Nikil Ravishankar is a first-year student at Barry University's School of Podiatric Medicine. Nikil is from Bowling Green, Kentucky, and was born into a family of healthcare professionals. As a young man, Nikil followed his relatives on their medical rotations, and in high school he found a love for the basic sciences, like biology, anatomy, and chemistry. At Western Kentucky University, Nikil double-majored in Biology and Chemistry.
During his undergraduate tenure, Nikil shadowed an orthopedic surgeon in a hospital, which allowed him to see the medical field through the lens of a specialist, and showed him how vast the medical field truly is. Nikil later shadowed an ER doctor in a Level 1 Trauma Center, where, Nikil says, "things are pretty traumatic on the daily." He recalls, however, how calm the doctor remained, in spite of it all. “Tranquil; unfazed by everything going on around him.” The apparent maturity of this doctor emboldened Nikil’s love and respect for the medical profession. His medical journey ultimately led him to podiatry, though, because of his interest in Sports Medicine. Growing up, Nikil played soccer, tennis, and basketball, and he says that the injuries that he sustained sparked his fascination in podiatry and led him to the clinic where he’d later came back to shadow clinicians. Nikil feels that the field of podiatry doesn't get the recognition it deserves, and hopes to become an ambassador for podiatry in the future.
After applying to several medical podiatric colleges, Nikil says that as he interviewed with Barry, “something clicked.” He was drawn to Barry’s intentional approach getting to know him as a candidate, because it gave him a sense of a community-oriented atmosphere. He also appreciates Barry’s class diversity — “not just from an ethnic and cultural standpoint, but in diversity of thought.” Also, Barry showed a strong track record in the field of Sports Medicine in Podiatry, so he was encouraged to know that Barry places such a high emphasis on something that got him into the medical field in the first place.
Listen to Nikil Ravishankar talk about his medical journey on the Sole Purpose podcast.