Testimonials
Dr. Sameer Khan
Tamar Mosulishvili
Dr. Sameer Khan
True mentorship is more than just getting people to a destination they have in mind, but also facilitating their growth and skill development in a way that helps them use their potential in creative and fulfilling ways. I met Dr. Karen Phillips as a 19-year-old college sophomore at Hunter College who was very unsure of himself. Today, I a
True mentorship is more than just getting people to a destination they have in mind, but also facilitating their growth and skill development in a way that helps them use their potential in creative and fulfilling ways. I met Dr. Karen Phillips as a 19-year-old college sophomore at Hunter College who was very unsure of himself. Today, I am a fellow in Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Johns Hopkins Hospital. I completed training at the Yale School of Medicine in Internal Medicine and was chosen for a highly selective junior faculty position my last year there as a Chief resident. My medical school training was at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City where I received a full tuition scholarship. It is hard for me to separate my journey from three major influences in my life: faith, my parents, and the mentorship of Dr. Karen Phillips.
When I first met Dr. Phillips, my understanding of education was limited by a worldview shaped by the financial insecurity of my immigrant family. Like many, I felt education had to be practically focused and was intended to be a means of leapfrogging beyond minimum wage paying jobs and the uncertainty of living check by check. I give you this context because Dr. Phillips is a catalyst for transforming my vision for the future.
The first remarkable quality I observed in Dr. Phillips is her excellence in two main areas – organic chemistry and teaching. Dr. Phillips is a master educator. Over my 25 years of being a learner, I have only encountered her level of mastery in teaching rarely. In organic chemistry, Dr. Phillips helped me and countless peers learn the language of chemistry. She developed a collaborative model of learning in our classes that required us to teach one another and positively reinforce and encourage mutual progress. We adopted a mantra, “if you can teach someone else soundly then you understand it yourself and can move on.” Under Dr. Phillips’ instruction, I came to appreciate the language of chemistry in a way that opened my eyes. In every subsequent stage of learning and becoming a clinician and teacher, I have employed the tools Dr. Phillips imparted to me. As an internal medicine resident, I won three teaching awards and I think it is because I was taught to create a climate of collaborative curiosity that invited the contributions of others to our shared benefit. This was something I was taught by Dr. Phillips and I think it will stay with me for the rest of my life.
Mentoring is hard to do well, but Dr. Phillips has dedicated her life to it. Every aspect of applying to medical school was foreign to me. Dr. Phillips coached me through the unknowns, introduced me to former advisees on the path, and encouraged me to reflect thoughtfully on how to use my career in medicine for the pursuit of my own passions. Today, I am working on trying to affect change on the future of healthcare as it relates to obesity and fatty liver disease through public policy and direct patient care. My vision for my career is built on the foundations established during the years I spent as a mentee and student of Dr. Phillips. I am eternally indebted to her and cannot more highly recommend her as a teacher, mentor, and coach.
• Gastroenterology Fellow
Johns Hopkins Hospital
• Resident, Yale New Haven Hospital
• MD, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Anne Hart
Tamar Mosulishvili
Dr. Sameer Khan
Within the first few hours of working with Dr. Phillips, my dread of organic chemistry melted away into curiosity and genuine enjoyment, thanks to her clear-headed explanations of fundamental principles, useful and easy-to-remember techniques, and most of all, due to her own readily visible passion for teaching. Dr. Phillips takes an inti
Within the first few hours of working with Dr. Phillips, my dread of organic chemistry melted away into curiosity and genuine enjoyment, thanks to her clear-headed explanations of fundamental principles, useful and easy-to-remember techniques, and most of all, due to her own readily visible passion for teaching. Dr. Phillips takes an intimidating subject and makes it approachable and masterable. She houses a wealth of knowledge and can also effectively communicate that knowledge. I very much appreciated her willingness to work with me thoroughly and holistically in understanding why I made the mistakes I made. Rather than simply pointing out what was wrong, Dr. Phillips made efforts to understand my thinking, so that she could help correct it from my perspective. I have treasured my notes from her classes, and refer to them often as I study for the MCAT. Her application of warm logic has also benefited me in other domains as I work and volunteer in the medical field. I cannot recommend her enough for anyone studying premedical sciences who wishes to deeply improve their knowledge and appreciation of organic chemistry, and to do so with the guidance of a skilled and generous ambassador of the subject.
Post-Baccalaureate of Premedical Sciences at Columbia University
Eli Pinker
Tamar Mosulishvili
Tamar Mosulishvili
As a pre-medical student at Columbia University, organic chemistry was a daunting hurdle to jump over. Some liken it to learning an entirely new language, and I was worried that it would be the class that squashed my dreams of eventually becoming a doctor. When I enrolled in Professor Phillip’s orgo class, the last thing I expected was fo
As a pre-medical student at Columbia University, organic chemistry was a daunting hurdle to jump over. Some liken it to learning an entirely new language, and I was worried that it would be the class that squashed my dreams of eventually becoming a doctor. When I enrolled in Professor Phillip’s orgo class, the last thing I expected was for it to be one of my favorite classes at Columbia, provide me with strategies to tackle other science subjects, and inspire my own teaching and tutoring style. Professor Phillips empowers students to be active learners. Through her flipped classroom model, students learn by way of doing. Her approach to teaching made solving complex problems approachable and systematic. I have currently adopted this teaching strategy as a high school STEM educator and I will continue to benefit from it as a medical student next year. Professor Phillips’ approach to teaching is holistic and cultivates skills and habits that can be applied to other pre-med classes, the MCAT, and medicine generally.
MD Candidate, Yale University School of Medicine
Tamar Mosulishvili
Tamar Mosulishvili
Tamar Mosulishvili
With her guidance you will not only find yourself admitted to a medical school, but also deeply in love with organic chemistry and teaching. She is a great promoter of a healthy learning environment, building teams for collaboration and co-working. If you end up being part of a group under Dr. Phillips guidance, you will undoubtedly learn
With her guidance you will not only find yourself admitted to a medical school, but also deeply in love with organic chemistry and teaching. She is a great promoter of a healthy learning environment, building teams for collaboration and co-working. If you end up being part of a group under Dr. Phillips guidance, you will undoubtedly learn how to be a valuable and reliable team member - a skill that is increasingly valued and emphasized during medical education and training. In addition to organic chemistry, she has vast knowledge of the medical school admissions process and immense experience working with premedical students. During my medical school application process, I consulted with Dr. Phillips more than with my premed advisor and found her advice immensely helpful. Her caring heart, dedication to student’s success, and bottomless knowledge and experience makes her the best possible coach one can find for anything organic chemistry, premedical years, and a medical school application.
MD Candidate, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth