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Ayra Mudessir, a neuroscience/pre-medicine track student and entrepreneur in the College of Science and Health, has been awarded a highly competitive summer internship that places students with leading healthcare providers in the field.
The Northwestern Medicine Premed Internship is one of the most prestigious internships in the nation, with an acceptance rate of only 2.7%. The eight-week program matches students with medical experts to observe clinical practice, conduct research, and engage in educational seminars.
“My experience this summer at Northwestern Medicine has been transformative. I always aspired to be a physician, but these past eight weeks, my excitement was boundless as I observed life-saving procedures, interacted with patients, and networked with industry experts" Mudessir shares.
Mudessir worked with Gastroenterologist Dr. Aaron Cohn to study cirrhosis, an end-stage liver disease which can cause a variety of whole-body health complications, including Hepatic Encephalopathy, known as HE. This condition occurs when the damaged liver sends intoxicated blood to the brain, causing confusion and dizziness in affected patients. Mudessir researched the accessibility of Rifaximin, the only available treatment for HE. The drug is costly and can be difficult to obtain for many patients.
“I reviewed patient charts to gather data and created a comprehensive patient handout consisting of steps that can be taken to obtain Rifaximin in a cost-effective way, based on insurance status. What made this quality improvement project especially valuable was the team effort involving hospitalists, liver specialists, and GI doctors" Mudessir says.
Her encounters went beyond research into the clinical side of care, where she had the opportunity to observe doctors treating patients and working in the operating room, removing tumors and performing crucial medical interventions. The hands-on learning motivated her to further inspire underrepresented youth, particularly girls, to pursue careers in healthcare and business.
Supporting youth empowerment has long been a passion for Mudessir. Since the age of 13 she has written three self-help books and served as a keynote inspirational speaker. She launched a business literacy podcast on Spotify in 2022 interviewing aspirational figures from industries as diverse as finance, government, and healthcare. She is also the founder and CEO of Success Seekers, a non-profit dedicated to teaching leadership, public speaking, and entrepreneurial skills to young women. The organization received the 2024 Best Purpose-Driven Business Award from DePaul's Coleman Entrepreneurship Center at their annual Purpose Pitch competition, hosted by downtown startup hub 1871.
Mudessir sees her future in medicine as an extension of this motivational work and her experience at DePaul as a critical enabler of the leadership example she hopes to set for others. “As someone deeply passionate about addressing disparities in healthcare, I take it upon myself to inspire girls from similar backgrounds, and to show them that we are equally capable of achieving success as anybody else" she explains.
You can learn more about Mudessir's work online and view additional stories of undergraduate student research on the College of Science and Health's website.