INDIANAPOLIS—Kaylee Tutrow, a Purdue School of Science alumna, has known since eighth grade that she wanted to be a doctor. She received a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience in 2019, and she is currently pursuing her dual MD/PhD through the Medical Scientist Training at the IU School of Medicine.
Her decision to become a doctor is personal as she was a patient at Riley Hospital for Children most of her teenage years.
“The thing that drove me to be a physician was this opportunity that I would have to connect with patients in the future to give them the opportunities like I had, and to just show them the compassion and the care that I received, '' explained Tutrow. “A secondary part of that for me was that being a physician meant also this opportunity to really explore those “why” questions that you have. So I'm the type of person who wants to know why things work and not just why things work, but why we don't do them a different way instead. You get to really dive into that so much in medical school but also as a researcher that's really all that we do is we figure out why the body works in the way that it does and what we can do instead to make it better.”
She credits her time at the School of Science for giving her unique opportunities and the experience she needed to stand-out when it came time to submit her application to the MD/PhD program.
Check out Kaylee’s video to learn more about the opportunities she had, plus some advice she has for all students.
Tutrow also offers this piece of advice to consider.
“I would encourage you to not be scared to find time for activities and extracurriculars they enjoy even if it doesn't necessarily seem like something that will relate to their career. It is so important to find things outside of school that you're passionate about. Not only will it benefit your well-being and college experience, but it might benefit you later in ways that would surprise you. For example, I got several leadership opportunities in medical school because of my undergraduate extracurricular involvement. Go find something you love and set aside time for it!”