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mariza khalaf

375

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Bio

I am Mariza I would describe myself as a resilient pre-medical graduate with a B.A. in Psychology and a minor in Biological Sciences from the University at Buffalo. I has extensive healthcare experience as a Certified Nursing Assistant, medical assistant, and pharmacy technician, along with research roles in linguistics and motivational psychology. Fluent in English, Kurdish, Arabic, and advanced French,

Education

Southern California Health Institute

Master's degree program
2024 - 2026
  • Majors:
    • Medicine

University at Buffalo

Bachelor's degree program
2021 - 2024
  • Majors:
    • Cell/Cellular Biology and Anatomical Sciences
    • Psychology, General

Miscellaneous

  • Desired degree level:

    Doctoral degree program (PhD, MD, JD, etc.)

  • Graduate schools of interest:

  • Transfer schools of interest:

  • Majors of interest:

  • Not planning to go to medical school
  • Career

    • Dream career field:

      Hospital & Health Care

    • Dream career goals:

      Research

      • Psychology, General

        ub — research assistant
        2023 – 2024
      • Psychology, General

        ub — research assistant
        2022 – 2024

      Future Interests

      Advocacy

      Sandy’s Scholarship
      I grew up in Shingal town in Iraq, the land of the yezidis. When I was little I became very sick and my illness caused me to develop Strabismus. When you are from a small village where they value perfection I always get picked on at school, home and everyday life which lead me to lose a lot of interest in school. I couldn’t get surgery in Iraq where there's no proper infrastructure, limited resources and lack of good doctors that didn’t discriminate against yazidis. My parents feared that if they took me to get surgery, I might end up worse in my case either end up blind or dead. My parents' fears steamed from the death of my little sister who was a few months old at the time of her death due to physician malpractice. Towards the end of 2013 my father came home and asked the entire family to pack our bags. We were leaving for America the very next day. ISIS attacked Syria which borders Iraq with the intent to kill yazidis. Shortly after we came to America, ISIS attacked Shingal on August, 3rd which killing,kidnapping and enslaving majority of the Yezidi people this was known as the yazidi genocide. Staring at the news broadcasting the thousands of yazidis that died and the ones that managed to escape ISIS were stranded on the mountains of Sinjar. They had no doctors or resources to survince, so the wounded ended up dying shortly. Being in the U.S, a country that is so open-minded and accepting, it made it difficult for me to comprehend that thousands of people lost their lives because of religious discrimination. I wished I could be there at the Sinjar mountains and aid every injured person. Few years after arriving in the U.S, my parents took me to an ophthalmologist who was able to repair my eyes after 3 surgeries. For the first time we went to the doctors without my parents fearing that we might get killed because of our religious background. I knew at that moment I wanted to become a physician and provide a place for folks like my parents that can get medical care without any fear of discrimination or malpractice. I knew I never wanted another parent to go through what my parents had gone through burying their children due to malpractice, my little sister Shamsa would have been 14 years old this year. I don’t have one reason I have a series of events and journeys that pushed me continuously to pursue medicine. I hope I was able to provide my perspective in this story, after having many bad experiences with physicians including my sister's death and my eye problems in Iraq and witnessing the genocide on my religion and coming to physicians in the U.S where I was treated with great care and good physicians. I knew one day I wanted to provide my patients with the same experience, a place where they can get the best care without any fear of judgement. One good physician can change a patient's entire course of life. I would like to contribute to giving every patient the best possible care and provide a space where they can get the best course treatment without discrimination. Even now many patients have been mistreated by the medical system and develop a fear of getting treatment. This perspective needs to change. That's why I want to pursue medicine, a pursuit to innovate the medical field and progress.
      mariza khalaf Student Profile | Bold.org