26: Chino, 3rd Year MD-PhD Student at Icahn SOM at Mount Sinai

The Med School Years · Apr 1, 2026 · 40m

What does it really mean to commit to an eight-year training path? Join host Deana Golini as she interviews Chinoso Nwakama, a third-year MD-PhD student at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, who is currently deep in the research phase of his dual degree. Chinoso (Chino) shares his journey from rural Minnesota to the heart of New York City, explaining how the Flex Grad pipeline program allowed him to bypass the MCAT and focus on his passion for addiction research. He discusses the "double privilege" of wearing two hats, clinician and researcher, and how he maintains his medical…