WEBVTT

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Before there were
hospitals, before there were

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prescriptions, before medicine was a

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science, it was a calling,
a promise to heal,

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to question, to understand the human

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body and protect it. Every discovery began

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with curiosity. Every breakthrough began

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with someone asking, why? From the cells
beneath the microscope, to the ethics

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behind life-saving decisions, from ancient

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remedies, to AI shaping the future of

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care. This is where science meets
compassion. This is where future healers

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begin. This is Aesculapian.
In our very first

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episode, we have an aspiring medical

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professional from my own neighborhood.
Welcome, Rohan. Thank you for being the

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very first guest on our
show. Yeah, thanks for

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having me. Yeah. So our first question

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is, what inspired you to become a doctor?
I think that's obviously a very good

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question. It goes back to kind of my
family. So my grandfather, he was a

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doctor, and he was an ophthalmologist
in India. So that was kind of my first

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exposure. So every time I would go back
to India, I would kind of shadow him.

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Obviously, I didn't
really know what was going

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on. But, you know, just the general

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setting of people coming
to him, trusting him,

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you know, they're complete strangers

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to him. But even though they were
strangers, they completely trusted him,

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and he was able to help them. And kind of

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that physician-patient relationship is

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what really spoke to me
first. And after that,

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you know, I was like still in middle

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school. It was whatever. But I didn't
really know what I wanted to do yet. I

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used to want to think I wanted to do
software engineering. But honestly, the

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minute I like touched Python, like I knew

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it wasn't for me. I didn't really like

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coding. And then I gave more of like the

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health aspect a try. So my mom isn't a

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doctor, but she's a dietitian. And I kind

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of got exposed to the healthcare field

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there as well. And my mom would take me in

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to her hospital. And I was able to watch

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her have that similar relationship
with her patients. And then some of her

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colleagues, some of the
doctors that she worked

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with, I also shadowed them. And I

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kind of really knew there that's really
what I wanted to do. So I went to Penn

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State for undergrad. And
then I knew I was going

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to be a doctor. So then now I'm here

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at Jefferson at Sidney Kimmel Medical
College. And I'm a first-year medical

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student right now. So that's really kind
of my journey. It's a culmination of

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experiences. My grandfather with my mom.
And also like in high school, I like

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science classes. I don't really like
any other types of classes. And then I

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volunteered at a hospital too. And just
kind of all of those experiences. It

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wasn't really like a
one-moment type of thing

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where I discovered, oh, hey, this is

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what I want to do. But
it was more so like a

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bunch of experience that led me to being

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here today.

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So that's a very good
response. My next thing

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is, did you ever seriously want to

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be anything other than a doctor? Like
seriously have a passion for it? I mean,

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not really. Like I told you, I thought
I want to be a software engineer. But

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honestly, like we all have those thoughts
when we're younger. You're just like

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you're not exposed to a lot of things,
even in middle school and even in like

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high school too. So it's
just more about figuring

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out what type of person you are,

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what you like, what you
don't like. And that

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can really help you narrow it down.

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But just like I said, figuring out who you

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are and also exploring different fields,

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like not being too close-minded to
anything is really important. But I

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wouldn't say there's anything else I
wanted to be. It was more so like from

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high school, I kind of had a feeling
I would be a doctor. But yeah.

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So what type of doctor do you want to
be? Honestly, I'm not too sure yet just

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because it's my first year. Going into
medical school, I knew I liked hands-on

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procedures. So I wanted something in
surgery right now. But I'm still like

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learning a lot, especially
in medical school,

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right? You get exposed to so many

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different organ systems
and like things that

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you wouldn't know otherwise unless

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you went through the curriculum and
actually learned about it. So I'm kind of

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thinking about it from that aspect as
well. But it's honestly way too early to

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decide. I have to decide usually in
my third year. But for right now, I'm

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thinking some type of
surgery. I really like

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my cardiology block. So maybe like

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cardiothoracic surgery. I'm also thinking

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about general surgery. But there's a lot

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of options and there's still
no rush. But definitely

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want to do something procedural

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based, something hands-on.
And I mean, I really

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like specialties that incorporate.

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A lot of different fields of medicine. So

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like cardiology, if you think about it,

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you can make lifestyle changes. There's a

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lot of tests you can do like EKG, stuff

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like that. So it's all
encompassing. So something

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along those lines. But I'm not

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too sure yet. Okay. So
how important do you

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think parental guidance is in becoming

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a doctor? I mean, it
can definitely help. So

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like I told you, my grandfather and my

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mom, not so much guidance.
To kind of help me

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get exposed to those fields. And then I

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kind of realized, oh, like this is
something that I want to do. Right. And so

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guidance obviously helps. Like my parents

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like never really forced me or anything.

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Because obviously you
don't want to do medicine.

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It's a very, very long path. And

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like if you hate it,
then like it's going to

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be miserable. So you can't really rely

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on other people. You
just have to, you know,

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like be receptive to opportunities

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and experiences and decide
for yourself whether

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you think it's worth it, whether

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you like it or not. But
definitely your parents

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can guide you. Like I said, my mom

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was in the healthcare field. So she
played a big part in kind of being my

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inspiration. Same with
my grandfather. So they

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always encouraged it. But they never

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pushed me in any sort
of way. Okay. So moving

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on to like the day-to-day life of

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like a student slash professional. So
like is there like any type of common

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assignment you take on
in med school? Common

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assignment like meaning? So like is

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there any like sort of
topic you guys constantly

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relate back to or have to learn

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on, do like a medical
project on? I mean, so

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I mean just to provide a background. So

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med school is like
after college, right? So

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you go through four years of undergrad

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and you do four years
of med school. And then

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after that, you do residency and the

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type of specialty that
you want to do. So in

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medical school, it's four years. So the

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first two years are kind of your pre
-clinical years. And then your second two

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years, your third year
and your fourth year

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are your clinical years. So the pre

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-clinical years are
more, it's kind of like

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college, right? It's kind of like, I

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wouldn't say like high school, but
you're more so in a classroom. And you're

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learning about all the organ systems.
You're learning about the drugs that you

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use to treat the diseases. So like right
now I'm in my pulmonology block. So

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pulmonology meaning the
lungs. So we're learning

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about the lungs right now. We're

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going to give an exam on that soon. But so

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the first two years are just, you're

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learning everything about the organ
systems. So we did cardiovascular, we did

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hematology, oncology, which is blood
cancer. We still have to do like liver

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stuff, renal, which is
kidneys. So you're just

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learning about all the organ systems.

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And the next two years are your clinical
years. So you go on rotations with

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different services. So internal medicine,

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general surgery, that's more when you're

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actually in the hospital.
We still have some

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experiences in the hospital. I shadow

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a lot. We have a lot. We have to, we have

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something called clinical experience. We

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talk to patients. So we
still have some exposure,

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but it's more so like a, it's

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more so just like an extension of college.

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Just a lot more material, a lot harder.

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You can't really compare
it. But yeah. So if

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that kind of answers your question, I'm

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not sure. Yeah, it answers
it. So my next question

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is, what's like a typical day for

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you right now? Like how
much do you spend studying,

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sleeping, eating? A typical day?

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I mean, right now I'm in like exam season.

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So my exam is next Friday. So we have

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three exams next week. So it's been
kind of busy and starting to get in that

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routine. So probably going to be studying

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like a good eight to 10 hours a day. Try

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to for the next, for the next week or so.

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But before that, so our exams are every

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like seven weeks. So
before, beside that, like

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it's honestly like not too bad. Study

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five hours a day. You have enough time to

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go to the gym, do activities. We usually

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have class from eight to 12. And then on

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some days we have case-based learning,

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which is you meet with a group of 10
people and you discuss cases. You have a

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facilitator who's a
doctor in the room. You

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discuss cases, kind of present on the

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case. And then, yeah, so it's not too bad,

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honestly. Like I get enough sleep. I have

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enough time to be, I
mean, our med school is

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very social. Go out and do activities.

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So there's still a lot
of free time. I heard

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like the free time break goes away

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in M3 and M4 years,
which is your third and

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fourth year of med school. But I mean,

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obviously this week will be rough studying

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eight to 10 hours a day. But beside that,

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we have enough time to do whatever you
want, basically. So you mentioned a lot

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about the exams. So how hard are they?
Like how many questions, difficulty? I

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mean, it varies on like
med school to med school.

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Like not every med school is going

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to have the same exams. Our exams are
like, we usually have one like clinical

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exam. So we have to like talk to a
patient, do a clinical, like do the exam.

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And then we have one
exam where it's anatomy

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practical. So obviously there will

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be a cadaver and they'll have like
markings on the cadaver. You have to say

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like what muscle this
is or what innervates

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it, what's the blood supply. And then we

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have another three hour
exam. It's like multiple

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choices. Like sometimes like 120

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questions. It depends, obviously.
But those are kind of the exams.

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Are you doing well emotionally like most

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days? Yeah, I definitely like, I mean,

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it's pretty easy to get burnt out. But if

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you obviously have to make time to hang

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out with friends. I go to the gym. I like

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to play basketball and pickleball a lot.

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So there's obviously a
lot of outlets and ways

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to keep yourself still happy. And at

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the end of the day, like
I like what I'm studying.

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I'm happy to be in the position

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that I'm in. Obviously, it's a pretty big

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time commitment. But I think, I mean, I

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wouldn't rather have anything
else. So how important

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are friends do you think in this

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journey? I mean, of course,
they're very important,

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right? Like even having friends

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outside of medicine is important. So
sometimes you can kind of not clock out,

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but I'm not having to think about that.
But also friends at medical school are

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huge because everyone's going through the

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same struggles, the same thing. It's not

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like you're alone in this,
right? So it's important

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to have a lot of friends to take

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the stress off. I mean,
it's like, it's not

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even like in terms of being pertinent

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to medicine. Just like having friends
is important for a good social life, for

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mental health. Like, yeah.

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So moving on from the day-to-day life of

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a student to the skills do you think a

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student would need to have? So what
characteristics do you think are essential

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for being a doctor? I mean, obviously, I'm

00:12:11.328 --> 12:14.440
not a doctor yet, so I can't comment too

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much on it. But in terms of being
successful in medical school, at least

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through the first year, I
would say time management

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is really important. You really

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need to be able to kind of
divvy up your priorities,

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not spend too much time on one

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thing. And that's very
important because you

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have a lot of studying you can do. And

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if you can't keep up with, like, the
little things and you can't fall behind

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too much, so just,
like, keeping up with it

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every day, being consistent is the main

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thing, not falling behind. But also, like,

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you have to remember, right, there's

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always something else
you can do. Like, even

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if you study 10 to 12 hours a day,

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there's always something else you can
do, right? But you can't really let that

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affect you, right? You
have to say, oh, I'm

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going to put the books down. I'm going

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to spend some time with
some friends. I'm going

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to enjoy some time. I'm going to go

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out to eat. Like, stuff like that. It's
really important to make time for that

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because, I mean, if you're burnt out, you

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can't really study anymore. It won't be

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effective. So, I mean, time management,
being consistent, being a team player.

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Obviously, medicine is very collaborative.

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Like, it takes a team, not just doctors

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but nurses, PAs. Like,
there's a bunch of people,

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a part of a team. So, if you can't

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work with a team, then, I mean, forget
being a good doctor. There's a lot of

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things that come into play. But in terms

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of being successful in medical school,

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definitely time management,
consistency, and,

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yeah, being a team player. Mm-hmm.
So, what skill would you think is more

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important, communication or being
academic? I mean, it's not really that,

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like, one thing is more
important than the other.

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It's important to have both, right?

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Like, you obviously have to, like, you're

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not going to get into medical school if

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you're not pretty
academically sound, right?

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And, because you have to be able to

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survive. Not just survive, but just, like,

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be able to keep up with the coursework

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because it's a lot. So, academics is
important. If you don't have that, then

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you're not going to get into medical
school. You're not going to do well in

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medical school. But,
obviously, did you say

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collaboration or communication, right?

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Yeah. Communication,
obviously, is very important,

00:14:30.152 --> 14:32.180
too. I can't speak too much on

14:32.180 --> 14:36.960
that just because, like, I haven't been
too much in a clinical setting, which

14:36.960 --> 14:40.260
means, like, in the hospital. But
in communication with your peers,

14:40.600 --> 14:44.840
communication with your mentors, being
punctual in your responses, that's

14:44.840 --> 00:14:47.472
important, too. That's
important in any profession.

00:14:47.472 --> 14:49.020
So, I wouldn't say, like, one

14:49.020 --> 00:14:52.300
is more important than the other. They're

00:14:52.300 --> 14:55.420
not mutually exclusive. You definitely

14:55.420 --> 00:14:59.849
need to have both. Hmm.
Okay. So, in this academic

00:14:59.849 --> 15:02.860
field, what advice would you give

15:02.860 --> 15:07.320
to someone who has the passion but
struggles academically? Like, for context,

15:07.520 --> 15:13.560
they would probably be, like, a high
schooler? I mean, in high school, you

15:13.560 --> 15:21.200
still have time, right? You have to go
through undergrad. But I would say, I

15:21.200 --> 00:15:23.188
mean, it depends on, like,
how they're struggling.

00:15:23.188 --> 15:24.380
Like, are they not putting in

15:24.380 --> 00:15:26.748
time? Like, are they not understanding the

00:15:26.748 --> 15:29.060
concepts? Like, I would need, like, more

15:29.060 --> 00:15:31.879
context on that. But I
would just say, if you

00:15:31.879 --> 15:34.260
have the passion, right? I mean, it's

15:34.260 --> 00:15:37.212
hard to identify your
passions in, like, high

00:15:37.212 --> 15:39.640
school, right? Like, it's hard to be

15:39.640 --> 00:15:44.896
exposed to the life of a
doctor, what they actually

00:15:44.896 --> 15:48.400
do, what you need to know. But, I

15:48.400 --> 15:53.300
mean, if you're struggling academically,
obviously, reach out. Like, don't be

15:53.300 --> 15:56.480
afraid to seek help. Like, sometimes
we kind of let our egos get in the way,

15:56.540 --> 00:15:59.245
right? Like, I don't
want help. I don't want

00:15:59.245 --> 16:01.520
this or that. But, I mean, it's okay

16:01.520 --> 00:16:03.490
to reach out for help once in a while. So,

00:16:03.490 --> 16:05.460
definitely reach out for help. Work hard.

16:05.460 --> 00:16:09.604
Like I said, like, being
able to develop kind

00:16:09.604 --> 16:12.920
of a routine and being able to time

16:12.920 --> 00:16:16.047
manage is very important. So, I'm going to

00:16:16.047 --> 16:19.100
say reach out for help. There's a lot of

16:19.100 --> 00:16:25.086
resources online, tutors. But, yeah. Okay.

00:16:25.086 --> 16:30.360
So, moving on from the qualities and

16:30.360 --> 00:16:33.706
skills to the path to
becoming a doctor. So,

00:16:33.706 --> 16:36.520
what's, like, the full timeline from

16:36.520 --> 00:16:39.938
being in high school
to getting your degree

00:16:39.938 --> 16:42.800
to becoming an actual doctor? Yeah.

16:42.840 --> 16:47.020
So, that's a good question. So, I kind
of already explained this. So, complete

16:47.020 --> 16:49.480
high school, then four
years of college, right?

16:53.480 --> 00:16:55.190
Bio major, any type of
science major. I think

00:16:55.190 --> 16:56.520
you can be any major, but you have

16:56.520 --> 17:02.340
to take the pre-med required classes.
Don't quote me if I'm wrong, but it's

17:02.340 --> 00:17:05.351
usually, like, biochemistry,
like, orgo chem,

00:17:05.351 --> 17:07.760
physics. There's a bunch of classes

17:07.760 --> 00:17:10.728
that you have to take
as a pre-med. And you

00:17:10.728 --> 17:13.420
take those classes. You take the MCAT.

17:13.960 --> 17:18.300
And then, after you take the MCAT,
hopefully, you'll get accepted to medical

17:18.300 --> 00:17:20.540
school. And during college, obviously, you

00:17:20.540 --> 17:22.620
have to do, like, research activities,

17:22.840 --> 17:25.920
stuff like that. Stuff that you're
passionate about in order to get into

17:25.920 --> 00:17:28.575
medical school. And
then, that's four years

00:17:28.575 --> 17:30.860
of undergrad. And then, after those,

17:31.300 --> 00:17:34.014
after that, you have
to do four years of med

00:17:34.014 --> 17:36.420
school. So, in med school, you have to

17:36.420 --> 17:40.420
take, I mean, you have to do well in
class. But you also have to take your

17:40.420 --> 17:48.100
licensing exams. So, your USMLE, like,
step one, step two exams. And those are

17:48.100 --> 00:17:51.890
three exams, or two exams. So, your step

00:17:51.890 --> 17:55.680
one, your step two. And you take those,

17:55.960 --> 17:59.820
and then that's four years. And then,
after your medical school, it's another

17:59.820 --> 18:05.240
three to seven years based on your
specialty. So, like, three years, I mean,

18:05.300 --> 18:09.400
you can do, like, internal medicine,
family medicine. There's a bunch of

18:09.400 --> 18:13.120
specialties. Three years, and then seven
years, like, neurosurgery. So, it all

18:13.120 --> 00:18:15.550
depends on, like, what
you're passionate about,

00:18:15.550 --> 18:17.360
how long you want to spend time in

18:17.360 --> 00:18:20.779
school. I mean, obviously,
it's a very long

00:18:20.779 --> 18:23.720
path, right? Anywhere from eight all

18:23.720 --> 00:18:27.197
the way up to 15, 15,
16 years. So, and then

00:18:27.197 --> 18:30.120
after residency, you're an attending

18:30.120 --> 18:30.640
doctor.

18:34.480 --> 18:38.720
So, long term, do you think it matters
which medical school you went to, like,

18:38.760 --> 00:18:42.010
Harvard, Johns Hopkins, anything? I mean,

00:18:42.010 --> 18:45.180
I personally don't think it matters too

18:45.180 --> 00:18:48.519
much. I mean, obviously, you want to go to

00:18:48.519 --> 18:51.620
the best school you can, and also take

18:51.620 --> 18:55.300
into account finances, which are very
important because med school is pretty

18:55.300 --> 00:18:57.720
expensive. So, you got to take everything

00:18:57.720 --> 19:00.080
into account. But, I mean, I would just

19:00.080 --> 19:03.360
say go to the best school. Let's
see what's the best fit. And also,

19:03.780 --> 00:19:07.414
financially, that makes the most sense. I

00:19:07.414 --> 19:10.960
think that's what matters. So, you took

19:10.960 --> 00:19:14.230
the MCAT, right? Yeah.
So, like, what's its

00:19:14.230 --> 19:17.120
entire, like, a quick overview of its

19:17.120 --> 00:19:20.014
scoring system and, like, the score ranges

00:19:20.014 --> 19:22.840
you need to get to get accepted? I mean,

19:23.120 --> 19:29.860
it varies. Like, the scores are, like,
from, like, a 470-something to, like, a

19:29.860 --> 19:37.860
528. And there's four sections. There's
chem, phys, cars, which is, like, a

19:37.860 --> 00:19:41.013
reading section. There's
a bio section. And

00:19:41.013 --> 19:43.800
then there's a psych, social section.

19:44.580 --> 00:19:47.737
So, it's, like, an
eight-hour exam with the

00:19:47.737 --> 19:50.380
time breaks. So, it's a pretty long

19:50.380 --> 19:54.800
exam. Just to build up stamina, right,
like, takes a long time. Because, like,

19:55.540 --> 00:19:57.425
sitting in one place
for, like, close to eight

00:19:57.425 --> 19:58.860
hours, right, that's, like, pretty

19:58.860 --> 20:05.040
bad. And having to be focused. But, I
mean, how well do you have to score? It

20:05.040 --> 00:20:07.981
obviously depends on
the type of med school.

00:20:07.981 --> 20:10.320
I'm not, like, too – I don't think

20:10.320 --> 20:15.280
you have to worry about
that right now. But I

20:15.280 --> 00:20:17.274
couldn't tell you, like, what you have to

00:20:17.274 --> 20:19.220
score. Like, it depends on, like, which

20:19.220 --> 20:25.640
med school. I mean, the average for
getting accepted to a USMD school, I

20:25.640 --> 20:31.980
think, is a 512. So, I mean, beside
that, kind of, obviously, for your better

20:31.980 --> 00:20:35.171
schools, like your T20s
and your Ivies, you're

00:20:35.171 --> 20:37.460
going to need higher scores. So,

20:37.580 --> 20:46.420
yeah. Okay. So, during your undergrad,
like, you just need to major in any

20:46.420 --> 00:20:48.282
science topic, right, and meet the pre-med

00:20:48.282 --> 20:50.100
requirements? You can major in anything,

20:50.160 --> 20:53.840
actually. You just need to meet
the pre -med requirements. Oh.

20:57.460 --> 00:20:59.850
But show me the pre-med requirements and

00:20:59.850 --> 21:02.180
then get – I think there's a law major

21:02.180 --> 21:05.560
just because, like, law is, like, a
graduate program. But there's, like,

21:06.300 --> 00:21:10.410
political science. But,
yeah. Okay. So, what

00:21:10.410 --> 21:13.960
kind of extracurriculars or volunteer

21:13.960 --> 21:15.800
work help strengthen your application?

21:19.200 --> 00:21:22.758
I mean, like, volunteering,
research. Those

00:21:22.758 --> 21:25.820
are, like, the two main things, like

21:25.820 --> 21:31.880
being a part of clubs that you're
passionate about. Those three are mainly

21:31.880 --> 21:38.780
the big things that I think helped.
Obviously, I'm telling a good story as to

21:38.780 --> 21:44.000
why you want to be a doctor is very
important. And, yeah, so mainly, like,

21:44.380 --> 00:21:47.082
research, shadowing, volunteering, being a

00:21:47.082 --> 21:49.720
part of clubs has probably helped a lot.

21:50.760 --> 00:21:54.030
Okay. Is there anything you wish you had

00:21:54.030 --> 21:57.300
done differently in your pre-med years?

22:04.400 --> 00:22:09.390
Not really. I mean, I wish – honestly, my

00:22:09.390 --> 22:14.380
freshman year I was a little behind. But

22:14.380 --> 00:22:17.244
other than that, no, not really. I think I

00:22:17.244 --> 22:20.040
had a good time with friends. I was able

22:20.040 --> 00:22:23.542
to do, like, fine. So,
I think overall it was

00:22:23.542 --> 22:26.500
a pretty great experience. I wouldn't

22:26.500 --> 22:34.540
say, like, I would have done anything
differently academically. Okay. And my

22:34.540 --> 00:22:37.182
final question for this topic is, how did

00:22:37.182 --> 22:39.760
you, like, manage to balance stress and

22:39.760 --> 00:22:43.016
maintain a social life
so far? I mean, that's

00:22:43.016 --> 22:45.620
a great question. I think it varies

22:45.620 --> 00:22:48.552
person to person, right? And it all comes

00:22:48.552 --> 22:51.340
back down to that, like, time planning

22:51.340 --> 00:22:54.447
thing, right? You can make time for things

00:22:54.447 --> 22:57.480
that you really value. And so, like, for

22:57.480 --> 23:02.600
me, right, I'm a very – like, I'm a
morning person. So, I'll wake up kind of

23:02.600 --> 00:23:04.679
early. I'll get my work
done out of the way.

00:23:04.679 --> 23:06.380
I'll do – I'll start with something

23:06.380 --> 00:23:08.787
hard and then I'll finish
that off first. And

00:23:08.787 --> 23:10.820
then I'll study. And then after that,

23:10.840 --> 23:14.560
I'll have enough time. So, I mean,
obviously, during exam season, right,

23:14.620 --> 00:23:17.247
like, we're going to be
studying all the time.

00:23:17.247 --> 23:19.360
Like, my social life is going to be,

23:19.440 --> 00:23:22.447
like, less priority for the next week. But

00:23:22.447 --> 23:25.240
that's only for a week, right? And so,

23:25.240 --> 00:23:26.846
sometimes you have to
make sacrifices. Like,

00:23:26.846 --> 23:28.160
in medicine, you have to make a lot

23:28.160 --> 00:23:31.268
of sacrifices to become
a doctor, right? Like,

00:23:31.268 --> 23:33.700
that's just a part of the job and a

23:33.700 --> 23:37.940
part of our training. And I can't quite
speak to that yet because I'm just in

23:37.940 --> 23:43.060
medical school and I'm not, like, a
doctor. But, I mean, so far, at least, we

23:43.060 --> 00:23:45.004
have to make sacrifices. And so, as long

00:23:45.004 --> 23:46.900
as you understand that. But it doesn't

23:46.900 --> 00:23:49.975
mean you can't live
your life, right? I have

00:23:49.975 --> 23:52.560
enough time to do whatever I want as

23:52.560 --> 00:23:54.723
long as you make time
for it. And there's 24

00:23:54.723 --> 23:56.640
hours in a day. So, it's more than you

23:56.640 --> 00:24:00.228
think. So, as long as you, for me, like to

00:24:00.228 --> 24:03.560
wake up early morning, like to get the

24:03.560 --> 00:24:06.663
hard things out of the
way. And then, after

00:24:06.663 --> 24:09.260
that, I'll make time for whatever I

24:09.260 --> 00:24:13.120
want to do. Okay. Sounds good. So, this,

00:24:13.120 --> 24:16.980
like, next section is about, like, your

24:16.980 --> 00:24:20.605
career and your finances
and how you plan to

00:24:20.605 --> 24:23.900
live your life after. So, for you, what

24:23.900 --> 00:24:28.395
percent of being a
doctor is about money and

00:24:28.395 --> 24:32.380
about helping people? I mean, like, it

24:32.380 --> 00:24:35.264
just financially doesn't make, financially

00:24:35.264 --> 24:38.080
and time-wise, like, doesn't really make

24:38.080 --> 24:42.520
sense to go into medicine just for the
money. Because it's, like, so long of a

24:42.520 --> 24:48.180
path. And, like, you could do anything
else, like, do, like, finance, like,

24:48.220 --> 00:24:50.273
investment banking. You
only have to do four

00:24:50.273 --> 24:52.000
years of college, right? And you can

24:52.000 --> 00:24:56.139
make, like, more money. So, I think, like,

00:24:56.139 --> 25:00.180
if you don't have, like, passion for it,

25:00.240 --> 00:25:02.830
and that passion can be, like, you know,

00:25:02.830 --> 25:05.420
helping people. I mean, but also, like,

25:05.600 --> 25:09.020
you're passionate about the subject,
right? There's so much to learn about the

25:09.020 --> 00:25:11.336
human body, the physiology,
everything. Like,

00:25:11.336 --> 25:13.240
I mean, that just interested me from

25:13.240 --> 00:25:16.764
the beginning. So, I mean,
I feel like, obviously,

00:25:16.764 --> 25:19.020
like, it wouldn't make too much

25:19.020 --> 00:25:22.100
financial sense if we weren't compensated

00:25:22.100 --> 25:25.180
well. Because, just because the training

25:25.180 --> 00:25:27.738
path is so long. But, I
mean, first and foremost,

00:25:27.738 --> 25:29.460
you have to be pretty passionate

25:29.460 --> 00:25:32.260
about it. Because it's just, like, so much

00:25:32.260 --> 25:35.060
hours you have to put into it. Like, even

25:35.060 --> 00:25:36.958
if, like, you're making
a lot of money, you're

00:25:36.958 --> 25:38.320
not going to be happy, right? If

25:38.320 --> 25:42.840
you're working that much and if we're
studying this much, right? So, I don't

25:42.840 --> 25:46.260
think it's, like, mutually exclusive in
any way. Like, it's, like, not, like,

25:46.380 --> 25:51.900
percentage-wise. But, I mean, like, my
philosophy is, right, like, if you're

25:51.900 --> 25:54.940
passionate about it and if you're good
at what you do, then, like, money will

25:54.940 --> 00:25:58.541
follow. Like, I don't
really, like, worry about

00:25:58.541 --> 26:01.300
that too much or pay too much about

26:01.300 --> 26:03.780
money. Okay.

26:06.980 --> 26:11.140
So, my next question is, like, how much
student debt does the average medical

26:11.140 --> 00:26:14.511
school student graduate with? How much do

00:26:14.511 --> 26:17.800
you think you'll graduate with? I mean,

26:18.880 --> 00:26:20.610
like, you can, like, look up the numbers.

00:26:20.610 --> 26:22.340
I don't know what the average is. Maybe,

26:22.480 --> 00:26:26.517
like, 200 to 300. And
so, I personally don't

00:26:26.517 --> 26:29.820
want to get into too much of, like,

26:29.940 --> 26:34.020
my details. But, obviously,

26:34.020 --> 26:38.820
it's very expensive. And if you need
to take on loans, then you have to.

26:41.680 --> 26:47.240
And, I mean, obviously, like, we're
fortunate enough to be compensated kind of

26:47.240 --> 26:50.780
well to the point where, I mean, we can
try to pay off those loans. But even,

26:50.900 --> 00:26:52.935
like, $400,000 or $500,000,
if you have to take

00:26:52.935 --> 26:54.580
full loans, it's, like, pretty rough,

26:54.660 --> 00:26:58.180
right? And so, you just
have to be, you have

00:26:58.180 --> 27:01.140
to, you know, kind of plan for that.

27:01.980 --> 00:27:03.830
Obviously, we don't know, I mean, what's

00:27:03.830 --> 27:05.680
going to happen with loans and stuff in

27:05.680 --> 00:27:09.511
the future just because of, like, whatever

00:27:09.511 --> 27:13.160
is happening politically. But, yeah, so

27:13.160 --> 00:27:16.020
it's a lot of money to pay for school. But

00:27:16.020 --> 27:18.880
people come from different backgrounds. I

27:18.880 --> 00:27:23.041
mean, so, like, it's, like, a very, like,

00:27:23.041 --> 27:27.100
variable situation. Okay. So, moving on

27:27.100 --> 00:27:30.349
from finances. What are some downsides or

00:27:30.349 --> 27:33.360
sacrifices of this career that people

27:33.360 --> 00:27:37.290
don't talk about throughout
the entire career

00:27:37.290 --> 27:40.260
path? Hmm. I mean, I think, like,

27:40.460 --> 00:27:42.802
people talk about it a
lot. Like, I mean, the

00:27:42.802 --> 27:44.780
sacrifice, like, sometimes, like, you

27:44.780 --> 00:27:47.972
can't, I mean, go to, like, your friend's,

00:27:47.972 --> 27:50.860
like, function or whatever. My friend

27:50.860 --> 00:27:52.834
recently had, like, an engagement party I

00:27:52.834 --> 27:54.760
wasn't able to go just because I was in

27:54.760 --> 00:27:56.950
school. But, I mean, those are the type of

00:27:56.950 --> 27:59.140
sacrifices. Like, I mean, a lot of people

27:59.140 --> 28:04.020
don't realize, unless you're in the
medical field, how much we have to work

28:04.020 --> 00:28:06.454
and how much we have
to study. And they kind

00:28:06.454 --> 28:08.500
of might not understand it. And they

28:08.500 --> 00:28:10.889
might think, like, oh,
like, this person is

00:28:10.889 --> 28:13.000
not making enough time for me. But, I

28:13.000 --> 00:28:15.752
mean, that's, like,
something that you have

00:28:15.752 --> 28:18.120
to live with, right? And that's just

28:18.120 --> 00:28:22.066
a part of the life. I'm
sure after you're attending

00:28:22.066 --> 28:24.620
and you're a real doctor in some

28:24.620 --> 00:28:29.067
specialties, you can
make enough time to do

00:28:29.067 --> 28:33.100
whatever you want outside of work. So,

28:33.200 --> 00:28:35.100
yeah, there's a lot of, I mean, sacrifice

00:28:35.100 --> 28:37.000
is just, like, you have other things you

28:37.000 --> 00:28:40.383
have to attend to or
drop. When sometimes you

00:28:40.383 --> 28:43.240
have other applications that you want

28:43.240 --> 28:48.800
to go to, but you really can't. So, I
think it's talked about, but obviously,

28:48.800 --> 00:28:51.143
you don't really
understand it unless you're

00:28:51.143 --> 28:53.060
in the field or unless you're going

28:53.060 --> 00:28:57.528
through it. Okay. So,
my final question is,

00:28:57.528 --> 29:01.580
right now that you're a student, where

29:01.580 --> 00:29:05.998
do you see yourself in the next 10 years?

00:29:05.998 --> 29:10.200
I mean, sorry. In the next 10 years, I

29:10.200 --> 29:15.520
mean, I might be a doctor. I might
still be in residency. I don't know yet,

29:15.640 --> 29:21.220
depending on what specialty I take. I
think it's in terms of academically. Not

29:21.220 --> 00:29:23.556
academically, I definitely
want to still be

00:29:23.556 --> 29:25.620
on the East Coast. I like having four

29:25.620 --> 29:26.160
seasons.

29:30.020 --> 29:31.720
Hopefully, like, have a family.

29:34.980 --> 29:36.100
Have a dog.

29:39.740 --> 00:29:43.077
Yeah, I mean, just to
hopefully be more advanced

00:29:43.077 --> 29:45.440
in my career, but also be able to

29:45.440 --> 00:29:47.365
make time for the things
I enjoy. Still want

00:29:47.365 --> 29:48.940
to be playing sports. Still want to

29:48.940 --> 00:29:52.250
be watching sports. Hopefully, on the East

00:29:52.250 --> 29:55.560
Coast still. So, I mean, there's a lot to

29:55.560 --> 00:29:57.440
look forward to, but I
also think, like, the

00:29:57.440 --> 29:59.020
beauty is, right, we don't know what

29:59.020 --> 00:30:01.509
the future holds for us. And there's still

00:30:01.509 --> 30:03.820
a lot of variability. And so, just not

30:03.820 --> 00:30:06.292
planning too far ahead,
but seeing where life

00:30:06.292 --> 30:08.380
takes me, I think, is important, too.

30:08.580 --> 00:30:13.470
So, we'll see. Okay.
So, that's done with the

00:30:13.470 --> 30:17.600
entire section. So, my final question

30:17.600 --> 00:30:20.185
is, what's one piece of
advice, any piece that

00:30:20.185 --> 30:22.320
you would give to a high schooler who

30:22.320 --> 30:23.860
dreams of being a doctor?

30:27.940 --> 30:32.920
I mean, I would say, obviously, it's
important. Like, I knew in high school or

30:32.920 --> 30:37.740
later high school that I wanted to be a
doctor. So, I would say keep your head

30:37.740 --> 30:43.900
down. Obviously, do well in school,
right? Be focused academically. But more

30:43.900 --> 00:30:47.518
importantly, you know,
just, like, have fun.

00:30:47.518 --> 30:50.560
Like, once you're a doctor, once you

30:50.560 --> 30:53.860
start this training path, right, it's
a lot of work and it's a lot of time,

30:54.220 --> 00:30:56.680
commitment. And you
don't really realize it.

00:30:56.680 --> 30:58.860
Like, now I realize how much more time

30:58.860 --> 00:31:01.209
I had in high school than college, right?

00:31:01.209 --> 31:03.500
So, I would say just have fun. Make the

31:03.500 --> 00:31:06.573
most out of your memories. And don't worry

00:31:06.573 --> 31:09.500
because everything will work out. Like,

31:09.560 --> 00:31:11.368
that's, like, the main
thing I would tell myself.

00:31:11.368 --> 31:12.660
I stressed over a lot of things in

31:12.660 --> 31:18.260
life. And I wish, you know, I could have
those moments back just because they

31:18.260 --> 31:23.200
didn't mean much. So, don't stress.
Everything will work out to be just fine.

31:23.540 --> 00:31:26.668
And in terms of
academically, obviously, be,

00:31:26.668 --> 31:29.440
I mean, be up to date with everything.

31:29.600 --> 00:31:32.070
Do well in school because that work ethic

00:31:32.070 --> 31:34.420
will carry through college and medical

31:34.420 --> 31:40.980
school. So, definitely do that and then
also try to get some exposure, some

31:40.980 --> 00:31:44.227
shadowing, some, like,
volunteer at your hospital.

00:31:44.227 --> 31:46.240
Get involved and get your name

31:46.240 --> 00:31:50.867
out there because, like,
you can make connections

00:31:50.867 --> 31:53.700
and contacts that you'll have

31:53.700 --> 32:02.320
as mentors for life. So, that's very
important. Okay. Well, thank you so much

32:02.320 --> 00:32:05.272
again, Rohan, for being
my very first guest.

00:32:05.272 --> 32:07.620
Yeah, thanks for having me. It was

32:07.620 --> 00:32:10.144
a pleasure to be your
first guest. And, yeah,

00:32:10.144 --> 32:12.220
please feel free to reach out if you

32:12.220 --> 00:32:14.762
have any questions. Yeah. I wish you the

00:32:14.762 --> 32:17.240
best in your studies and career. Yeah,

32:17.420 --> 32:21.640
thank you so much. Wishing
you the best, too. Thank you.