In this episode we speak with Ayşenur Ersoy, a graduate of Üsküdar American High School and Istanbul University Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, who is about to begin her pediatrics residency at Marmara University. The conversation covers the American high school system, the routine of getting into medical school, internships at Cleveland Clinic and Athens, her dream of an academic career, and advice for young people.
Ayşenur enjoys spending time at home outside work, cooking, and reading; she played violin for years but paused because of the intensity of medical training. She entered Üsküdar American High School at her family’s wish—a five-year system similar to Robert College, with one preparatory year and heavy emphasis on English. She ranked in the top ten on entrance and won a merit scholarship. In prep, students are placed by a language proficiency exam; classes focus on projects, papers, and presentations, with a weak test culture—she had not solved standardized tests until the university entrance exam. Classrooms are spread across sections; Turkish and foreign instructors teach together in science and English.
She has aimed at medicine since high school; many doctors in her family influenced her by showing how they found cures for patients. While preparing for the university exam, her school kept assigning demanding projects, yet she stayed active in her final year. Because Turkish universities offered no systematic support, she followed an external course program and built a two-sheet weekly schedule in Excel: which topics from which books, targeting eighty to ninety percent completion each week without losing morale when she fell short. She placed in the top five hundred on YGS and around the top thousand in the combined LYS ranking, earning admission to Istanbul Faculty of Medicine.
Medical school grants the title of general practitioner after six years; specialization requires the TUS exam and preference process. Ayşenur matched to pediatrics at Marmara University and will become a pediatric specialist after at least four years of residency. She received the dean’s science award at graduation and twice won second-place school awards in high school.
Her internship story started early: at the end of first year she emailed dozens of professors about autoimmune diseases and was accepted to a laboratory program at Cleveland Clinic; a seven-week stint in the United States led her to love scientific research. She continued working with a professor at her school. When planning internships, a rejection from a professor without budget in March–April hurt her morale; her advisor connected her with a colleague in Athens, opening the chance to go to Greece. Email traffic begins around October; summer programs need to be settled months ahead, with capacity and budget limits. She explains that medical training spans six years of undergraduate study, compulsory service, TUS, and specialty residency. Professors at Istanbul Medical School encouraged her toward academia; though the building is old, she would choose it again. In high school she was moved by family doctors’ work; finding cures for people makes her happy. When morale dropped, her advisor connected her with a professor in Athens; she spent a month in Greece caring for patients and experiencing master–apprentice learning one on one.
Going forward she aims for pediatric specialization and an academic career; she wants to practice medicine in Turkey and plan periods abroad in strong laboratories before returning. She would choose Üsküdar American and Istanbul Medical again; she has no major regrets. Rotations across every specialty during six years of medical school convinced her pediatrics fits best. After graduation come compulsory service, then TUS and preferences; pediatrics residency can last up to five years. She also wants to do things with children outside clinical medicine.
She applied to London as well; she does not regret it but stresses alternatives always exist. If she chose again she would still pick Üsküdar American and Istanbul Medical; language and project skills from high school shaped her entire later career. She advises young people to know themselves—how they learn and what motivates them—before starting a program. For Üsküdar American applicants she notes the school does not actively guide toward Turkish universities but strong scores can reach targets like Istanbul Medical. Prep placement by level exam and project-based English education gave a serious advantage at university transition. She studied on scholarship in a five-year system similar to Robert College; language and independent study skills fed the discipline of writing emails for medical school and internship applications. The exam process is largely solitary; external pressure without inner belief does not bring lasting success. She remembers exam prep as the peak discipline period of her life. She recommends taking the reins, building a program that fits, and focusing on a goal you truly believe in. Her series recommendations are Hüsna Hamil Bayram and Yusuf Yeşil.
Highlights: Üsküdar American High School · project-based high school education · Excel study schedule · top rank at Istanbul Medical · Cleveland Clinic internship · Athens clinical internship · Marmara pediatrics residency · TUS and specialization path · academic career goal · prepare by knowing yourself
