Philip Parel
Class of 2026 - Seven-Year Dual BA/MD Program
Hello! I’m Philip Parel and I’m a student in the 7-year BA/MD program at The George Washington University! My hometown is Palm Beach, Florida and I double-majored in biology and chemistry as an undergraduate student.
My experience with the GW BA/MD program has exceeded my expectations at every level. Some of my earliest memories of GW date back to my senior year of high school, interviewing at several other BA/MD programs. What struck me during my GW interview was the amount of care that was given to prospective students and our families. Not only were we privately catered lunch and received a sample chemistry lecture, but we were each individually greeted by the director for the program! After I committed to GW, I found that this sense of care continued throughout all levels of administration. The university provided me with pre-health advisors who not only helped me create my course schedules to fulfill the requirements of the program, but these advisors also granted me priority registration so that the BA/MD students were always the first to register for classes. Moreover, we also had direct access and contact to the dean of the medical school, so getting advice about how to best prepare for medical school or suggestions on internship opportunities were an email away.
Since the program accepts all AP, IB, and dual-enrollment credits from high school, most of my degree requirements were already fulfilled by the time I started school. This resulted in a lot of free time and great flexibility in my schedule, so I decided to invest this time into research. I found that the unique part about finding research on campus was that nearly all of my professors were familiar with the program and the rigor it takes to get accepted, so finding research opportunities was as simple as introducing myself as a BA/MD student. I did research at the NIH and the students in my batch have also interned at Children’s National Hospital, the Katzen Cancer Research Center, and even with the biology/chemistry professors on campus.
Aside from the academic and administrative favorability at GW, my favorite experience with GW and the program has been my time at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore as part of the Regional Medical Campus (RMC) during my third year of medical school. I chose to attend the RMC because of the smaller cohort sizes and ability to personalize your schedule. Because the cohort sizes are smaller at the RMC, there is a higher faculty-to-student ratio, which results in a greater degree of one-on-one medical education. One of my favorite memories was during my OB/Gyn rotation, in which I was the only medical student and was paired with 3 other residents during my shift. The residents not only treated me as their own, but also sat down with me personally to teach me how to suture. My education was also personalized at the RMC – as we were considered the “golden” students at Sinai, we had first-pick of offered electives and residents/attendings made special efforts to accommodate our academic and professional goals.
Overall, I’m overjoyed with my experience at GW and with the RMC. I’m glad that I ended up choosing GW, and I’m really looking forward to welcoming the next generation of GW BA/MDs and GW RMC students.