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YouTube sensation & Acrobat to Med School w/ Shaun Andersen
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Welcome to MedKinza talks your go to source for bite sized content and becoming future doctors. I'm your host, Kinza Hussain, and I'm a second year medical student helping students navigate the ins and outs of one of the most competitive careers. I will be sharing the lessons I've learned and inviting guest speakers to provide real quality advice to help you get into medical school, succeed as a med student and prepare you to become a future doctor. Want more free quality advice? Subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow me on Instagram @medkinza, where I post videos and infographics delivering content to you every week. Now sit back, relax and learn something new And don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss any of my latest episodes. Released every week.
Hey, welcome. This is Episode 16 in this episode I have the pleasure of interviewing Sean. Sean is a first year medical student at UNLV. He recently became a YouTube sensation a few months back and has grown his Instagram following quite a bit with his medical school and fitness posts. I'm so excited to be interviewing him today to hear more about his premed and YouTube journey and how his first year of medical school is going. Keep listening if you guys want to hear his stats, extracurriculars, and social media tips.
Hi, Sean. Thanks so much for joining me today on today's podcast. How are you doing?
I'm good. How are you?
I'm good. I'm just getting through my Anki cards for the morning following us.
Oh my gosh same, I did a few of them and I still have a lot left.
Yeah, it takes me so long to get through them. I feel like my reviews add up and then it takes me hours to get. How would you say your speed is for the cards that you do?
Oh my gosh. It really varies like some days. You know how it tells you like how many seconds per card you do, like on days. It's like some days is like 12 seconds and then some days it's like six to seven. And so it just depends on the day and how I'm feeling that morning.
Yeah. Now I hear you. I feel like for those of you guys who have chosen to do the anki method, you know what we're talking about. I would definitely recommend if there are any premeds or first years listening right now, if you want to do get started early, it took me a really long time to adjust to it. So I'm really glad that I started as a first year.
Yeah, definitely Anki is one of those grinds that like you make a commitment to and you know, it's going to pay off. But every single day you just dread waking up and having to do it.
Every single freaking day. The first thing I open on my laptop when I wake up in the morning.
Yeah, I usually I usually like, open my eyes and then, like, I kind of grab my phone and I'll go with like social media a little bit and I'll do some Anki cards and then I'll go to social media a little bit more and then I'll do some more cards and I'll get out of bed and then come to my computer and do it there.
What I need to start the morning?
Right.
So why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself. Where are you from? We know you are a first year. Where do you go to school and how is all of that going?
Yeah, so I'm from Las Vegas, Nevada. I was pretty much just raised here and I went to UNLB for undergrad and now I'm going to UNLB for medical school. And so that's pretty much that's pretty much it. I didn't know I was going to do medicine until, like, probably like two or three years ago. So I was kind of like a late bloomer when it came to applying to medical school. So, yeah.
Oh wow. So what made you want to choose? What were you interested in before two years ago and how did that change?
Yeah. So I, I thought I was going to do physical therapy. In fact I was like very set on physical therapy. I did all the shadowing. I was going to take the GRE, I was going to apply. I was pretty good friends with the dean of admissions, like it seemed like a pretty a pretty done deal as long as I just applied. And so I actually had initially wanted to do medicine. That was like my initial idea kind of when I was a freshman, I didn't really know what I want to do. I just kind of messing around with different ideas. And I thought medicine might be cool just because I was volunteering with the Make a Wish Foundation. So I kind of got to know some of these whiz kids. And then I kind of got interested in like oncology, but I kind of just had the idea of medicine. I didn't really, like, know if that's what I wanted to do. So I was just kind of one of the first ideas I threw out there. But it was kind of shut down by my counselor because I wasn't like, yeah.
It's a typical thing that happens.
The classic story. Yeah.
Like I've heard, like more and more students like mentioning it, how they'll talk to a counselor and the counselor might discourage it. And that's kind of what happened to me, because my counselor was not only the counselor for the premed, but also the pre-physical therapist are just like the pre health in general. And so I was kind of more of like a B average student. I had actually failed a math class pretty early in college. I had like in high school. I like remediated biology and I took a break for so I wasn't really like so much of like I was more of like a theater kind of kid, like in high school. And so I wasn't so much like like one of those people that you're like, oh, this guy, this guy is a future doctor. Like I wasn't like those kind of people. And so he kind of was like, you know, maybe consider some of these other things. And so I kind of eventually decided to do like a kinesiology major. I found physical therapy. I really liked anatomy and physiology. And so I thought I was going to physical therapy. I was like I was pretty set on it. And then I was pretty much going to apply. I was finishing my general chemistries. And then I kind of have like this moment of doubt where I was like, did I really like not do I basically just sort of become like competitive in physical therapy? It's kind of the same as med.
You have to like you have to get good grades. Right. And so I became like a much better student, went from like B average with like an F to like I retook that class, got in. They got like straight A's after that, like from there on out. And so I was like, did I really not do, like, med? Because, like, I didn't think I could at the time, but like, could I have done the same thing, like become more of an A student and got into med school? So I had kind of like a moment of doubt. And so and that was like the cutoff point where I was like, OK, if I'm if I'm not going to do med and I finish up for general chemistry, I don't take anymore. But as you know, you take organic chemistry if you're going to med school. And so I was like, if I don't enroll in organic chemistry, then I'm not doing med school. And I didn't really like that idea because I was like, man, I don't want to be like thirty five one day and then regret not having done it as I'm like sitting in this career that I might have just settled for. Not that physical therapy is like a bad field, but like it wasn't like it was my first decision and I didn't want that to end up being something I thought about later in life. So yeah.
No good for you. I feel like you don't look back and regret that you didn't go all the way and get your doctorate degree right. Whereas if you chose PT you might have looked back and regretted it only for their reason where you would have been like, wow, I really doubt in my abilities as a student I really should have just gone for anything. Like I never would have known what could have happened if I didn't doubt myself. So I really like that story. So did it take you kind of like extra time to retake classes or were you able to complete that in the four years? Did you only retake one class, two classes? Like what was the timeline of things?
Yeah, so it was twenty seventeen the time I made that decision. And so I kind of was finishing up what was my third year of undergrad. But then I had. To take like I to take basically an extra year to finish my organic chemistry is like pretty much all the pre-med requirements that PT school doesn't require. So that's your ochem? I had physics to do. And I think I had to do an extra biology, just like typical like premed requirements. And then I took a year to do my MCAT and biochemistry. And then just because of the timeline and everything, I ended up with a gap year. So I think I finished all my classes in five years and then had like that extra year of, like, my application cycle where I had no classes or anything to do.
Ok. So you graduated your fourth year, senior year and that was probably the year you applied, right, this summer, right after you get matriculated.
Yeah. So I started started undergrad in 2014, applied in 2019. Starting med school in 2020.
Awesome. That's great. So what a journey. And I'm really happy for you for going through all of that. You know, it's a big decision to decide. You have to take orgo and maybe you don't really have to if you didn't pursue this but made it through. So that's awesome. So what did your GPA look like going into your application cycle and what was your score like?
Yeah, so my GPA was about like a t3.66. I think by transcript it was like a 3.79. But because they factored in that class that I had failed, which I did retake. So on my transcript was a three point seventy nine. But according to MCAS and acomas it was, it was a 3.66. And then my mcat was a 507.
Nice. That's kind of mean, of course, to take in your old grade when they're calculating things.
Yeah.
Mean they've they've they they factor in everything. So even if you retake a class and this is something I think people tend not to know, even if you retake a class, the original grade is still factored into your final application GPA, even though your transcript might say something else, because your new grade covers up your old grade on your actual application. It does change.
Wow, I did not know that. And I don't think a lot of people know that because whenever I give advice, I'm like, if you have bad grades because you didn't do well freshman year, just retake, retake like those one or two classes. As long as it's one or two. I think if it's more than that, maybe it would be a little bit too much, but still possible. But I don't know that they keep those grades when they recalculate your GPA.
Yeah. And so I was pretty surprised because I was I thought I was applying with a three point seven nine.
I was pretty stoked when I failed the class. My GPA was down to like a 2.7 or something like that. So I was really happy with that. But then the three point six six and I was like, man.
I mean, that's still good. You're still above the three point five average cutoff mark that we talk about on the map. So that's really awesome. Did you apply to both MD and DO schools in your application cycle?
Yeah, I applied pretty broadly just because, again, I wasn't too confident. I didn't really have, like, this huge, like, base of research stuff. So I just applied to, like a bunch of schools. And I actually primarily got into DO programs. I got into, I think, four or five DO programs. And I got into just one MD program, which is a school I’m at right now.
That's awesome. So how many schools did you apply to for MD ad DO?
Oh, man, I have a list of this somewhere, but I think like roughly, roughly, I think I applied to like a total of like thirty-five schools. Oh, yeah.
And then I. I think I only filled out about 30 secondaries. And then it was mostly I applied to most of your programs all the way from like this side of the of the country to like Lake Erie. So I applied everywhere and then empty schools. I kind of applied to the one I use, like the MSAR on AMC that kind of like lets you look at all the stats to not apply to schools that are out of your reach. So I kind of add them all because, again, I wasn't I wasn't super competent. It's not like I was like this crazy applicant that had like a 585 MCAT and like a 4.0 GPA. I was I was pretty sad and hoping to only do the application cycle once.
No, no, that's good. So how what would you say was part of your extracurricular list that you think really stood out to even the school you might be at right now that kind of made you stand out against other people that were applying?
Yeah. So something that came up, like I said, it's not like I had this huge research base. I didn't do anything staining and microorganisms and stuff. And so I a lot one thing that came up like actually every single interview I went to was I have like a history of, like, acrobatics, like so I used to I used to like do shows and I used to like basically do school. And then I'd fly to like the East Coast for the for the summers. I do shows for like three months. I fly back and I would do school and sometimes I do online school, I'm out there doing shows. And so that was something that I did prior to deciding I want to go to medical school. And I stopped doing that so that I could get more serious about applying to medical school. I still I do it as a hobby, but I stopped doing it professionally. And but every single interview that I went to, they brought it up and they they asked about it, especially at the school that I'm going to right now. We do like two forty five minute interviews. And one of the forty five minute interviews consisted of only talking about that because I guess his kids were interested in stuff like that. And so we just like talked about it. But every single school I went to that's like one of the first things that they brought up, they didn't ask me about. I did a little bit of stuff. I did some research, volunteer work, like all the stuff. But I didn't that was like the main thing that got brought up was that extracurricular, which has nothing to do with medicine. And so it was kind of nice to like. I felt very comfortable just getting to talk about my hobby and that kind of stuff. It just made the interview so much better.
Now, you know what? It makes a huge difference. And when I do mock interviews with people, I always tell them that you need to kind of stand out in any way you can, even if that means like what you're wearing or what for a woman, like what jewelry you're wearing or for a guy like you, you have a nice watch on because I mean, especially like on Zoom, it's kind of hard to look different.
Yeah.
So I think it makes a huge difference. Like, not a lot of people have maybe really unique hobbies like you do, but I think it's your hobby that made them remember you after the interview. I'm sure they like everything you said about medicine and science, like why you even want to do this in the first place. You have a unique cut, not really super nontraditional, but kind of nontraditional. You were like, oh, I was set on PT. And then I realize now I want to go to med. So that's one thing. And then the other thing is this hobby that you do that I'm sure no one else they've ever interviewed before had. So I think that makes a huge difference, because when they're done talking to you, they're not going to forget who you are.Even if they forget your name, they're going to be like, oh, the kid that who's an acrobat, like on the side. So. Now, that's that's it for our listeners, I want them to know that if you're still young, try to get involved in something unique or different. And if you're already reached that application cycle, try to emphasize something that maybe that you've already done. Maybe you did it for like five months. It doesn't matter. Just try to think of anything you've done in the past that's going to help you stand out like that.
Absolutely. I think people tend to think that when they're doing their application, they could only have medical related stuff on it. But they really want there's the section for hobbies like sports, extracurriculars, like even if there's nothing to do with medicine, put it on there. It's going to make you stand out. Absolutely.
One hundred percent. So my next question for you is kind of more about your social media. So you have a really great YouTube page and Instagram page. And I was wondering, what inspired you to start and when did you start?
Yeah, so like I said, like I told you earlier, like I've been watching like other YouTubers, I've been watching like you and like American Revere, just like when I was a premed to get that motivation in, like, you know, this is the life I could live one day if I just keep pushing. And so I didn't really think about myself doing it so much until last summer. It was like around July. And I was filling out secondary applications. And I remember I had like this moment where I was sitting there, like typing up some essay for some school. And I was like, man, like this is like I'm in the next phase. Like I've gone through like years of like classes and having to do like volunteering and clinical experience and some research and passing these classes and doing well and studying. And I was like I did all of that so I could end up like right here in this moment, like typing up this like three hundred word paragraph for this school to hopefully get in. And I kind of have that moment where I was like, man, like. All that's done now, I don't need to know any of that stuff that I've done before, and so I was like, man, it feels like almost like a wasted, not a wasted, but like it feels like I'm the only one who's going to get value from this experience. But I had to put so much of my time and my energy and my life into it. Right. And so I kind of had that moment where I was like, I feel like it would be nice to somehow share those experiences with other people so that they could value from it. And it's not just me like dumping all of this prior knowledge and experience. And like, you know, everyone has a unique, like experience. Everyone has a different way that they kind of got here. And so I felt like maybe I could share mine. And so that's kind of what happened. I started my YouTube channel back in like July. I think I didn't really post until August. And then that was just during my in my application cycle. So throughout my application cycle, I just made some videos and just my some tips like how to study for organic chemistry. And then I would like I would vlog some of my interviews that I was going on. Yeah.
I like how you started early. You started in the more like application process. And I don't even know, I kind of maybe started a little bit early too, but I really started taking off when I got into med school, I think. Yeah. So that's really cool that you have all of that documented. So what was so I got a lot of people who kind of asked me like, oh, you know, I can't wait to be in med school one day and also share my journey on YouTube and start that process. And I get questions like, how much money do you make? How do you do this? How do you do that? But I wanted to know, like, did you put in a lot of money to start your YouTube channel? Because I think some people think that it costs a lot. So what steps did you take?
No, yeah, I so I literally just made I just made my channel, and I think one of my first videos was like my first, like, interview, and I took it on my like I filmed on like my iPhone six, as with like my front facing camera that had like a crack. And it's like it's honestly kind of blurry looking like I don't know why. I mean, but I did it and that was my first video and I just made it. And even now, to this day, I still I still just film with my iPhone. I don't have, like, a fancy camera. I should I feel like at this point, like, I don't I just don't know about cameras, but I didn't really put any money in at all. I can't think of anything that I bought. I got like. Maybe a phone tripod, but I think I've got as a gift, I don't even think I got it like I bought it myself.
Yeah, that's a great thing about you, too. That's exactly what I wanted you to say. I was like, I think he uses his phone like I do. So that's going to be great advice because I also the only money I put into it is I got a stand, but I got a really crappy one from wish.com like that, I didn't know about it. But so a couple of months later, it finally came in the mail and it was fine, but it was like one of the spider web ones and I just don't like it. So I did invest in another stand, a ring light, because I'm always having lighting issues and like maybe a six dollar microphone that I don't even use anymore. But me too. Like, I'm currently trying to save up for a professional camera. But that's the great thing about Instagram, YouTube, TikTok. All the social media as you guys can just pick up your phone and start like if this is something you want to do, you literally just need your phone.
Yeah, absolutely. And the hardest thing about doing something like YouTube is just posting your first video like it was really hard. Like I remember watching the first video that I filmed and I was like cringing. I was like, I don't even want to post this up. I did it right. And then it just gets easier and you get more comfortable with yourself as well. I think people forget that it's also a really good experience just for yourself and more comfortable with yourself and just talking. And so, yeah, I think that's totally like perfect. Like no money, really. Like, I don't even have like you have a light. Like I actually every single time I'm vlogging and I need better lighting, I just walk up to this window and stand in front of it because that's where the sun shines. Like, Yeah, I don’t have a light, but I'm also thinking about maybe getting a better camera just because I feel like sometimes I want to use my phone, but I can't use it in the blogs because I'm using my phone to film. So that's like my only real.
Oh, yeah. You know what I do edit my phone case off and you can see it in my last video of my night routine that I just posted the other day. I was like, like, oh, you know, like I play my favorite podcast. And I was like, I wanted to like, show a clip of me, like on my phone, like about to play it, but I don't have another phone to do that. So I use my phone so you can kind of tell.
Yeah, your roommate's phone.
Yeah, no, that's that's another great way to improvise, and I guess the whole message is like just there's a million ways to make a video and just to post and everyone's different. Right. And I think it's also learning, like you're never going to like your videos, like even like sometimes you watch your videos and you're like, oh, I'm just going to post this, but I should have done this so I could have done this. But you're never going to, like, love your own videos.
Yeah, I know. The biggest battle I have is I have an iPhone X now, so I feel like the quality of phones are getting better so you can start noticing the lack of quality even in a relatively newer phone. But yeah, know, I struggle with the lighting because my camera doesn't pick up low light that well and I struggle with the quality for sure because like I can't use my back camera, which is for it would be nice to be like I can't see myself if I'm using the back camera.
So that's what I struggle with. But yeah, I'm also saving up for a professional camera. I also know nothing about these cameras. So I have a really hard time, like dropping seven hundred dollars on something I know that other people use, but I don't know anything about it and then have to learn how to use it. So I definitely think the beginning stages though, just like how we did just use your phone if you guys are interested in starting something and just see where it takes you.
Exactly. Exactly. Because you might end up like not wanting to do it after a while. And now if you've got, like, this expensive camera or something that you bought, then you're just going to end up. I actually I actually had a back when I was doing like the shows and stuff while I was doing them. It was like the first time that I was like making money. So I actually went bought a Cannon 70. But then when I started my YouTube channel, I tried using it for a couple of videos, but I just didn't I didn't like it. I thought it was just way easier to, like, pull out my phone than it was to, like, set up a camera, like a big, like, DSLR. And so I think even if I buy a camera, I think it would be like a smaller kind of one that's easier to carry around. I actually use the back facing the camera. I don't use the front facing, so I can't see myself and I'm filming, but I use like the wildland. So like, I know that I'm in the frame. I just don't know what I look like, what I'm in the frame.
And I just I have like I'm scared that I'm going to mess up if I film using the back lens and, like, cut off or something. I don't think I have wide lens on mine. I'm not sure. And then I would really hate my life if I had to redo the entire video so I could.
Yeah.
But moving on to our last question, what's one piece of advice that changed your life and that you would like to share with everyone today?
You know, probably to go back to what we talked about earlier, where, like I had a few years where I was, I almost didn't apply to medical school, you know, don't let someone like someone else's idea of you kind of determine what you're going to do with your life, even if they might be kind of right in the moment. You still have a lot of control over what you do from that point on. And if you you know, if you want to make yourself a better applicant, you think you can do these things to make yourself more competitive than do it. And it was it was a friend of mine because I lost a lot of sleep over making the decision if I was going to go med because I was like, what if I take ochem? I feel that I ruined my GPA and I can't even get into PT school after that.
Yeah that's. Yeah, yeah.
And so I have a really good friend of mine was like you know like, just like get into the mindset that you're applying for med school, take ochem, can apply for med school, get into med school and then decide if that's what you wanted to do. But at least that way the option was always there for you. And you can never say one day that you don't know if you could have done it or you're unsure if you could have done it. Just commit wholeheartedly to it and then get to the point where then you get to make the decision on your own. If that's something you're going to do or not. Don't let don't let your own kind of like doubts about yourself stop you from even trying to do it.
That's great advice. Thank you for sharing that. And if you don't let anyone else tell you what you guys can do or what you can't do, I think I'm hearing it a lot, too, like too much lately that counselors are more discouraging. And I honestly, I'm starting to think that they have kind of an ulterior motive. They probably wanted you to go to PT school, maybe. Did your college have a school?
Yes, actually, yes, so this was before, so my my med school is I'm the fourth class, so I actually back when I was recommended to do so, I'll be only out of PT school. So maybe there was some sort of there.
I don't I don't know. I always think there's some ulterior motive, like, oh, you know, if you go to the PT school in the school, keep making money, whereas if you go to a different med school, you win. It's I think maybe it's kind of their job to keep you there.
Maybe. Yeah, I something I tend to like tell people as like counselors are great for telling you what you still need to take to finish. But at the end of the day, like none of them apply to medical school and none of them ever went on interviews, they never did applications at the end of the day, like they haven't had to go through the process. And I think that's why that's I think that's why guidance companies like premed guidance companies are starting to really take off lately is because I think they're just giving a lot better advice. They're hiring like med students, they're hiring physicians. And so you're kind of getting a much better source of what you should be doing that's going to make you stand out rather than like more of like a cookie cutter plan. And so I think it's becoming more popular to kind of go by the guidance of some of these companies.
And I'm so glad that that's becoming a thing, because I only had my counselors to ask or like other people that have gone through this and it wasn't that many. I felt like I didn't really have too many people I could bombard with questions. And, you know, just in the last podcast that's going out, we were talking about how we didn't even know DO school had a different application, let's say a acomas versus MCAS and just like even basic stuff like that. And she didn't apply to school because she didn't budget for it, because she found out last minute. And I'm sure she's not the only person that's had to go through that and find out last minute. So for those of you who really have no idea what to do like us, I'm so glad that there's so many more med school students who are on platforms like Instagram who can answer your questions, too. I feel like I don't have much of that either while I was applying and then it really started to take off, but definitely reach out to people like Sean. His Instagram is at @shaunandersson. And just like ask people, ask as many questions as you can, there's never a question. And it's going to really just help you take off faster than you already would.
Absolutely. Absolutely.
All right. Well, thank you so much for coming on today. I had a great time speaking with you, connecting with you and kind of learning more about how your first year has gone and how your application was.
Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it.
Yeah, of course. If you guys have enjoyed the podcast, make sure you hit subscribe so you don't miss any new episodes released every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Also, if you learnt one little thing from the show, I would really appreciate it if you could leave a rating and review. It means a lot to me and I read them all. I'll see you guys in the next one.
Hey, welcome. This is Episode 16 in this episode I have the pleasure of interviewing Sean. Sean is a first year medical student at UNLV. He recently became a YouTube sensation a few months back and has grown his Instagram following quite a bit with his medical school and fitness posts. I'm so excited to be interviewing him today to hear more about his premed and YouTube journey and how his first year of medical school is going. Keep listening if you guys want to hear his stats, extracurriculars, and social media tips.
Hi, Sean. Thanks so much for joining me today on today's podcast. How are you doing?
I'm good. How are you?
I'm good. I'm just getting through my Anki cards for the morning following us.
Oh my gosh same, I did a few of them and I still have a lot left.
Yeah, it takes me so long to get through them. I feel like my reviews add up and then it takes me hours to get. How would you say your speed is for the cards that you do?
Oh my gosh. It really varies like some days. You know how it tells you like how many seconds per card you do, like on days. It's like some days is like 12 seconds and then some days it's like six to seven. And so it just depends on the day and how I'm feeling that morning.
Yeah. Now I hear you. I feel like for those of you guys who have chosen to do the anki method, you know what we're talking about. I would definitely recommend if there are any premeds or first years listening right now, if you want to do get started early, it took me a really long time to adjust to it. So I'm really glad that I started as a first year.
Yeah, definitely Anki is one of those grinds that like you make a commitment to and you know, it's going to pay off. But every single day you just dread waking up and having to do it.
Every single freaking day. The first thing I open on my laptop when I wake up in the morning.
Yeah, I usually I usually like, open my eyes and then, like, I kind of grab my phone and I'll go with like social media a little bit and I'll do some Anki cards and then I'll go to social media a little bit more and then I'll do some more cards and I'll get out of bed and then come to my computer and do it there.
What I need to start the morning?
Right.
So why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself. Where are you from? We know you are a first year. Where do you go to school and how is all of that going?
Yeah, so I'm from Las Vegas, Nevada. I was pretty much just raised here and I went to UNLB for undergrad and now I'm going to UNLB for medical school. And so that's pretty much that's pretty much it. I didn't know I was going to do medicine until, like, probably like two or three years ago. So I was kind of like a late bloomer when it came to applying to medical school. So, yeah.
Oh wow. So what made you want to choose? What were you interested in before two years ago and how did that change?
Yeah. So I, I thought I was going to do physical therapy. In fact I was like very set on physical therapy. I did all the shadowing. I was going to take the GRE, I was going to apply. I was pretty good friends with the dean of admissions, like it seemed like a pretty a pretty done deal as long as I just applied. And so I actually had initially wanted to do medicine. That was like my initial idea kind of when I was a freshman, I didn't really know what I want to do. I just kind of messing around with different ideas. And I thought medicine might be cool just because I was volunteering with the Make a Wish Foundation. So I kind of got to know some of these whiz kids. And then I kind of got interested in like oncology, but I kind of just had the idea of medicine. I didn't really, like, know if that's what I wanted to do. So I was just kind of one of the first ideas I threw out there. But it was kind of shut down by my counselor because I wasn't like, yeah.
It's a typical thing that happens.
The classic story. Yeah.
Like I've heard, like more and more students like mentioning it, how they'll talk to a counselor and the counselor might discourage it. And that's kind of what happened to me, because my counselor was not only the counselor for the premed, but also the pre-physical therapist are just like the pre health in general. And so I was kind of more of like a B average student. I had actually failed a math class pretty early in college. I had like in high school. I like remediated biology and I took a break for so I wasn't really like so much of like I was more of like a theater kind of kid, like in high school. And so I wasn't so much like like one of those people that you're like, oh, this guy, this guy is a future doctor. Like I wasn't like those kind of people. And so he kind of was like, you know, maybe consider some of these other things. And so I kind of eventually decided to do like a kinesiology major. I found physical therapy. I really liked anatomy and physiology. And so I thought I was going to physical therapy. I was like I was pretty set on it. And then I was pretty much going to apply. I was finishing my general chemistries. And then I kind of have like this moment of doubt where I was like, did I really like not do I basically just sort of become like competitive in physical therapy? It's kind of the same as med.
You have to like you have to get good grades. Right. And so I became like a much better student, went from like B average with like an F to like I retook that class, got in. They got like straight A's after that, like from there on out. And so I was like, did I really not do, like, med? Because, like, I didn't think I could at the time, but like, could I have done the same thing, like become more of an A student and got into med school? So I had kind of like a moment of doubt. And so and that was like the cutoff point where I was like, OK, if I'm if I'm not going to do med and I finish up for general chemistry, I don't take anymore. But as you know, you take organic chemistry if you're going to med school. And so I was like, if I don't enroll in organic chemistry, then I'm not doing med school. And I didn't really like that idea because I was like, man, I don't want to be like thirty five one day and then regret not having done it as I'm like sitting in this career that I might have just settled for. Not that physical therapy is like a bad field, but like it wasn't like it was my first decision and I didn't want that to end up being something I thought about later in life. So yeah.
No good for you. I feel like you don't look back and regret that you didn't go all the way and get your doctorate degree right. Whereas if you chose PT you might have looked back and regretted it only for their reason where you would have been like, wow, I really doubt in my abilities as a student I really should have just gone for anything. Like I never would have known what could have happened if I didn't doubt myself. So I really like that story. So did it take you kind of like extra time to retake classes or were you able to complete that in the four years? Did you only retake one class, two classes? Like what was the timeline of things?
Yeah, so it was twenty seventeen the time I made that decision. And so I kind of was finishing up what was my third year of undergrad. But then I had. To take like I to take basically an extra year to finish my organic chemistry is like pretty much all the pre-med requirements that PT school doesn't require. So that's your ochem? I had physics to do. And I think I had to do an extra biology, just like typical like premed requirements. And then I took a year to do my MCAT and biochemistry. And then just because of the timeline and everything, I ended up with a gap year. So I think I finished all my classes in five years and then had like that extra year of, like, my application cycle where I had no classes or anything to do.
Ok. So you graduated your fourth year, senior year and that was probably the year you applied, right, this summer, right after you get matriculated.
Yeah. So I started started undergrad in 2014, applied in 2019. Starting med school in 2020.
Awesome. That's great. So what a journey. And I'm really happy for you for going through all of that. You know, it's a big decision to decide. You have to take orgo and maybe you don't really have to if you didn't pursue this but made it through. So that's awesome. So what did your GPA look like going into your application cycle and what was your score like?
Yeah, so my GPA was about like a t3.66. I think by transcript it was like a 3.79. But because they factored in that class that I had failed, which I did retake. So on my transcript was a three point seventy nine. But according to MCAS and acomas it was, it was a 3.66. And then my mcat was a 507.
Nice. That's kind of mean, of course, to take in your old grade when they're calculating things.
Yeah.
Mean they've they've they they factor in everything. So even if you retake a class and this is something I think people tend not to know, even if you retake a class, the original grade is still factored into your final application GPA, even though your transcript might say something else, because your new grade covers up your old grade on your actual application. It does change.
Wow, I did not know that. And I don't think a lot of people know that because whenever I give advice, I'm like, if you have bad grades because you didn't do well freshman year, just retake, retake like those one or two classes. As long as it's one or two. I think if it's more than that, maybe it would be a little bit too much, but still possible. But I don't know that they keep those grades when they recalculate your GPA.
Yeah. And so I was pretty surprised because I was I thought I was applying with a three point seven nine.
I was pretty stoked when I failed the class. My GPA was down to like a 2.7 or something like that. So I was really happy with that. But then the three point six six and I was like, man.
I mean, that's still good. You're still above the three point five average cutoff mark that we talk about on the map. So that's really awesome. Did you apply to both MD and DO schools in your application cycle?
Yeah, I applied pretty broadly just because, again, I wasn't too confident. I didn't really have, like, this huge, like, base of research stuff. So I just applied to, like a bunch of schools. And I actually primarily got into DO programs. I got into, I think, four or five DO programs. And I got into just one MD program, which is a school I’m at right now.
That's awesome. So how many schools did you apply to for MD ad DO?
Oh, man, I have a list of this somewhere, but I think like roughly, roughly, I think I applied to like a total of like thirty-five schools. Oh, yeah.
And then I. I think I only filled out about 30 secondaries. And then it was mostly I applied to most of your programs all the way from like this side of the of the country to like Lake Erie. So I applied everywhere and then empty schools. I kind of applied to the one I use, like the MSAR on AMC that kind of like lets you look at all the stats to not apply to schools that are out of your reach. So I kind of add them all because, again, I wasn't I wasn't super competent. It's not like I was like this crazy applicant that had like a 585 MCAT and like a 4.0 GPA. I was I was pretty sad and hoping to only do the application cycle once.
No, no, that's good. So how what would you say was part of your extracurricular list that you think really stood out to even the school you might be at right now that kind of made you stand out against other people that were applying?
Yeah. So something that came up, like I said, it's not like I had this huge research base. I didn't do anything staining and microorganisms and stuff. And so I a lot one thing that came up like actually every single interview I went to was I have like a history of, like, acrobatics, like so I used to I used to like do shows and I used to like basically do school. And then I'd fly to like the East Coast for the for the summers. I do shows for like three months. I fly back and I would do school and sometimes I do online school, I'm out there doing shows. And so that was something that I did prior to deciding I want to go to medical school. And I stopped doing that so that I could get more serious about applying to medical school. I still I do it as a hobby, but I stopped doing it professionally. And but every single interview that I went to, they brought it up and they they asked about it, especially at the school that I'm going to right now. We do like two forty five minute interviews. And one of the forty five minute interviews consisted of only talking about that because I guess his kids were interested in stuff like that. And so we just like talked about it. But every single school I went to that's like one of the first things that they brought up, they didn't ask me about. I did a little bit of stuff. I did some research, volunteer work, like all the stuff. But I didn't that was like the main thing that got brought up was that extracurricular, which has nothing to do with medicine. And so it was kind of nice to like. I felt very comfortable just getting to talk about my hobby and that kind of stuff. It just made the interview so much better.
Now, you know what? It makes a huge difference. And when I do mock interviews with people, I always tell them that you need to kind of stand out in any way you can, even if that means like what you're wearing or what for a woman, like what jewelry you're wearing or for a guy like you, you have a nice watch on because I mean, especially like on Zoom, it's kind of hard to look different.
Yeah.
So I think it makes a huge difference. Like, not a lot of people have maybe really unique hobbies like you do, but I think it's your hobby that made them remember you after the interview. I'm sure they like everything you said about medicine and science, like why you even want to do this in the first place. You have a unique cut, not really super nontraditional, but kind of nontraditional. You were like, oh, I was set on PT. And then I realize now I want to go to med. So that's one thing. And then the other thing is this hobby that you do that I'm sure no one else they've ever interviewed before had. So I think that makes a huge difference, because when they're done talking to you, they're not going to forget who you are.Even if they forget your name, they're going to be like, oh, the kid that who's an acrobat, like on the side. So. Now, that's that's it for our listeners, I want them to know that if you're still young, try to get involved in something unique or different. And if you're already reached that application cycle, try to emphasize something that maybe that you've already done. Maybe you did it for like five months. It doesn't matter. Just try to think of anything you've done in the past that's going to help you stand out like that.
Absolutely. I think people tend to think that when they're doing their application, they could only have medical related stuff on it. But they really want there's the section for hobbies like sports, extracurriculars, like even if there's nothing to do with medicine, put it on there. It's going to make you stand out. Absolutely.
One hundred percent. So my next question for you is kind of more about your social media. So you have a really great YouTube page and Instagram page. And I was wondering, what inspired you to start and when did you start?
Yeah, so like I said, like I told you earlier, like I've been watching like other YouTubers, I've been watching like you and like American Revere, just like when I was a premed to get that motivation in, like, you know, this is the life I could live one day if I just keep pushing. And so I didn't really think about myself doing it so much until last summer. It was like around July. And I was filling out secondary applications. And I remember I had like this moment where I was sitting there, like typing up some essay for some school. And I was like, man, like this is like I'm in the next phase. Like I've gone through like years of like classes and having to do like volunteering and clinical experience and some research and passing these classes and doing well and studying. And I was like I did all of that so I could end up like right here in this moment, like typing up this like three hundred word paragraph for this school to hopefully get in. And I kind of have that moment where I was like, man, like. All that's done now, I don't need to know any of that stuff that I've done before, and so I was like, man, it feels like almost like a wasted, not a wasted, but like it feels like I'm the only one who's going to get value from this experience. But I had to put so much of my time and my energy and my life into it. Right. And so I kind of had that moment where I was like, I feel like it would be nice to somehow share those experiences with other people so that they could value from it. And it's not just me like dumping all of this prior knowledge and experience. And like, you know, everyone has a unique, like experience. Everyone has a different way that they kind of got here. And so I felt like maybe I could share mine. And so that's kind of what happened. I started my YouTube channel back in like July. I think I didn't really post until August. And then that was just during my in my application cycle. So throughout my application cycle, I just made some videos and just my some tips like how to study for organic chemistry. And then I would like I would vlog some of my interviews that I was going on. Yeah.
I like how you started early. You started in the more like application process. And I don't even know, I kind of maybe started a little bit early too, but I really started taking off when I got into med school, I think. Yeah. So that's really cool that you have all of that documented. So what was so I got a lot of people who kind of asked me like, oh, you know, I can't wait to be in med school one day and also share my journey on YouTube and start that process. And I get questions like, how much money do you make? How do you do this? How do you do that? But I wanted to know, like, did you put in a lot of money to start your YouTube channel? Because I think some people think that it costs a lot. So what steps did you take?
No, yeah, I so I literally just made I just made my channel, and I think one of my first videos was like my first, like, interview, and I took it on my like I filmed on like my iPhone six, as with like my front facing camera that had like a crack. And it's like it's honestly kind of blurry looking like I don't know why. I mean, but I did it and that was my first video and I just made it. And even now, to this day, I still I still just film with my iPhone. I don't have, like, a fancy camera. I should I feel like at this point, like, I don't I just don't know about cameras, but I didn't really put any money in at all. I can't think of anything that I bought. I got like. Maybe a phone tripod, but I think I've got as a gift, I don't even think I got it like I bought it myself.
Yeah, that's a great thing about you, too. That's exactly what I wanted you to say. I was like, I think he uses his phone like I do. So that's going to be great advice because I also the only money I put into it is I got a stand, but I got a really crappy one from wish.com like that, I didn't know about it. But so a couple of months later, it finally came in the mail and it was fine, but it was like one of the spider web ones and I just don't like it. So I did invest in another stand, a ring light, because I'm always having lighting issues and like maybe a six dollar microphone that I don't even use anymore. But me too. Like, I'm currently trying to save up for a professional camera. But that's the great thing about Instagram, YouTube, TikTok. All the social media as you guys can just pick up your phone and start like if this is something you want to do, you literally just need your phone.
Yeah, absolutely. And the hardest thing about doing something like YouTube is just posting your first video like it was really hard. Like I remember watching the first video that I filmed and I was like cringing. I was like, I don't even want to post this up. I did it right. And then it just gets easier and you get more comfortable with yourself as well. I think people forget that it's also a really good experience just for yourself and more comfortable with yourself and just talking. And so, yeah, I think that's totally like perfect. Like no money, really. Like, I don't even have like you have a light. Like I actually every single time I'm vlogging and I need better lighting, I just walk up to this window and stand in front of it because that's where the sun shines. Like, Yeah, I don’t have a light, but I'm also thinking about maybe getting a better camera just because I feel like sometimes I want to use my phone, but I can't use it in the blogs because I'm using my phone to film. So that's like my only real.
Oh, yeah. You know what I do edit my phone case off and you can see it in my last video of my night routine that I just posted the other day. I was like, like, oh, you know, like I play my favorite podcast. And I was like, I wanted to like, show a clip of me, like on my phone, like about to play it, but I don't have another phone to do that. So I use my phone so you can kind of tell.
Yeah, your roommate's phone.
Yeah, no, that's that's another great way to improvise, and I guess the whole message is like just there's a million ways to make a video and just to post and everyone's different. Right. And I think it's also learning, like you're never going to like your videos, like even like sometimes you watch your videos and you're like, oh, I'm just going to post this, but I should have done this so I could have done this. But you're never going to, like, love your own videos.
Yeah, I know. The biggest battle I have is I have an iPhone X now, so I feel like the quality of phones are getting better so you can start noticing the lack of quality even in a relatively newer phone. But yeah, know, I struggle with the lighting because my camera doesn't pick up low light that well and I struggle with the quality for sure because like I can't use my back camera, which is for it would be nice to be like I can't see myself if I'm using the back camera.
So that's what I struggle with. But yeah, I'm also saving up for a professional camera. I also know nothing about these cameras. So I have a really hard time, like dropping seven hundred dollars on something I know that other people use, but I don't know anything about it and then have to learn how to use it. So I definitely think the beginning stages though, just like how we did just use your phone if you guys are interested in starting something and just see where it takes you.
Exactly. Exactly. Because you might end up like not wanting to do it after a while. And now if you've got, like, this expensive camera or something that you bought, then you're just going to end up. I actually I actually had a back when I was doing like the shows and stuff while I was doing them. It was like the first time that I was like making money. So I actually went bought a Cannon 70. But then when I started my YouTube channel, I tried using it for a couple of videos, but I just didn't I didn't like it. I thought it was just way easier to, like, pull out my phone than it was to, like, set up a camera, like a big, like, DSLR. And so I think even if I buy a camera, I think it would be like a smaller kind of one that's easier to carry around. I actually use the back facing the camera. I don't use the front facing, so I can't see myself and I'm filming, but I use like the wildland. So like, I know that I'm in the frame. I just don't know what I look like, what I'm in the frame.
And I just I have like I'm scared that I'm going to mess up if I film using the back lens and, like, cut off or something. I don't think I have wide lens on mine. I'm not sure. And then I would really hate my life if I had to redo the entire video so I could.
Yeah.
But moving on to our last question, what's one piece of advice that changed your life and that you would like to share with everyone today?
You know, probably to go back to what we talked about earlier, where, like I had a few years where I was, I almost didn't apply to medical school, you know, don't let someone like someone else's idea of you kind of determine what you're going to do with your life, even if they might be kind of right in the moment. You still have a lot of control over what you do from that point on. And if you you know, if you want to make yourself a better applicant, you think you can do these things to make yourself more competitive than do it. And it was it was a friend of mine because I lost a lot of sleep over making the decision if I was going to go med because I was like, what if I take ochem? I feel that I ruined my GPA and I can't even get into PT school after that.
Yeah that's. Yeah, yeah.
And so I have a really good friend of mine was like you know like, just like get into the mindset that you're applying for med school, take ochem, can apply for med school, get into med school and then decide if that's what you wanted to do. But at least that way the option was always there for you. And you can never say one day that you don't know if you could have done it or you're unsure if you could have done it. Just commit wholeheartedly to it and then get to the point where then you get to make the decision on your own. If that's something you're going to do or not. Don't let don't let your own kind of like doubts about yourself stop you from even trying to do it.
That's great advice. Thank you for sharing that. And if you don't let anyone else tell you what you guys can do or what you can't do, I think I'm hearing it a lot, too, like too much lately that counselors are more discouraging. And I honestly, I'm starting to think that they have kind of an ulterior motive. They probably wanted you to go to PT school, maybe. Did your college have a school?
Yes, actually, yes, so this was before, so my my med school is I'm the fourth class, so I actually back when I was recommended to do so, I'll be only out of PT school. So maybe there was some sort of there.
I don't I don't know. I always think there's some ulterior motive, like, oh, you know, if you go to the PT school in the school, keep making money, whereas if you go to a different med school, you win. It's I think maybe it's kind of their job to keep you there.
Maybe. Yeah, I something I tend to like tell people as like counselors are great for telling you what you still need to take to finish. But at the end of the day, like none of them apply to medical school and none of them ever went on interviews, they never did applications at the end of the day, like they haven't had to go through the process. And I think that's why that's I think that's why guidance companies like premed guidance companies are starting to really take off lately is because I think they're just giving a lot better advice. They're hiring like med students, they're hiring physicians. And so you're kind of getting a much better source of what you should be doing that's going to make you stand out rather than like more of like a cookie cutter plan. And so I think it's becoming more popular to kind of go by the guidance of some of these companies.
And I'm so glad that that's becoming a thing, because I only had my counselors to ask or like other people that have gone through this and it wasn't that many. I felt like I didn't really have too many people I could bombard with questions. And, you know, just in the last podcast that's going out, we were talking about how we didn't even know DO school had a different application, let's say a acomas versus MCAS and just like even basic stuff like that. And she didn't apply to school because she didn't budget for it, because she found out last minute. And I'm sure she's not the only person that's had to go through that and find out last minute. So for those of you who really have no idea what to do like us, I'm so glad that there's so many more med school students who are on platforms like Instagram who can answer your questions, too. I feel like I don't have much of that either while I was applying and then it really started to take off, but definitely reach out to people like Sean. His Instagram is at @shaunandersson. And just like ask people, ask as many questions as you can, there's never a question. And it's going to really just help you take off faster than you already would.
Absolutely. Absolutely.
All right. Well, thank you so much for coming on today. I had a great time speaking with you, connecting with you and kind of learning more about how your first year has gone and how your application was.
Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it.
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