An Insider's Tour

In this post, I will be taking you on a tour to meet our amazing chief executive committee and executive board members who've worked SO HARD to make EmpoweringMED a success.

However, before we start, I have one very important update for you for you here: we've just reached 300 MEMBERS on our Discord server!! This is so unexpected as I started this initiative with little to no expectation, and to see the organization (yes, EmpoweringMED is no longer just a website but a community with well-structured leaders and departments) expand worldwide and impacting so many people is amazing. If you're reading this and are interested in joining our welcoming community of pre meds and medical students, here's the link to the server! With that said, let's dive right into the content for today!

Chief Operating Officers

Tracy Le

"Hi! I'm Tracy and I'm the C.O.O here at EmpoweringMED. I am 16 and currently living in Irvine, CA. I have a strong passion for any medicine and health related talks and I hope that with the knowledge I have, I can expand EmpoweringMED further. In my spare time, I like binging Netflix shows and hanging out with friends (obviously including drinking boba!)"

Note from the CEO: Tracy is the chill, fun, welcoming COO who does her absolute best in everything and has contributed so much behind the scenes. Plus, she has an amazing sense of humor ;)

Tarun Haridasan

"Hello! I am Tarun, the Chief Operating Officer of Empowering MED. As the COO, my job is to ensure the smooth running of various departments and adequate communication between them during the completion of projects takes place. I am super interested in medicine and hope to pursue a career in the medical field, hopefully in family medicine or surgery. I have chosen a magnifying glass as my profile picture because I am a very detail oriented person who wants to ensure all of my work is of the utmost quality."

Note from the CEO: Tarun is so organized OMG. He's literally on top of everything and his computer skills have made life so much easier for us in EmpoweringMED that I couldn't imagine managing the organization without him <3

Executive Board Members

Sabrina Espinoza (Social Media Director)

"Hi and welcome to the EmpoweringMED community! I’m Sabrina, the Social Media Director, from Orange County, California. As part of EmpoweringMED, I hope to connect with, guide, and learn from other aspiring pre-med students. The path to a medical and healthcare career is not easy, and I want to share any resources and advice I come across with other young pre-meds through this supportive, encouraging organization. A little bit more about me is that my interests include neuroscience, surgery, and psychology. I’m also starting to get more into oncology, cardiology, and gynaecology. In my free time, I enjoy spending time with friends/family, drawing/painting, writing articles or stories, playing piano, playing tennis, and immersing myself in the internet! "

Ipsita Das (Head of Media and Communications)

"Hi! My name is Ipsita and I am a current high school sophomore from New Jersey! I aspire to have a career in medicine and hope to use my passions to help pre-meds and other high schoolers gain access to adequate resources that can help them grow personally and professionally!"

Alexander Kimm - Alex (Research Director)

"Hello, everyone! My name is Alexander Kimm, but I usually go by Alex. I am a junior in high school and I cannot wait to work as EmpoweringMED's Research Director! Ever since I was a child, I've had many interests in the sciences and math. Although I am interested in many biological and medical studies, such as genetics, psychology, and epidemiology, I personally have an interest in many other subjects. Some of these include computer science and programming, linguistics, physics, acoustics, world events, and many more. In my spare time, you might find me working on a coding project, playing guitar or violin, running, playing games, talking to my friends on Discord, or (on my more boring days) just browsing the Internet."

Arani Hiritharan (Journal Coordinator)

"Hello everyone! I'm the Journal Coordinator, Arani Hiritharan. I'm an incoming Grade 11 IB student from Ontario, Canada. In my spare time, I do my best to try out a variety of new activities and hobbies, alongside serving my community and watching way too many studytube videos! In the future, I hope to pursue a career in neuroscience or psychology. "

Trisha Kotakanda (Editor-in-Chief)

"Hi everyone! I'm Trisha and I'm a Gr. 11 IB student in Toronto, Canada, also your Editor-In-Chief! Genetics and Pathology are my favourite medicine related topics, but I also find molecular biology and neuroanatomy extremely fascinating. I tend to dabble in quite a few hobbies, but I'm definitely an avid reader and usually end up binging on fantasy series! I also enjoy writing original poetry every now and again. Additionally, I love music and currently play three musical instruments. I'm also an active community member and I frequently volunteer with different youth based organizations! It's nice to meet you all and I look forward to working with you :)"

Kayla Hui (Events Coordinator)

"Hi, my name is Kayla, and I am one of the Event coordinators. I have always been passionate about medicine and fascinated by the past applications of medicine and how we have evolved. For this reason, I am also intrigued by the future innovations of medicine. I like reading books, especially nonfiction medical books that are written like thrillers. I am especially interested in biotechnology, biochemistry, and bioengineering."

Ann Thomas (Events Coordinator)

"Hi everyone! My name is Ann Thomas! I’m currently 16 years old. I am extremely interested in studying medicine, and I’d like to specialize in oncology, rheumatology, or anesthesiology. Some hobbies of mine include being involved in my HOSA team at school, coding, reading, helping around my community via volunteering, and Indian classical dance. On the executive board, I am an Events Coordinator of EmpoweringMED. I’m so excited to be a part of this awesome initiative, and I look forward to working with it!"

Amanda Nguyen (Head of Human Resources)

"Hi! I’m Amanda Nguyen. I’m from Irvine, California and next year, I’ll be a junior in high school! I am on my school’s tennis team and student council. In my free time, I play video games like Valorant and Minecraft. I also practice lettering, graphic design, and video editing. My passion for stem shows through my participation in clubs at my school, such as HOSA and Spaceset, and my strange addiction of watching random stem youtube videos very late at night. I aspire to take on a stem-related career, but I am not entirely sure what I want to specifically major in yet. Additionally, I actively strive to help the community. My friends convinced me to join a student-led nonprofit organization called LOT Foundation that organizes creative and fun fundraisers and events to donate to hospitals and local shelters."

So, now that you've gotten a quick insider's tour of EmpoweringMED's leaders and directors, what do you think? Pretty neat, huh? Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this post - I know I enjoyed compiling their introductions and it's really a privilege having them on our core team. We will be sharing the different departments we offer in a separate post as well as opportunities for YOU to join us so be sure to click on the subscribe button so that you don't miss any posts that we have in store for you! Whether you're just curious about medicine or just starting med school, I'm so glad to welcome you into our community and we're honored to have you join our family of inspiring and talented individuals.