Pritzker Ambassadors
Email the Pritzker Ambassadors!
Andrew Hughey
Congratulations on your acceptance to Pritzker! I’m looking forward to meeting many of you and helping you through the next few exciting months before school.
Some background on myself: I grew up in the Chicago suburb of Wilmette and went to Dartmouth College, graduating in 2006. At Dartmouth I spent most of my time rowing on the Connecticut River or holed up in the engineering hall working on problem sets. After college, I moved to Boston and worked for two years at a strategy-consulting firm based in Cambridge. Living in Boston for those two years really gave me an appreciation for what it’s like to have sports teams that actually win – but I’m still a loyal Cubs fan.
I’m now in Pritzker’s first-year class and live with two other med students in Hyde Park. Outside of classes, I volunteer at and serve on the leadership board of a free health clinic in Chicago. I’m also part of a school committee that reviews our class’s course feedback forms and delivers suggestions to the administration about ways to improve our curriculum for the next year. And I’ve gotten involved in some research in the anesthesiology and OB-GYN departments at the hospital, which I’ll continue this summer through Pritzker’s Summer Research Program. When I do have free time (don’t worry – it happens more in med school than you might think), I like to spend time in the city with friends and family, work out, and keep up on the latest the goings-on in Lost.
Feel free to contact me about anything you may have questions about. However, I may be uniquely able to talk about:
| - Transitioning from the working world back to med school |
| - Alternative career paths, particularly those involving health care business or the MD/MBA program |
| - Lost theories |
| - Trying to, but for the most part failing at, staying in shape post-college |
Again, congratulations and I look forward to meeting you this summer!
Mei Zhou
Hi, my name is Mei Zhou. I’ll be a second year at Pritzker when we meet! I grew up all over, including China and Australia (and have the sporadically surfacing accents to match), but Chicago is quickly becoming my favorite place. I am most recently from Penn State, where I majored in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Before starting med school, I worked for GlaxoSmithKline’s R&D department in Philadelphia (and happened to leave with a lot of Aquafresh toothpaste, purchased with my employee discount).
So far, med school has been a blast. What I like most about Pritzker are my classmates, the awesome faculty and student organizations. If you’re interested in finding out more about teaching Basic Life Support, screening for diabetes, or talking to adolescents about substance abuse, let me know! In my spare time, I love exploring the city for new restaurants and coffee shops-Istria Café has an amazing hazelnut gelato! I also like shopping, running along the lake, pen twirling, learning to play tennis, and cutting my hair shorter and shorter. Overall, I’ve really enjoyed both my academic and nonacademic experiences here.
I can’t wait to meet everyone! Please email me if you have any questions or just want to say hi!
Kristi Guyton
Hi! My name is Kristi Guyton. I am a member of the Pritzker class of 2012. I grew up in Seattle, Washington where I developed a love of animals and the outdoors. I spend whatever time I can riding horses, hiking and traveling. For the past 12 years I have been competing throughout the US and Canada with Arabian horses. I attended college here at the University of Chicago, graduating in 2006 with a major in biology and specializations in microbiology and immunology. My time outside of studies was spent volunteering within the surrounding neighborhoods and working as a RA. During my two years off between college and medical school, I spent time with my family, continued competing horses and taught English in Ecuador for a year. During my vacations there, I traveled all around Ecuador and Peru. (Above is a picture from the top of Huayna Picchu looking down on Machu Picchu.)
Here at Pritzker, I keep myself very busy with class work and extracurricular activities. One of the most rewarding for me has been volunteering with the Community Health Clinic on the west side of Chicago, a clinic which provides free care to patients who cannot afford care elsewhere. There, students take patient histories and then work with residents and attendings to determine a diagnosis and best plan of action. Frequently I am able to use my Spanish at CHC or work with a Polish translator to communicate with the high number of non-English speakers. With the help of my classmates and a local nonprofit tutoring organization, Griffith Tutoring, I have also helped to build an ACT tutoring program at the Gary Comer Youth Center on the south side of Chicago. Twice a year, Pritzker students help high school students prepare to take the ACT. For fun, relaxing activities, I enjoy salsa dancing, art projects and exploring Chicago. Congratulations on your acceptance to Pritzker! Please feel free to contact me with any questions.
Philip Knollman
Greetings all! It’s certainly a pleasure to extend to you well-deserved congratulations and the warmest of welcomes.
My name is Philip Knollman. I’m originally from Indianapolis, and I recently graduated from the University of Notre Dame, where I studied Biology and Theology. During the short summer between graduation and the beginning of courses here, I gladly set aside all academic and professional responsibilities, in order to work as a nanny for a young and energetic (read: rambunctious) family of three. Needless to say, by August, I was well ready to return to the lecture hall and dive hands first into gross anatomy. From that point forward, I’ve enjoyed it all.
I’m recently engaged to a wonderful woman, Beth (pictured above), and we are both eagerly anticipating our rapidly approaching wedding date. So, as you might expect, much of my free time is spent deeply entrenched in planning (or at least in watching her plan) the festivities. Aside from that, I volunteer and shadow when I can, sing in Pritzker’s a capella group, Say Ahhhh!, and explore the city as much as possible.
Once again, we are all very excited to welcome you to the University of Chicago and into the Pritzker family. If you have any questions about the medical school or about the good life in the Second City, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
