Episode description

In this week's episode, I speak with Andrew, a MD/PhD student at the University of Washington. After initially pursuing environmental biology in college, Andrew took some post-baccalaureate classes to apply to medical school. While taking those classes, he also worked as an EMT. Then, while applying to medical school, he started working in a cancer biology lab, which caused him to realize that he wanted to continue to pursue research in tandem with his medical degree. Luckily, the medical school he got into allowed him to add a PhD after he was accepted. But before all of that, Andrew spent some time rock climbing full-time after he graduated college. Tune in to hear more about what pushed him to apply to medical school, how he decided what kind of career he wanted in the medical field, and why he decided to pursue a dual degree.

Best for: people considering medical school who need to complete some post-baccalaureate classes first; those considering pursuing both a PhD and a MD

Contents:

1:00 - Introduction

6:43 - Rock climbing after college

13:03 - Deciding that it was time to go to medical school

16:43 - Other medical professions considered

19:15 - Post-baccalaureate classes

21:46 - Applying to medical school

25:38 - Working as an EMT

31:19 - Working in a cancer biology lab

38:48 - Pursuing both a PhD and a MD

48:18 - Lessons learned