Applicant:
Dr. G
Pre-MBA Industry:
Medicine
From:
USA
Years of Experience at the Time of Application:
20+ years
EA SCORE:
137
Undergraduate GPA:
2.89/4
Graduate GPA:
NA
Admitted to:
Columbia Business School
Turning Setbacks into Strengths: A Journey to Columbia Business School
Background
Dr. G is a physician, entrepreneur, patentee (pending), and philanthropist with 20+ years in healthcare. As an orthopedic surgeon, he treats musculoskeletal conditions and injuries and their prevention. He received a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Howard University in 1991. During a college internship, he developed an interest in medicine and orthopedics. He then pivoted his career to obtain a Doctorate of Medicine from Drexel University School of Medicine. In 2002, he became the first African American to graduate from an orthopedic surgery residency at Drexel.
According to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, Dr. G is among the 30,000 orthopedic surgeons in the US, and less than two percent of them are African American. After working with several hospitals, he started an independent practice in 2009. He has developed a medical device that will enhance precision during the fixation of femur fractures, which is pending a patent.
Despite a highly demanding medical practice, Dr. G set up The Alice Pequit & Paul Cuffee Foundation, Inc. in 2018. The foundation aims to assist high school seniors in applying for STEM scholarships. Several programs, such as Howard University’s Karsh STEM Scholars Program, UMBC Meyerhoff Scholars Program, Penn State Millennium Scholars Program, and the Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation [SMART] Scholarship-for-Service Program, funded by the Department of Defense, offer these scholarships.
In 2022, he scaled his mission and set up the I.S.A.C.S.S. Education Foundation, Inc. to encourage and mentor students and women from underrepresented minorities. Through the foundation, he identifies and sponsors high-achieving students who want to pursue a PhD or combined MD/PhD in STEM disciplines through one of 4 STEM scholarship universities based on the Meyerhoff Scholars Program.
He now aims to erect a building on one of the four university campuses with STEM scholarship programs that will house Innovation Labs based on Harvard University’s model. The labs will foster innovation for entrepreneurial students and enable STEM students to develop solutions for 21st-century engineering challenges through scholarly competitions and interdisciplinary team-building. He wanted to pursue an EMBA to expand his medical practice digitally, commercialize his invention, and widen the scope of his philanthropic efforts.
Dr. G’s drive and determination saw him overcome seemingly insurmountable challenges. His positivity was his strength. Despite being dyslexic, he succeeded in pursuing highly challenging disciplines like Engineering and Medicine by adopting spatial learning techniques. While suffering from Planters Fasciitis, he had completed grueling triathlons. He beat cancer and several personal setbacks to achieve his personal and professional goals. However, we needed to help him create a narrative articulating his vision for the future.
Approach
During the application process, we helped Dr. G reflect on how he would balance multiple commitments – his orthopedic practice, the foundations, and business school. In subsequent discussions regarding his post-MBA goals, we guided him in articulating how he would leverage the program and acquire business skills to scale his foundations and create a pan-US impact.
His pitch combined his unwavering perseverance, as seen in his life experiences, with his ambition to create a meaningful impact on the lives of young adults. He chalked out how he would build a platform to enable students from underrepresented communities to access STEM education and create an inclusive, diverse workforce. He applied to Wharton and Columbia’s EMBA programs (since they were near New York, where he practices medicine) and was accepted at Columbia Business School.
Key Takeaway
Dr. G’s journey to Columbia Business School highlights how he transformed personal and professional challenges into strengths. He highlighted his extensive medical, entrepreneurship, and philanthropic background to stand out among the applicant pool. His perseverance and dedication to promoting STEM education and fostering a diverse, inclusive workforce showcased his commitment to his vision and to driving change at scale. The Red Pen strategized Dr G’s application and demonstrated how he would leverage the MBA for broader societal benefits, which helped him gain admission to Columbia’s EMBA program.