How Hard Are You Willing to Work to Become a Doctor? | Beyond the Scope | ND MD

foreign welcome back to the beyond the scope podcast presented by ndmd Productions I'm your host Andy senior year of medical student slowly judging my way through my fourth year of medical school I apologize for the probably Gap in episodes and Vlogs uh updates will be coming soon but here of course on this podcast we continue the mission of sharing impactful stories from students residents and attendings of different medical professions while giving you an inside look into their lives not just as healthcare workers but the incredible people they are as well but of course this is all about the things those years of medical training doesn't really prepare you for things that are beyond the scope of our practice so with that being said let's introduce today's guess and this one is a very very special one near and dear to my heart um if you guys have been following the beyond the scope podcast especially the video version since the beginning you'll probably recognize this this face uh he was one of the co-hosts kind of in the infant stages uh of this whole podcast uh he's been a long time friend of mine we knew each other since uh high school and I think this is a almost celebratory episode but also a storytelling episode because now not only do I get to call him an incredible friend but a future fellow doctor and colleague and that is something that I I'm so so proud to be able to say and I think you have a story that is very unique but also applicable to so many so many students out there and something that I've told a lot of students in the pre-med process that whenever they say oh I'm too stupid I'm too dumb like my grades aren't good enough for medical school or like um I just never felt smart enough to be a doctor I think you are a shining shining example that like that mentality is not true and it can be overcome so will welcome to the be on the skill podcast again thanks man oh my God what an intro holy crap dude thank you so much man now I I was completely off the Dome it was crazy just before you're talking about you don't have anything like prep that was beautiful man I couldn't even write that oh I I appreciate it and of course like over the past couple weeks you've you've uh gotten news well I guess months yeah news of uh Medical School acceptance so yeah man bro everyone online clap congratulate thank you long long journey long time coming um and of course like that that's something that you are incredibly proud of your family is incredibly proud of as your friend watching you throughout this entire journey and certainly proud of um so I think without further Ado I really want this for to be yours because I think this story is something that everybody needs to hear um so wherever you want to start it take it away man yeah oh man so let's see so I think like um I had no plans at all of pursuing anything like Health Care related like I wasn't like very ambitious growing up either but like when I was younger I think I was leaning towards just like you know any job that seemed like flashy or appealing in in the moment um but I remember when I was younger being ambitious was a little difficult because like you were just talking about a lot of students can relate I just felt really like inferior to a lot of my classmates um I think that started when I was like younger younger I think I just had some experiences where like um things happening in my childhood that needed more attention than school and me not being able to connect the dots that that doesn't mean I'm incapable it just means that my energy isn't focused on on school right now but I I had it in my head that yeah I'm like too dumb and I struggled with it a lot um when I was little and then going into middle and in high school I really struggled because um I was in like AP gifted classes with a lot of my friends and I really enjoyed being around them but everyone just seemed to naturally be so much better at school and I really had a hard time just paying attention in class figuring out like how to study and on top of that I had some experiences with some students where they're kind of like either directly or indirectly insinuate that I was dumb right I think when you're young like you kind of especially if you're like taking AP classes and stuff it's part of your like identity that like you know you're ambitious and you're smart and like you know like in sports or anything else like you kind of dog on the people that aren't as competitive I think and I I definitely received some of that and it it didn't help uh at all and so I reached a point I was like I don't want to try at all anymore to like be good at school or to be ambitious because like I feel like I'm just gonna fail anyway and so I started doing this thing where like if if an exam would come up right like maybe I'd peek at the notes but then I would just stop and then if you know the exam comes and I do well great if not then if anyone ever says anything like oh yeah you're stupid or see like you know you don't know what you're doing then in the back of my mind I would know why didn't actually put forth any effort I didn't I didn't try you know like I was just I was just sleeping you know so we don't really know what I'm capable of you know and like the big point was I had this fear of laying all that out on the line like what if I really try and like fail I'm like scared to like confront that you know um and so that was like high school um I just I skipped a lot of school um I went to just kind of hang out or to play drums which like was a big part of my life I think that's why I got so in ingrained in the band culture and Community it was just because like it was a nice distraction from school and it was something to be good at um but then school started to come to an end right like everybody submitted their college applications and they've taken their SATs and acts and like I felt a sense of regret for the first time like I had never really had any regrets ever about anything up until that point like I just was like life do be would it do whatever like it's fine right like it things end up the way they they do but I really felt like I had squandered my time um because I was looking around and it looked like all these people had made such good use of those four years and were able to enjoy it too and I had this like deep desire to still learn like that never went away um I just like I said I suppressed it because I didn't wanna confirmed that I was dumb or stupid or incapable so I have that regret and then everyone's kind of going off to college and I think most of our friends went off to college because you know we grew up in Augusta and um so our friends kind of went off and I was at home thinking like man I could have like maybe I could have had more like Freedom or choices it wasn't necessarily about like the school or leaving it was just about if I hadn't used my time a certain way I could have had the choice I guess um and so I really thought about like well maybe in college maybe I can use that as a time to like reinvent myself like maybe I can actually try because I don't really know anybody here they're off at other colleges and if they're from here I didn't really go to school with them or you know the chance of me running into someone I know is going to be kind of small right and I also knew that like if anyone were ever trying to front their ego or to call me dumb or anything like that I would know that it wasn't substantiated by anything because we just started at a new College I don't really know you like it that's not real what you're saying right um and so it was like faking it until I made it I guess and so I college started and like I completely like did not want to be even like resemble who I was in high school like I I was like okay I'm gonna like sit down and like read the book read the PowerPoint I'm gonna go to office hours or whatever and I remember I had this like experience that really kind of got the ball rolling and it was bio 1107 which is like the first class you take in your pre-med prereqs and I was like so enamored by the material which it's like kind of comical now looking back and thinking like wow the mitochondria was so cool dude but like it really blew me away right because I didn't pay attention to that and like now I was like dude there's this world underneath everything that's responsible for the world out here and so I was like okay I'm gonna study really hard and like do well on this test and Andy you're actually one of the people that I like went to in the beginning to get advice on how to be a good student and I remember you telling me that like if you struggle like go to office hours that's what they're there for so I kept that in the back of my mind and I you know the first exam rolls around and I'm like I'm ready to kill it like I've been building up this like conference for like a month and I'm ready to do it I finished the test I'm pretty sure I knew absolutely everything I felt great a week later the grade comes back and it's like a 70. and I like I was like devastated right like I really wanted to try harder and to be different and despite all my effort again I was confronted with the limit of my ability and I wanted to quit but like for the first time there was this internal pushback to like keep keep trying like this can be a fluke so like okay let's think well what are all the smart people telling me to do okay well maybe I need to change I'll study office hours maybe I'll go to office hours and I almost didn't go I was like I need to go and see what I got wrong right that's what people have been telling me to do so I go and I sit down in the office I'm like still fighting that voice in the back of my head that's like call it quits like like you have so much time while you're ahead if you just stop like you're okay like you can make something else of your career path or whatever like don't waste all this time but I'm like very consciously trying to ignore that so my professor comes in and she hands me the test in the Scantron and I'm looking over it and I'm really confused because I like half these answers I could I've sworn we're wrong and So eventually I'm like can you like explain these to me I really am I'm not sure like um like why this is the answer and so she looks and she looks over the answers like I've circled or pointed out and she like raises her eyebrow and then she's like I'll be right back and so she steps out she's gone for like five minutes or so I'm like you know okay she comes back in and she slides for like a new Scantron and the test and the grade at the top is like a 98. she's like I use the wrong form and like it's silly right but I almost quit because of all that effort I put in and like hard work and it didn't result in the right thing that little pushback I had like that's such a stupid like little error right but I would have never known if I hadn't come back and and kept following through with what I wanted right which was to be different to be a better student you know I really wanted to be a good student and so that was like a really big experience for me that like made me want to keep going forward with working hard um so yeah so school it kind of keeps going and I talk to people and I kind of I think through some conversations with you and another student I was like okay maybe well what can I do with this like degree right what can I do studying cells or whatever um and everyone was kind of like well medicine would be really cool um you know you you get like this patient interaction you get to like become an expert at something and wield like knowledge about the world to heal people that's like that's a superpower so I was like okay really cool um and then I think I started shadowing and the next kind of experience was where I really cemented the desire to pursue medicine right because at first it was just like okay I've put my mind to learning this material that I thought was really hard um finding clinical experience to to validate that desire and and kind of ease me into the niche world of medicine as opposed to something like a PhD or like doing lab stuff is what I needed and I got it and I I started shadowing and um I I remember like this lady came into the clinic it was a family medicine clinic for the underserved and she came in with this very defeated demeanor like it looked like her eyes were just holding back like tears like the floodgates were about to unleash at any minute she like it was like heavy you know like she kind of like slumped into the chair and so the the um The Physician kind of carried out his diagnosis and and the appointment at the end instead of just ushering her along he's like is there anything else that we didn't really get to talk about and then it like all the all the Waterworks came in like she just started bawling and um it really moved me because my mom growing up struggled a lot with depression and anxiety and raising two kids and my grandparents passing away like a lot of stuff and I can remember her being in that position and I really remember when she had to she something happened with her primary care provider where my mom had to get a different one but when she got the different uh other guy she would come home from her appointments like seemingly lighter and she started talking about them and part of it was he was prescribing her the medication she needed to get back on her feet but the other part of it was he would just listen to her like what's it like being a mother without a mother what's it like raising two kids what's it like you know not having like family to talk to you know like just things that like she needed to hear or or she didn't need to oh oh no foreign [Music] nothing happened at all in that little intermission um let's see what was that what was I talking about I think I was talking about my mom right yeah yeah okay yes okay so her new physician yeah okay he was just a great source of um like comfort and Solace for her in a time where she was really struggling and it had a lot of impact at home like you know externally materially like everything can be the same but like if you're a parent and like you just have like this emotional turmoil going on like that really affects your ability to be there for your kids and for your spouse and so um just by talking to that um that primary care doctor who would listen to her um it had a lot of impact on me as well and so back to or going forward to when I was shadowing and that woman was in the clinic I could see that she had the same body language that my mom had and when the the doctor started talking to her she let out like all this emotion and Trauma and what it ended up being was she was really struggling with guilt because her health was in not good or not a good State and she had a lot of things to take care of but at home her husband was terminally ill and was bedridden and I think at the time I was shadowing he had just recently like Lost His sight so like he was like really in trouble and the doctor just you know he listened to her kind of just sapside her and he had known them for a while and he just very genuinely was like he would be okay that you're here he would want you to take care of himself you're doing an amazing job like life is really hard for you right now and given the little emotional resources you have and maybe even the physical material ones you're doing a fantastic job and nothing about her situation changed that didn't restore her husband's sight or ability to walk or increase his lifespan but it equipped her with discomfort that someone as you know experienced and has practiced as this physician was in her corner with her and beyond that wasn't even really using his professional training it was just this innate natural sensitivity to the human spirit that he was using and it was just so like beautiful to watch and when I was in that clinic observing that I realized okay like that's what someone did for my mom this makes a lot of sense now like I kind of got it when I was younger but I really get it now and that was like an intense experience and coupled with like my classroom learning and the joy I had there I realized that the reason that medicine was so appealing to me was because it Blends these two worlds where you have just the beauty of objectivity where the answer is what it is right there's no speculation we know like being an expert at that like building up this vast repertoire repertoire of knowledge and banking on the fact that somewhere along the lines you know the next few years someone might need one of those facts to save their lives that's insane but equally important is this very subjective Human Experience that isn't found in a textbook or a graduate program you know you can kind of I guess read psychology books or or you know talk to people about their experiences but you get that from living life not from paying tuition you know and so just the blending of that was like okay I'm I'm ready to go like I I have never been more like excited about medicine ever um so that's how I first got into it um that being said there was still hardship I was facing in the classroom because while I did have this new desire to learn and and work hard if you've never done it before you're not going to be good at it right like you can growing up you can want to drive cars all you want you can play Forza Motorsport whatever but like it's not until you're behind the wheel that you've got a lot of learning to do and you realize it's vastly different than like the fantasy in your your head right and I still struggled with with school a bit because my my methods weren't keeping track with um with the course load requirements so I could kind of get away early on with rereading the chapter over and over and copying notes or copying the slides right because if you're going out one science class that works easy when you've got five there's not enough time for that and this is probably about my sophomore year um I my GPA plummeted um I had done well my freshman year but my sophomore year I think I had like a 2.9 is what I have for the year or the semester or something and that was worse than I was doing in high school and I was like again confronted with that thought of you should never have come all this way because now you've just wasted your time this year that you spent like dreaming of this idea of pursuing medicine you could have just done something that was safer or more productive or whatever right and it really hit me I was like I again there's the limit of ability is that it like is there did I do like what I was fully capable of and I really thought about quitting again and that summer I thought about and I thought about it but again unlike any time before I had that pushback of maybe this is the fluke like I had all this data I thought about who I was as a person and as a student and it wasn't good data it was like you know you're lazy you're stupid you're incapable and so logically right if you're pursuing like science you you pay attention to data and Trends and you want to look back on that and say this has some predictive utility right like I why wouldn't I listen to that but you've got to like like turn that off and live in denial of that you have to do something different but you can't listen to that and I I reached the conclusion maybe like a week or two before classes started that like okay I'm gonna try again I'm I'm taking way harder classes this time but again I'm gonna make sure that this past year was the fluke like that's not the data I want to be generating that's when I go back to people like you and I remember you put me on like Anki and like active recall all that and like no I yeah I um I talked to like other you know upperclassmen or Med students and I just got their take on what I need to be doing differently and it really was just a big time thing right like uh I was really scared to start like abandoning my old study habits because even though they weren't good they provided security like I knew what I could get with them I didn't know what these new methods were going to give me right turns out Anki is really good it is it is a gateway drug and then some it is so good and um so I I started doing things differently and I after that it was like 40 403937 like the the rest of college like wasn't without its mishaps but it was like Stellar compared to that previous year and it was again the point being that if I hadn't stuck with it I never would have like known that I could have done that you know even though it felt like I was looking into like the deep end and like there was no future there living in denial of that anyway and operating as logically as you can and trying to ignore what your emotions are telling you and just this is what I want to do to get to achieve my dream or whatever like was really powerful and so that was that was College um and then you know that you can increase your like confidence but you you keep being met with experiences that test your newfound confidence so it's almost like you never achieved any new confidence at all right like objectively it's like oh yeah like you know I'm way more confident now that I'm you know the MCAT is my biggest problem that would have never been a big problem for previous me right but it still doesn't feel like you're capable of achieving it because it's again it's commensurate with your your your confidence or your ability um and then so the MCAT came around and um I I struggle with that too um I I was okay at the science sections but I I have a bone to pick with cars man the cars I just I could never figure out what they were looking for all the test prep was like different the AMC material was good and then you get the test day and it's different and uh I just I don't know I I don't I hate analyzing literature objectively like I just want to read a book and play a movie in my head right I don't want to like analyze it you know um so I really I did struggle with that and I took the MCAT twice which is the reason I I was on a gap year technically too because I graduated college and I hadn't taken my MCAT because I was like I didn't feel ready I took it that summer and uh I did okay I think I had a I had a 507 with a 122 in cars like it was just I remember the test day I spent like 15 minutes on the first passage I just it I couldn't start like the engine I took the MCAT again I had some stuff going on at the time I think this was a couple months later so I took it in August and then the second mcal was in January I had a lot of stuff going on uh life-wise um so I will say that I think that played a role but again I I scored similarly but I scored worse I think I scored two points lower um and cars cars wasn't it was very similar I remember you telling me this yeah and so that was crazy because like a lot of things were going on there right like the MCAT is like you know if you did well everywhere else but like you didn't do well in the MCAT you're in trouble right like that's just what you've been told your whole like academic or your whole pre-med life is that like the MCAT is like the big you got to get a 5 28 or whatever right the gatekeeper yeah and so I I was like crushed by it and to muster up the confidence and Forge you to take it again and do worse I was like limit of ability I I've I'm out of my depth here like and then you go back you're like well maybe maybe my classes were just easier and maybe the MCAT is like really what it is and maybe that's the real gauge of my ability and I thought about not applying but again I there's just this urge that I had where I wanted to do it like I want to be a doctor like I can't see myself doing anything else I gotta do it and so I use that Gap year to start work as a caregiver which was tremendously valuable like not just in terms of bolstering my application but just learning about being a human like being a caregiver was amazing um but I I did that and then um I I applied and I'm sure anyone that's non-traditional like in the audience could like testify that being outside of school but having this big task of pursuing like higher education is it is so awful because at least in school you have structure right like you do have to put in the work to do classes but you've got classes there's a schedule you got to be here every day um you have stimulus from the environment that is directly guiding your performance and telling you about your performance like you might not like it but the grade you got on your ochem tests will influence how you study or how you perform or how you move right there's none of that when you're non-traditional and you're working a job and you're not in school you have to do all that on your own and there's so much more time that you have which is nice because you're not in class every day you get to do things you quote unquote want but it's almost paralyzing having that much time because you've got to what if I'm not using it well what if I'm I'm you know being productive but this clinical experience doesn't matter this volunteering thing isn't going to be looked favorably on or you know what if this writing I'm doing for my application is just you know you just go into like this rampency and it gets really really hard um but I I had some like conversations with people and myself and was like we just got to stay the course and so I I submitted my application I I waited a long time to submit my application I think they opened in May or June and I submitted in like August I think um and this is a little I know I'm rambling a little bit but it's getting to a point I submitted my application um or no I'm sorry I wrote my application for one of the schools that I really wanted to attend and I remember I was looking over it and I was like okay it looks good I want to to see what it looks like in the final like like a you know when you submit an application it's not just a text box it's like an actual PDF right and before you submit you get a preview of that so I wanted to to see that this was my secondaries um I clicked next on the page to see what my secondaries are going to look like and on the next screen I was met with a confirmation that my application was submitted so I was like oh my God I just submitted my application on accident like this is terrible and again like I'm like of course this would be me like talk about the limit of ability like I can't even like I can't catch a break right so I submit it and I'm like I looked it over and thankfully it was it was decent like like there were any grammatical issues all the stories were pretty good but I still I felt uneasy about it I kind of reached the conclusion that like maybe I'm worrying too much and maybe My worry is getting in the way maybe if I just like think about myself as an objective candidate out in space like maybe this is not that bad maybe I just need to get the ball rolling on these so I you know I start you know my my secondaries for other schools and then a week later I get an email from the school that I accidentally submitted to and that I look at them like okay and it says congratulations we want to interview you and I I freaked out man I it was crazy I got so hyped I was jumping all around the house I was like I can't believe that dude like I fought like tooth and nail to just get that email right and like yeah it was worth it right to have that and you know the interview is is a whole experience and then you know again it's it's this whole waiting period for a year but then I got wait listed and I was like this is really difficult like I I was on like the doorstep right and like right when I was about to like cross the threshold they told me to go wait in the driveway you know like that's what it felt like I was like again I could have just I could have done anything else besides this like why am I putting myself to this torment um but then I was like okay you know what let's just a waitlist is great that's that's better than that is infinitely better than like a rejection so let's just let that do its thing we can't influence it let's just work towards the next application cycle turns out they wanted me I got my acceptance and like the euphoria was like Off the Chain man like it was I I thought back to every experience where I thought about quitting I was encouraged by every time that I pushed back and I was like Overjoyed by the fact that I don't know I just did all that like like I I didn't quit and before I would have quit I wouldn't have even started and so to have that experience I don't know it's just like amazing like I'm never gonna like forget that yeah I know there's a lot waiting for me in medical school that like I can't like even begin to like comprehend but the journey thus far was like it was insane you know so yeah I don't really that's that's yeah that I guess and those are all such important lessons that are setting you up very very well for the challenges of medical school I mean like it it's funny just looking back now and I challenge everybody watching and listening to also kind of take this moment to reflect on you know like sometimes you don't realize how far you've come until you look at like where you started and I mean like even like back like high school-wise and I I'm really sorry you had those ex those experiences and you know you can probably give a little bit of insight to what I was like in high school we were all in kind of to enter the Spectrum but you know kind of united in you know some school spirit stuff like I was a student section leader you're a drumline and like obviously you're incredibly talented in that in that sector um and then us going to the same undergrad um something I also want to point out too uh is I when I accepted my like contract for the program I saw staying at Augusta University as like shackles yeah on me like weighing me down it's like I don't want to go here and um and I think for you you had a different perspective on it that was probably a lot more positive and uplifting of this is like a new beginning for you and then not just that but you know I we all like the dog on like our hometown small college right yeah yeah there's nothing nothing much going on here like we have the entirety student population of like half a UGA Freshman Class yeah yeah um but like when you when you interviewed who who is in the room with you like the interview room oh dude yeah oh man so yeah so we had our interview it was on like Zoom or whatever and um the way it started was okay like hey like this is the faculty we want to get to know you what's your name your major and the uh the university you're attending or went to and I'm not even joking like the first third of the people who interviewed it was like hi I'm so and so neuroscience at UC Berkeley hi I'm so-and-so it's brown Columbia Johns Hopkins um Case Western like just all these crazy good schools I was like the joke I like tell you is like you talk about Columbia University bro I mean Columbia County like I don't know about no Columbia University bro what are you talking about um yeah it was crazy to like be in like the room with all those people it was like it was awesome too you know and you just will do it Augusta University yeah from Augusta home of the Masters oh but like that that just comes to show that you know one if you do end up going to a smaller University you earned and deserve to be in the same room as all those people you earned your your spot and your interview just as much as everybody else yeah no matter of the context the degree and you know whatever Prestige of their of their school holds um and I think that's that's a huge point that like I always like to drill into people that like you don't have to go to some like ridiculously prestigious college to get into medical school but like I can talk all day long exhibit a H yeah no and like I'm glad I experienced that so I can tell people about it too like I don't know I I understand like the sentiments like I didn't go to this great amazing school like I didn't maybe I don't have the resources or the you know the tutoring when I'm like you know in elementary school whatever like you there's a table with seats at it you can pull up your own seat you know you really can like it in the least like egotistical way possible when all those people were introducing their fancy like colleges and degrees and stuff like I felt that I was like I do feel like I have to see the table right like I you're not locked behind poor decisions you made when you were younger or you know it a lack of experiences you didn't have like you know being so entrenched in Academia when you're you know younger like you can impose your will and like it becomes reality like really like you know it's not easy right like it's obviously very difficult it's like you know you're in The Crucible you gotta like you got to burn off all the impurities and the dross but like and that's painful but like when you come out like you know you make your seat at that table for real I really believe that yeah and and it's it's one of those things where I I could definitely see it I mean I remember you telling me you wanted to go to med school I think near the end of your I guess our our freshman freshman year sophomore year and I was like I I thought you started like engineering at first right or something like that no I um I was a psych major yeah yeah yeah I'm sorry um and to hear that come around um at least for me I didn't have any doubt I was like dude absolutely go for it um just again I I truly believe that it is to be a doctor just not take you know being a genius it does not take being whatever state or private school defined gifted um to become a future physician it is all about how bad you want it and how much work you're willing to put in you know and if you I'm telling you if you put in enough work anyone can become a doctor the important part is that human aspect that you talked about that separates the doctor from like the true physician the Healer um and that just takes time and an experience and you know like some people arrive to it earlier some people need need that time um yeah but like the all those lessons of pushing through and especially for anybody listening and maybe maybe going like man this sounds a lot like me right now um no there there is a means to an end here yeah 100 percent um but yeah like seriously I'm I'm so proud dude like it's been such a long journey yeah dude I appreciate it man yeah no like anyone listening like you also do your best to find somebody like Andy like who like people like you don't have to like owe anyone anything right or like the the idea of like coaching me through how to be a better student how to pursue medical school like may or may not have seemed relatively futile but like the the treatment I got from like talking to you or like your friends was like I wasn't any different and I really think that that like expedited the process because I I do think you can drum up that motivation without like people's encouragement and expectations or whatever it's very difficult I think you can do it but having that like when I did talk to you was like very helpful because there were people like I said you know there's an ego with Academia and like some people you know I'd talk to and like it was like I was bothering them or whatever I was like I'll find somebody else right like you know I'll talk to someone that will give me that time of day and like uh you you helped me a lot to that man for real audience is lucky to have you that dude I'm I'm telling you I I played such minimal I don't pull part in this like I'm just happy to be a bystander and be a little bit of encouragement because I can talk my head off all day long um but you know the person on the receiving end has to take those steps and you did absolutely everything everything you needed to um and like I mean you're you're gonna be such a great physician I know it um and like seriously there's so many people out there that I hope can relate to this story and you know if this is your nudge to take that leap and push through that mental barrier um I I hope you're listening and I hope um you really take that to heart because you know things things work out they do yeah um so kind of like close closing thoughts do you have any advice for particularly students I don't know this is probably going to go out in the summer it's MCAT season people are probably taking their first second attempt at it if if they already took it they're prepping for the application cycle like what what are yeah obviously I had a I had a weird process of getting into medical school like from your perspective with some insight and some tips um to kind of make that seasonal life go a little bit smoother yeah I mean yeah MCAT application all of it is so difficult um and I think everybody's like in a you know in a different spot right like sometimes MCAT you might need to hunker down more than you will elsewhere I would say they're like uniformly like if you're struggling with like is this worth it I can tell you that it isn't you know obviously you'll have to experience it yourself but like when I got accepted like I had this personal gratification that like I did it but everyone around me too my family my my you know my parents my grandparents my best friends like everybody was there to say you did it too and was there to encourage me and to like help me look forward to being the doctor that I want to be and all of that like it was just such an intense feeling that like after having experienced that I have not ever looked back on my time taking the MCAT my time failing classes my time you know struggling to volunteer whatever and been like that was not worth it the most painful of all that was worth it and you know if you do treat yourself like someone you're caring for right like if you aren't spending time with family you aren't taking care of your health you're losing friends don't let that fall to the Wayside like medicine will always be there for you you can always go to medical school but you don't get your time back to enjoy life and so I would say that making sure you enjoy that can be really beneficial like even if you're technically losing time that you could put towards studies you're getting in touch with this richness of life that is like way more valuable than that so yeah I uh I would highly recommend it to do that and you know yeah keep on and I would mirror that advice for the entirety of your career yeah those are hard lessons if you don't learn them yeah in MCAT season you'll reard's ugly head and step season and then oral board season yeah um so so celebrate each part of the journey um and yeah best of luck to everybody applying applying this year you got this believe in yourself and believe that you can pull hold up that uh chair to the table you can do it oh thank you so much uh future Dr doik oh dude thank you Dr Win soonish man best of luck dude [Music]

Channel: ND M.D.

Views: 25,751

Keywords: beyond the scope podcast, beyond the scope podcast nd md, beyond the scope with nd md, nd md, the real nd md, nd md med school vlogs, beyond the scope presented by nd md, mcg, mcg students, mcg residency, medical college of georgia students, medical college of georgia residency, medical college of georgia, nd md medical school, nd md 73 questions, nd md podcast

Id: AKaVV9xr4cw

Length: 46min 41sec (2801 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 25 2023