NEW YORK: It has been a tough ride for young Saudi doctor Mohammed Alrakan. Getting into medical school in the United States was a challenge, and it meant long, grueling days and many late-night hot dogs from the 7/11 store when everywhere else was closed. But on Wednesday, he got to showcase his success at The Plaza Hotel in New York in the latest in a series of Misk Talks, a government-backed project designed to help aspirational young Saudis kick-start their careers. He told the 400-strong crowd about treating a US soldier who had been ripped apart by a roadside bomb in Iraq. Alrakan and other medics transplanted four limbs from cadavers and repaired tendons in a series of ground-breaking surgeries. Within 12 months, the soldier, Brendan Marrocco, was “doing push ups; within two years he was driving his car again,” Alrakan told the enthused crowd. “It was not only life enhancement, it was a life transformation.” Alrakan, 33, studied at King Saud University College of Medicine in Riyadh before training as a plastic surgeon at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He hoped the feel-good talks would encourage others, he said. “The audience members came to be inspired and to look at really good examples to show the world who the Saudis are,” Alrakan told Arab News afterwards. “Vision 2030 is not only about diversifying the economy and restructuring the government, it’s about reflecting the real image of the kingdom. Hopefully we can touch the hearts of people around the world and they can understand who the Saudis really are.” He was among a dozen speakers from the Kingdom, the US and elsewhere gathered at the posh Manhattan venue to deliver vignettes on everything from entrepreneurship to technology and women in the workplace. It dovetailed with the visit of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, Mohamed bin Salman, who met New York money men this week on his whistle-stop first official US visit since becoming King Salman’s heir apparent last year. Sarah bin Hamad, 31, a Saudi who studies at New York Institute of Technology, went along to gather tips on starting her own events business when she finishes her education and returns home to Riyadh. “When Oprah Winfrey talks about her experience, she inspires others,” Hamad told Arab News, referencing the US television host. “It’s the same here. We’re trying to bring young people to inspire others to support them and share with them the difficulties they face in their lives and how to be successful.” Misk Talks follow the format of a TED events, which started in California in the 1980s to promote “ideas worth spreading” but have grown in popularity and now see speakers address scientific, cultural and academic topics at events globally. Throughout March and April, the Misk Foundation is holding similar parleys across the US at other stops along the Crown Prince’s route, including Washington, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Houston. The Crown Prince’s Misk Foundation is a non-profit organization for helping young Saudis become better educated and more creative when using computers and digital media and getting involved in culture and the arts. It is part of the ambitious Vision 2030 plan to overhaul the economy of Saudi Arabia, a major crude producer, and provide jobs for an overwhelmingly young population in the face of a global oil price decline since 2014. Alrakan, the young surgeon, noted he could earn more money performing plastic surgery on celebrities and others in California, but said he would take his skills back home to Riyadh as a way to repay his homeland. “We have a responsibility,” Alrakan told Arab News. “Mohamed bin Salman is taking on his shoulders the transformation and we need to stand behind him as Saudis. It’s not about money, it’s about passion and your people. When you’re young you have the power to make a change.”