What's your concentration and how did you decide on it? Has it always been your plan to study that or did your interest develop as you got older or took some courses in college?
Hi, My name is Prashanth Kumar but everyone calls me PK! I'm a senior in Mather House studying Applied Mathematics (AM)-Biology with a secondary in Psychology. I entered the college undecided though I was leaning towards a STEM field like biomedical engineering or physics. My freshman year I took a course called LS50 and realized I was more interested in how the biological phenomena we see in the real world were explained by math and models. I took my first AM class at Harvard my sophomore year and fell in love with the classes, the professors, and the strong, collaborative community of AM students, studying everything from math in government to astronomy. The AM Lunches every Tuesday were also a big sell.
 
What is the process like applying for medical school? Do you know or pick your specialty beforehand?
The process has been a grind. After taking all the premed requirements in college, you have to take the MCAT (an absolute nightmare of a 7.5-hour exam), find people to write letters of recommendation, write a personal essay that you will send to every college you apply to, write up school-specific secondary essays, and then if schools like you, they will send an invitation to interview with them. I don't know exactly what specialty I want to go into, but one future path I've thought of is in orthopedics and staying around sports! Definitely subject to change after I complete my rotations in medical school.
 
Did you ever have any hesitation about pursuing this? What advice would you give someone who is considering med school but is unsure?
Absolutely. When thinking about med school, residency, and so on, it's an incredibly long and draining path filled with plenty of opportunity costs. Especially at Harvard, where teammates and friends were considering futures in a variety of fields in investment banking, consulting, computer science, government, etc, it is easy to feel like you're pursuing the wrong path. When I found myself studying Applied Math, I thought maybe I was better suited for a future in data science or research. When fellow peers did much better than me on organic chemistry exams or when I had to retake the MCAT, I had a sense of imposter syndrome and questioned my own academic abilities.
 
But, to anyone considering medical school or any demanding career, I think these hesitations are normal and really help in figuring out what you're passionate about. These moments made me think about what drives me the most in my own life, and for me, that was staying connected to the communities around me and making sure they're as happy, healthy, and optimally performing as possible. For those thinking about med school and are unsure, I recommend reflecting on who you are as a person and your own goals and see if they align with the long path to being a physician. Never compare yourself to someone else in the classroom or in life because every person is on their own journey.
 
What is the MCAT process like and how did you plan on studying?
The process of studying for the MCAT is a long one. The test has four sections: Chemistry and Physics, Reading Comprehension, Biology and Biochemistry, and Psychology and Sociology, and encompasses material from every pre-med course requirement. For me, it took three months of dedicated studying to feel prepared. The first half of this period was reading up and taking notes on the plethora of content then the next half was hammering out practice questions, sections, and tests to feel comfortable with the test itself. There's also a huge mental aspect when you gear up for the test (similar to any big match or tournament), in that there'll always be challenges and moments of doubt. Something I heavily worked on was being able to hit the reset button after every hard passage and focus on the next one rather than having a downward spiral due to one tough section.
 
How has being a member of the tennis team impacted your studies/future plans?
HMT has been the family that I've turned to every step of my Harvard career. In addition to the support I feel each day when we step on court, the team helped me find my passion in making sure the people around me are performing at their best and in creating community. The program emphasizes putting the team over self and pushes each other to perform at the highest level in every part of one's life. These are especially important lessons for anyone going into medicine, as a healthcare system is analogous to a team, composed of administrators, physicians, nurses, PAs, etc, all trying to pursue the same goal.
 
Additionally, while we don't have any other pre-meds on the team currently, I've been able to reach out to recent alums of the program (Denis Nguyen '15 and Tunc Kiymaz '13) to get advice and prepare for the long application process.
 
What skills have you gained from being a part of athletics that have prepared and supported your academic life?
In addition to learning how to be a part of a team and working to keep it performing at the highest level, I think the community that Harvard Athletics has given me has been paramount to everything I've done these last 4 years. The Athlete-Medical Mentorship Program (AMMP) has helped me connect with student-athletes who have gone through or are currently going through the pre-med path. It is an incredibly special experience where the people I get to cheer on one day are the ones I'm working on a p-set with the next. Additionally, an important skill that I've learned is how to reset and rebound after failure. Whether it was in the classroom, on the MCAT, or rejections from internships and medical schools, I've learned to internalize the tough feeling of failure and use it as motivation to get better, a skill I attribute to learning from my team and the broader Harvard Athletics community. The support I've felt and the lessons I've learned these last four years have been invaluable, and I can definitely say this community has more than prepared me for my next chapter.