ConnectUs Youth Spotlight EP 4: Arslan Maharramli — Aspiring Plastic Surgeon from Azerbaijan & launching a Clothing Brand
- Woosung
- 2 days ago
- 6 min read
In Episode 4 of the ConnectUs Youth Career Exchange Podcast, we had a great conversation with Arslan Maharamli, a junior from Baku, Azerbaijan, who is already shadowing surgeons, growing a YouTube channel with over 31,000 subscribers, and building his own clothing brand — all while keeping up with a demanding IB curriculum.
For those new to ConnectUs, our podcast highlights ambitious, motivated high school students who are actively building toward their futures. Our goal is to make opportunities visible and accessible for any ambitious student, regardless of where they came from or live.
A Curious Mind
When asked to describe himself in a single word, Arslan chose curious, and it is easy to see why that word fits.
He has always been drawn to understanding how things work, whether that is the human body, medical technology, or ideas outside of his core interests. One experience that really captures this is when he began shadowing surgeons in Baku and observed real procedures like rhinoplasties and reconstructive surgeries up close. For him, seeing medicine practiced in person made it feel interactive and alive in a way that studying it from a textbook simply cannot replicate.
Growing Up Around Medicine
Arslan's interest in plastic surgery did not come out of nowhere. His parents are plastic surgeons, and growing up in that environment gave him an early, honest look at what a career in medicine actually involves. Hearing patient case studies and following along with his parents' professional lives from a young age helped him develop a clear sense of direction.
He is also quick to point out that plastic surgery is much broader than most people assume; While aesthetics is where many plastic surgeons eventually focus, his father also specializes in reconstructive surgery, working with patients who have experienced burns, car accidents, or other serious injuries to help them regain the function of different body parts. Arslan finds that side of the field particularly meaningful, because it is about helping people return to a full life rather than simply changing how they look.
Life at TISA
Arslan attends the International School of Azerbaijan, widely known as TISA, an IB school in Baku that he joined at the start of grade nine. Before that, he attended Azerbaijan British College, which followed a British curriculum.
At TISA, he is taking both Biology and Chemistry at the Higher Level for his IB Diploma. He credits the school with having the resources needed for genuine scientific research, whether for internal assessments or extended essays, and feels it has prepared him well for the university applications he is working on now.
Exploring Neuroscience Through Summer Programs
While plastic surgery is where Arslan sees his long-term future, he has also developed a serious interest in neuroscience through two summer programs he completed last year, one at Stanford and one at Harvard. Both programs were centered on neuroscience and gave him exposure to the field that he would not have gotten through school alone.
His approach to these opportunities reflects something that comes up throughout the conversation: rather than waiting for his school to bring experiences to him, he actively looks for programs and initiatives that push him beyond what is already on his plate.
Building a YouTube Channel from Scratch
Arslan launched his YouTube channel recently in August and has grown it to around 31,000 subscribers, which is a significant audience for any creator, let alone a high school student managing an IB workload at the same time.
The channel is primarily focused on medicine and health topics, though he has also published a few videos on philosophy, which he describes as a way of making the channel more varied and interesting. He believes covering something outside of his main subject every once in a while keeps the content from feeling too narrow.
His growth has been built on consistency rather than luck. Early on, he noticed that his videos with lower view counts tended to lack visual appeal, so he put effort into improving his thumbnails and incorporating graphic design to make the content more engaging. His upload schedule has slowed to roughly once every two weeks as his academic commitments have grown, but he has stayed active and uploaded a video on neuroscience just the day before we spoke.
Unbound: A Clothing Brand with a Purpose
One of the more unexpected things Arsalan has taken on is Unbound, a clothing brand he launched in late January. For someone working toward a career in medicine, starting a clothing brand might seem like an unusual move, but the idea behind it is straightforward. He wanted to create something that motivates young people to take risks and be themselves without worrying about being judged, and he chose clothing as the medium to carry that message.
Getting the brand off the ground required him to figure out manufacturing from scratch. He used platforms like Shopify to find and connect with manufacturers, and eventually cold-emailed and partnered with organizations in places like Norway to produce his first line of products, including clothes and notebooks. His main takeaway from the experience is that most of the difficulty in starting something comes from hesitation rather than the actual work involved: once you reach out and start the conversation, things begin to move.
Using LinkedIn Strategically
Arslan has built a strong LinkedIn network, largely made up of medical professionals, and he engages with their content regularly by following, commenting, and reposting. He sees this not just as networking for its own sake, but as a way to stay informed about his field and to position himself for future research collaborations.
For students who want to build their own networks, his advice is practical: follow people who are working in the area you care about, engage with what they share, and treat every connection as someone you might genuinely learn from or work with down the line. He also mentioned that active LinkedIn use is still uncommon among students at his school, with only around 10% of the student body using it in a meaningful way, which makes it an area where motivated students can stand out.
Giving Back in Baku
Even with his focus on studying in the United States, Arslan remains involved in his community in Baku. At TISA, there are volunteering projects that supports refugees from Pakistan and Afghanistan in integrating into life in Azerbaijan and learning English. The school also runs environmental and social initiatives around poverty and inequality.
When asked about the most pressing healthcare issue in Azerbaijan, he pointed to the healthcare system itself instead of any specific disease or condition. He described a lack of organized, standardized guidelines for doctors as a significant problem, one that was made more complicated recently when the government introduced new legislation around plastic surgery practice in late 2025, adding layers of difficulty for surgeons who were already navigating an inconsistent system.
Despite his long-term plans to study and train abroad, he is clear that he wants to bring what he learns back home and contribute to his community in some way.
Ambassador for the International Youth Math Challenge
Arslan also serves as an ambassador for the International Youth Math Challenge, an international math competition open to high school and university students. He earned the role after winning a silver medal in the competition last year, and in that capacity he helps students in Azerbaijan register, understand the format, and work through past paper questions.
This year he received a gold medal, and several students from his school also achieved strong results after his guidance. It is a role that reflects a recurring theme in how he approaches his interests: he is not only focused on his own development, but also on sharing what he knows with the people around him.
Advice for Students Interested in Medicine
For students who are drawn to health and medicine and want to get started, Arslan offered a few pieces of advice worth keeping in mind.
First, do not let the fear of judgment slow you down. He has found that worrying about what others think is one of the most common reasons students hold back, and that the people who make meaningful progress tend to be the ones who move past that early.
Second, stay curious and go beyond what your classes require. Reading about medicine, following professionals in the field, attending programs, and asking questions outside of the syllabus is what separates students who stand out from those who simply complete the coursework.
Final Thoughts
Arslan's journey is a good example of what can happen when a student takes their interests seriously and acts on them consistently.
For students with big goals and wide-ranging interests, his story is a practical reminder that you do not have to wait until you are older, or until you have a degree, to start building something.
We hope you enjoyed Episode 4 of the ConnectUs Youth Spotlight. The episode will be available on Spotify and promoted across our social media platforms.
Spotify Episode:
See you on our next episode!
Learn more about Arslan and his projects:
Citations:
“IYMC | International Youth Math Challenge.” Iymc.info, 2026, iymc.info/en/. Accessed 18 Mar. 2026.
“High School - TISA | the International School of Azerbaijan.” TISA | the International School of Azerbaijan, 24 Nov. 2025, www.tisa.az/learning/high-school/. Accessed 18 Mar. 2026.
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