tamil (conversational), Spanish (medical).
Interests
Carnatic vocal music, running the Buffalo Bayou trails before sunrise, and an ongoing, losing battle with a backyard vegetable garden.