Students

Student Perspectives

Karina Diaz
"With over 6 different research facilities all over Seattle, there is no limit to the kind of research you can do here."

Karina Diaz

Entered 2014 | UC Davis University

Picking UW was easy! Seattle is a beautiful city that is close to mountains and surrounded by water. So, whether you are a hiker, skier, or city dweller, there is natural beauty everywhere and always something to do. UW is a top tier school that is well known as one of the best hospitals for primary care and of course for the wide breadth in research. But what does that actually mean? At the UW MSTP it means we will be trained to be great scientists and great doctors: exactly what I was looking for. Especially with the WWAMI program, I get to work directly with attendings while on rotations, instead of through fellows and residents. In addition, I get to see the high variability of medical practices from the big urban city to the small farming town. Also, at UW when PIs talk about collaborations, it’s not just talk. With over 6 different research facilities all over Seattle, there is no limit to the kind of research you can do here. Honestly, UW was the only place I found that had multiple PIs I would be interested in working with because of how interesting the research is here. Despite all of this, what really was the icing on the cake for me were all the students. Everyone was super friendly, and they all seemed genuinely happy when I was interviewing. 6 years later I am still close friends with some of those same students I met during interviews. What was even better, were my classmates. We are a tight group of people that has worked with and supported each other as we go through this long and arduous process. Despite being spread all over, we have each other’s backs and are always willing to lend a helpful hand. They have become my awesome, medically-inclined scientist family.