Name: Danielle Jackson
School/Year: UIWSOM, Third Year Medical Student
Educational Background: B.S. Biology with a minor in Business Administration Baylor University (2017); Master of Biomedical Sciences UIWSOM (2018)
Medical Interests/Goals: Internal Medicine-Gastroenterology, Cardiology; giving back to the underserved communities; community outreach programs
Hobbies/Fun Interests: kickboxing, longboarding, reading, true crime podcasts, anything food
“I am interested in mentoring as I wish I had one when I started this crazy medical journey. It’s always nice knowing you are not alone, and that other people have gone through the exact same thing. I wasn’t ready for medical school as I did not have an acceptable GPA and my MCAT score was far below average. I then applied to graduate school and received my masters at UIWSOM. I saw my masters as a second chance to “make things right” and I worked very hard to maintain a favorable GPA and study for the MCAT. I was rejected from my first round of applying to medical school. At the time, I thought that was the end of the medical journey for me and it took a lot of encouragement to pick myself up again. I proceeded to get a job in medical research where I was a research coordinator at Texas Children’s for one year in Houston. I worked more on my application, and I finally got accepted my second time around into two medical schools! I am the first person in my family and friends to go to medical school so I understand the challenges that can arise without any outside help. I am currently in year three of medical school which is the fun part as I finally get to see real patients in the clinic/hospital setting. I am particularly interested in cardiology and gastroenterology, but I’m open to everything. In my free time I enjoy a good book, a true crime podcast and going to the gym. I’m currently learning how to longboard, and it’s proven to be more difficult than it looks. I am willing to help in any way that I can!”