Dr. Ekwonu earned an MD from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, where she also served as a member of the student admissions committee, interviewing candidates, conducting holistic reviews, ranking candidates, and participating in committee deliberations. Before attending Pritzker, she graduated with honors in psychology from the University of Chicago. She is currently a psychiatry resident at Penn Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Health System.
Throughout her academic career, Dr. Ekwonu has been dedicated to mentorship and student support. Her undergraduate work as a University of Chicago tour guide and undergraduate admissions representative for four years shaped her understanding of applicant evaluation and authenticity. During medical school, she served as the Admissions Liaison for UChicago Pritzker’s chapter of the Student National Medical Association and Orientation Co-Chair for an incoming class. Her experiences as a full member of the student admissions committee gave her unique insight into holistic review, ranking, and what top medical schools value in applicants..
Dr. Ekwonu is also an accomplished researcher, contributing to peer-reviewed publications spanning eating disorders, transgender health, and mental health care implementation. Now in residency, she brings a clinician’s perspective on identity, motivation, and behavior to the admissions process, offering students thoughtful, reflective guidance rooted in both science and lived experience.
Dr. Ekwonu’s greatest strengths as an admissions counselor lie in storytelling, narrative development, and confidence-building. She helps applicants deeply understand their own motivations for medicine and translate that self-knowledge into compelling, honest application narratives that reflect who they are and what they will contribute to a medical school class. Dr. Ekwonu is passionate about coaching because she understands how anxiety-inducing the admissions process can be and how empowering it is to know which aspects are actually within an applicant’s control and how to optimize them.
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