As Alumni Weekend 2013 approaches, we’re profiling members of this year’s reunion classes — find out how this double alumnus founded a non-profit to aid health care issues in developing countries:
Ketan Patel, SEAS BS ’08, GWSB MBA ’10, may have spent a lot of time with small circuit boards and wires in Tompkins Hall as a biomedical engineering major during his time as an undergraduate at GW, but he’s always been a big thinker.
In fact, Ketan says his best GW moment was lying on a Thurston couch and, like many GW undergrads, thinking about ways that a college student could change the world. It was then that Ketan and his twin brother, Kamal Patel, SEAS BS ’08, SMHS MD ’13, came up with the idea for Dr. Interns, a non-profit organization for medical and healthcare internships abroad.
Now serving as the founder and chairman of Dr. Interns, Ketan says that the organization’s mission is “to decrease the health care disparities plaguing developing countries.”
The nonprofit has generated hundreds of thousands of dollars to help developing areas. Dr. Interns is located and assisting communities in 5 different countries, has partnered with 15 different universities and generated over 60 college interns.
In 2013, Dr. Interns was able to fully fund a burn ward in Surat, India. And that moment of inspiration on a Thurston couch? It will soon come full circle, as Dr. Interns will be sponsoring fellowships for two GW students for full-ride internships to India in 2014.
Looking back on his time as an undergraduate, Ketan says that most of his favorite memories are those familiar “only at GW experiences” – from McFadden’s Tuesdays and hosting Raas Chaos to morning strolls to the White House and two Presidential Inaugurations.
Ketan also has fond memories of his involvement in other activities as an undergraduate, including his time on the 2006 Colonial Cabinet and serving as a house mentor, as well as working with SEAS Admissions executive director Howard Davis as an executive aide.
Like many of his peers in the class of 2008, Ketan has kept himself busy since graduating. In addition to his work with Dr. Interns, he currently works as a health care management consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers in New York City.
Ketan says he plans to attend Alumni Weekend to catch up with classmates and see how everyone is doing. He also encourages his fellow alumni to attend and stay connected.
“I owe a lot of my success in my career to GW and the individuals that believed in me when I was a teenager,” Ketan says. “Staying connected is a big reason why I’ve developed a successful, and more importantly, rewarding career.”
–Molly Nelson, CCAS BA ’08, 5-year reunion committee member
