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Marek Svoboda

Our grant holder 2010 – 2018

High school

Open Gate

University

Columbia University, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth

Field of study

Všeobecná medicína

Contact

marek.svoboda@gmail.com

Open Gate graduate in 2010

I come from Slušovice, where I also went to the local elementary school for the first two years, before going to a language-focused school in Zlín. From there, I progressed to Zlín Lesní Čtvrť High School, and then in 2005 to the Open Gate eight-year grammar school.

During my studies, I focused on mathematics and biology. I was also active in debating, successfully representing Open Gate on both the domestic and international levels.

As part of the American university admission process, I took a three-week preparatory course for studies at universities in the U.S. at New York’s Columbia University, which undoubtedly helped my admission to that prestigious school afterwards. This is also where I have studied since 2010, thanks to the generous support of The Kellner Family Foundation, preparing for the medical field of psychiatry.

Secondary

Open Gate Grammar School, Czech Republic, graduated in 2010

Tertiary

Columbia College, Columbia University, New York City, USA, started in 2010

E-mail

marek.svoboda@gmail.com

Goals

Preparation for psychiatry studies

Interests

Debating, tennis, playing drums

My articles and what has been written about me

All articles

Universities

06/30/2018

A Change of Plans

In my last post, I was talking about my new lab where I was about to start my PhD thesis project – a translational study looking into breath biomarkers of mild traumatic brain injury, or concussion. Having recruited athletes from five college varsity teams, the project was in the full swing and I was in the process of analyzing the initial breath samples, waiting for the first batch of results – while all along, I missed the Neuroscience.

Universities

02/28/2018

#PhDlife

New school, new life again. This time it’s not as true, though – I “only” transferred from medical school to a graduate school as a part of the dual MD-PhD program at the same university, the Dartmouth College. Even that, though, brought a complete change in lifestyle and I even moved apartments – so it really is as if I started attending a completely new school all over again. New environment, new classmates, new schedule.

Universities

11/15/2017

The Test Result

In my previous blog entry, I described in detail my study Odyssey with STEP 1, the first licensing exam in my medical career.

Universities

07/03/2017

At the finish line

The school year has ended in May and I have been locked up in my apartment since, almost without a break.

Universities

03/01/2017

One Step at a Time

This post aims to reflect on the current point of my academic life, in which I am steadily working towards yet another climax – maybe the most important one yet – by taking a seemingly infinite series of infinitesimal steps that are slowly amounting to a large preparation for an event that I finally officially signed up for just yesterday – here’s what I mean:

Universities

11/16/2016

Overwhelming News

The last couple of months – well, now over a year, really – the most prominent piece of news everywhere in the US has been the presidential election. It was the first election I watched so closely from the very beginning, with the incumbent president stepping out of the office and American people inevitably electing a new one.

Universities

07/01/2016

(Another) 1st year done

Summer is finally here – and a well-deserved break with it. The third term was perhaps the most challenging one, as the courses were based on memorization the most so far. I had been used to this with Microbiology before, but Neuroscience (mostly Neuroanatomy) and Pathology definitely were not left behind in this respect.

Universities

03/24/2016

What is medicine.

Having just finished the second term (in Dartmouth’s quarter system, where the fourth term is the summer one), I am now learning what medicine really is. And what it means to be a physician.

Universities

11/30/2015

Medical School, Finally – All Inclusive

This is what I have been working so hard for, the entire time – and now, it’s here. After 13 years of secondary education in the Czech Republic and 4 years of American college, I finally started the medical school. But let me pick up where I left off last time…

Universities

07/02/2014

Bachelor at Last

What seemed impossible four years ago has now become a reality. I have concluded the four years of my undergraduate studies at Columbia University and after nine years of living at a dorm (be it the one at high school or at university), I am now out in the whole wide world. At least for one year.

Universities

03/03/2014

It is getting closer

To be honest, nothing much has changed since my last post. I just approached the end of my undergraduate studies along with everything that it entails – I am now in the middle of my last semester at Columbia.

Universities

11/15/2013

Last year at Columbia; Pre-Medicaments

It is almost unbelievable how recent it feels that I entered the gates of Columbia University for the first time. It was a beautiful late-summer day, I had a huge suitcase in each one of my hands and my mind was full of expectations. What will Columbia be like? Am I going to even compare to all those smart kids around? Am I going to fit in at all?

Universities

06/24/2013

There and back again

Even though the weather had stayed pretty much the same since my last blog post until I left Paris, I had had the opportunity enjoy the city a little more also thanks to a week of Spring vacation that we had before (those few) final exams. Therefore, I was able to find out what it is like to spend an entire day in a museum (Musée d‘Orsay), that some museums are closed on that day (Musée de l‘Orangerie), or what it is like to get lost in another one (Louvre).

Universities

03/01/2013

To Europe for the Classic

“Hey, man, I’m really sorry I’m late – I must have gotten lost somehow, I don’t know the subway here yet – and those streets. In New York, you know, everything’s nice and perpendicular, you don’t get lost there so easily – but here? Here, they were building it as it came to them; it’s just a mess… Not to mention the names of the streets themselves.”

Universities

11/19/2012

Always something new

At the beginning of this post I would like to go a little further than just the beginning of this semester – as I mentioned in my previous post, during the summer I attended the SURF (Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship) program, during which I worked on my own research project.

Universities

07/01/2012

After half-time

My second academic year at Columbia University ended more than a month ago (two more to go), and though I was not all that certain about my performance towards its close, in the end I did much better than I had expected: I got my name on the Dean’s List again.

Universities

02/29/2012

Why, it’s only February!

The 29th of February, to be precise. Still, I realized yesterday that the midterm date – the mid-point between the first and second halves of the semester – is next week. I was also forced to this reflection by my schedule telling me that I have five midterms (intermediary tests, of which there are one to three per semester in each subject) scheduled for this and next weeks, meaning one test from each subject.

Universities

11/12/2011

The third semester

It still feels like the semester hasn’t really started yet, but the last lecture prior to the finals, which will end this semester, is less than four weeks away - and it’s like that most likely because all the work wouldn’t let me look back at everything that has happened since the beginning of September. So let’s hope that I can recall all that was important.

Universities

06/25/2011

Back home for a while

So what’s it like studying in America, then? Reminiscing about the end of my first academic year at the Columbia University in New York, I found that my memory keeps several interesting facts about student life for the summer holidays, of which I can boast - that is, should anyone ask me during the summer …

Universities

03/07/2011

Living on the small isle of Manhattan

My first semester is over now and the greater part of the second is still ahead. I have grown quite accustomed to the local environment and managed to make a steady circle of friends, which is just as important for university life.

Universities

11/19/2010

Past the New World gates

As I was preparing for my trip to the U.S. in late August, I had no idea what I was in for. I was used to not living at home most of the time, but leaving my family for more than nine months is an entirely new experience for me. So, while I had certain expectations, I knew that reality would be materially different in many cases.

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