Dr. Tracye Lawyer: Hello everyone and welcome back to the Med Mentor podcast. I took a little break but now I’m back rolling. Dr. Tracy Lawyer, I’m orthopedic surgeon.
Colin: I’m Boise, Idaho. This will be episode 5 that we’ll be looking at and I’m with Colin. And so we’re going to talk a lot of good. Stuff as far as like preparing for medical school, kind of what it’s like now. All this good stuff. I try to get everybody with different backgrounds. So you guys… Can you hear about their advice? This is for you guys. So I hope you’re enjoying it. If you have any questions about anything, you can go to my Instagram. Which is the Med Mentor or I have a website, themedmentor.com with some resources. But enjoy this episode. It’s going to be amazing. So Colin, welcome. Welcome aboard. Happy to be here. Alright, so let’s start with some easy stuff. So let me know what year are you in medical school? So I am a first year. First year. Oh right. And so how’s first year going? It’s good. It’s been fun. It’s been hard but definitely feel like I made the right decision. So that’s always a good…
Colin: That’s always a good thing. Awesome. And so you guys are coming in. Would you say you’re halfway through then a little bit over? Yeah, so we’re going to have… Six system blocks this year. And so we actually just finished our finals for the fourth block today. Oh wow. So we’re in the home… Stretch. Good. Good. That’s exciting. And then what’s what will be the next block for you? It’s cardio. Cardio. Okay. Alright. We’re finished neuro today. So… Good. Well congrats. Got it.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: Give you congrats on each stage and celebrate those stages. So well I love your background. So let’s just talk about before medical school. You’ve had a lot of different jobs. Can you walk?
Colin: I’m from Idaho and so kind of from a small town. Lots of farming and stuff.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: So probably around junior high. Started farming and that was kind of all I did. Nice. Up until I got to college and evening college still worked throughout the summer.
Colin: Went to undergrad at BYU Idaho which is in my hometown. Okay. And then an undergrad just kind of did a variety of things. I was a caregiver. I worked with kids with disabilities out in the community. That was super fun. Nice. But those were the big ones. Then just kind of did odds and ends here and there. Yeah. Whatever had to… I felt like doing something. Nice. Very good. And so do you have any like family members that are doctors or in the medical field at all? I don’t. Alright. So we’re… I love that. I love that. Well good. And so talk to us about kind of like how you knew medicine was a…
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: When did it like come about? Was it in high school? Was it doing these jobs? Where was it at? Where were you like? I really am feeling going to medicine.
Colin: I think it started just like looking at doctors and thinking that they’re cool. Whether it was in real life or on TV. So I always had that in the back of my head. I graduated high school. But at the end of the day, so I am the oldest. I had a younger brother with autism. And so I think that experience… kind of taught me that kind of taking someone under my wing. Maybe helping them through difficult times was what kind of made me tick.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: And so that’s kind of what got my mind seriously considering it. Yeah. Obviously. And under that I talked to the pre-med advisor. And I was just to see what he thought. And he kind of gave me some tough questions. He was like, what is your mom do? Well she teaches school. Cool. She helps people all the time. And so talking to him made me wonder if I want to do medicine. What is it? That really sparked my answer. And so I’ve got to admit I was still a little bit naive. And so lucky for me the kind of that naiveness kept me on. And so I was just thinking about the path and work some health care related jobs that really just solidified that desire and made it stronger than before. Nice.
Colin: Like some of the jobs. I mean, like and I did not work on a farm but I’ve had a lot of friends who did. And so the hours are like really early, right? Yeah.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: And so you’re waking up really early so you kind of get used to that kind of lifestyle. Yeah. Tell me about some of them and kind of the work that you did. Yeah. Ironically I think. And I would always tell the people that I worked with this but they’re really similar to doctors. Right? Like you mentioned the early mornings, the late nights. They don’t decide when something.
Colin: Brakes or they have to go out and fix a piece of equipment. And so I think it kind of taught me those little things of being comfortable with. Not knowing what’s going to happen next to kind of the varying work schedule. It also taught me a lot about myself knowing that I would need to be on my feet using. My hands. Yep. So yeah, it was an awesome job. It gave me a lot of autonomy. It taught me a lot of responsibility. Yeah. You know, obviously when you’re on a farming. I’m not always going to have cell service. Yeah. I’ve had four wheelers die without cell service. Oh man. And so it’s kind of sucked in the moment. But looking back is like. It’s a great opportunity to kind of test myself to teach myself that even if things aren’t going right. There’s always a way. Yeah. So just. Nice. And is this is this like family kind of owned like farm or is this like working with somebody else or? Yeah. So I had a friend his dad farm.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: And so I, you know, in junior high, wanted to start making some money. Yeah. So I just started with them and never stopped. I guess good. It could be pretty taxing to like.
Colin: Yeah. Oh, yeah. That’s what I’ve heard. Well, that’s fantastic. So I guess any thoughts for you about what you want to go into based. on maybe what you’ve seen in this first year or based on the jobs you’ve done. Yeah. So like I said, definitely something that keeps me on my feet using my hand. I kind of so I shouted a lot of surgery before I came here. Okay. So that was kind of in the back of my mind and then gotten to anatomy lab and absolutely loved it. Yeah. So something, you know, general surgery, surgical subspecialty, emergency medicine, those are kind of all things that bounce around. I think as med students were super impressionable. Yeah. So if you know a lecture comes and gives a presentation about their specialty, you leave the lecture hall. That’s what I needed. Yeah. I want to do that. You’re definitely flopping back and forth. Yeah. That’s cool. It’s good to keep interest in a variety of things. Perfect.
Colin: Did you take some time off between undergrad and medical school at all? Yeah, I took a gap here. I think the way that like applications are now unless you like. Really plan ahead. That’s just kind of what happens. Okay. So I decided I want to graduate, then take the MCAT. And so that kind of gave me a year to between applying.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: Starting school. Okay. But it was awesome. I loved my gap here and definitely glad I did it. Nice. And did you do the jobs during that time? Or did you do the shadowing during your gap year?
Colin: Yeah, I did. I definitely kept working during my gap year. Kept shadowing just to get that extra experience. But it was stuff that I could.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: And I was just kind of continuing some undergrad. Yeah. Yeah. Awesome. And is there a point when you’re like, like, medicine is my calling? Like this.
Colin: Or are there parts in your first year where you’re like, this is where I need to be. This is, like you said, you’re like, I made a good choice. Like, was there, I guess, for some pre meds, they’re always like, I don’t know if I want to go right into medicine because it’s so long. It’s four years of medical school. And then it’s, you know, three. Or five years of residency, maybe a fellowship. And so they’re like, I don’t know if I wanted to make that leap. What would you say? Yeah. So like I mentioned for quite a bit of time. I was just kind of naive. It’s kind of kept going down the path of medicine. But in my caregiver role, I did that for almost three years. Oh, nice.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: And that, that job was like, it might sound cheesy, but it was really life changing. Mm hmm. Like there was, I’d get up at five in the morning. And there was plenty.
Colin: of times where I was working on, you know, the Fourth of July or Christmas Thanksgiving. Yeah. And, you know, when I kind of like reflected on those experiences. while I was working, I realized that I never really regretted taking that job. Mm hmm. Or, you know, it was frustrated that I had to work early mornings or work on holiday.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: And so that’s when I kind of realized that one I really loved, caregiving and taking care of people. Mm hmm. And it was kind of an unconditional.
Colin: love you could say. Yeah. There’s obviously like hard days, but I never regretted taking that job. Nice. And so that’s like if there was a time. where I felt a calling to medicine, it was definitely during that job. Mm hmm. Yeah. That’s really great. What, like four pre meds who were like, well, how do I even. get into maybe doing caretaking or trying to get shadowing? Like, well, how would you recommend to them? Like they’re, they don’t know where to start. Yeah. It’s definitely hard. to be on where you’re at, especially. And from my experience, I think, no early on and undergrad, you know, you’re reading the online forums. saying, this is what you need to find this exact type of job. And looking back, that was when I was hitting or kind of finding the most obstacles, trying to find experiences. was when I was going out and trying to find a job that fits these categories. Yeah. And, you know, it’s just like the job that this person on Reddit.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: And I was like, you know, I was like, what do you want to talk about? Yeah. You know, a lot of my most impactful experiences were just things that I was open to. But that I wasn’t necessarily looking for.
Colin: Okay. But to give kind of actionable items, I guess, for your listeners, I had a lot of luck going to like faculty at my university. Okay. Yeah. So they’re obviously teaching a bunch of tree health students. And so a lot of people will go to them. Okay. You know, looking for help or saying we need this.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: And so I think that’s what I would say is that we need to be open to students interested, point us our way. Yeah, that’s good resource. Yeah. So that’s what I would say. But bottom line, just be open doing whatever. Whatever. Yeah. As long as it obviously as long as like, it’s something that you’re interested in. Yeah. I don’t think you can go wrong. Yeah. Did you get when you were applying to medical schools? Like did you?
Colin: Use any of this in like your essays where you asked on interviews about any of this stuff that you like your work jobs, anything like that. Yeah. Yeah. So I think that was probably about like a third of my personal statement. Oh, nice. So it’s super meaningful. Obviously in the application, I think you get either 700. I think it’s. Oh, okay. Maybe it’s good to know. Maybe 700 characters to write about your experience. So that’s just another opportunity to kind of highlight what you enjoyed, why it was meaningful, why it made you.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: Better person, a better future doctor. Nice. So that’s really good. Did you apply? You’re from Idaho. Did you apply everywhere? Did you apply other places?
Colin: Where were you looking? I guess. Yeah. So I kind of, I think there’s 10 schools that I applied to kind of Midwest, West Coast. Really no. Particular kind of rhyme or reason just is mostly location. Okay. So I think the idea with application or applying is just. To kind of send applications wherever you’d be fine going to, because I mean, obviously it’s super hard to get into a school. Yeah. So over apply and. Hope someone accepts you. Yeah. Yeah. Well, that’s good. Yeah. I always say, you know, you’re going to be there for four years. And so yeah, you’re doing all the studying, but you kind of want to enjoy. Yeah. A little bit. I mean, here there’s a lot of outdoor stuff to do, but you know, if you were like, I remember, I applied, I was from California and I was like, I just need somewhere else. I applied everywhere east of like Ohio and I had no, there was no rhyme or reason. I just wanted a different experience. And so yeah, and it was. And so, but I.
Colin: I think that it’s good even when you think about residencies to look at other. Places as well. So I went down to the south. So I’ve been Midwest south and then I came back up to Pittsburgh and now out here. So I think those are just a variety. Yeah. And so I went up to the south. And so I got to go back to the south. And then I went to the south. I went to the south. And then there was a lot of other places that you can treat people. So that’s awesome.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: So let’s go on. So how did your non-medical job strengthen your medical school application? We touched on it a little.
Colin: Yeah. So it sounds like your essays and stuff, although the cure taking was that’s like a huge one. I really like that because it kind of shows like the right, the emotional.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: So I’m like, I want to be a doctor because I want to help people. So was there anything else kind of to add on that?
Colin: Just as far as like writing about them. Mm hmm. Yeah. I think and I’m glad that someone gave me this advice when I was applying, but you know, admissions communities are looking at so many different applications. Yeah.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: And you know, everyone is unique, but we’re all kind of similar, especially for applying a medical school. So everyone’s going to have research hours. Everyone’s going to have volunteer hours.
Colin: Mm hmm. So I think it’s really important that you one state sure to who you are, but then highlight that in your application because that ultimately.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: And so I was really pleased with.
Colin: My application. And that was kind of my strategy was to obviously show them that they’ve done, you know, the prerequisites and the experiences that you.
Colin: Obviously farming had those correlations. I was a tutor. And so instead of just saying, you know, I tutored these students and taught them. Mm hmm. Right. I think something that you know, you can do is save those last couple sentences to highlight a specific experience and see. You know, this is was maybe something that I struggled with in this role. This is what I did. And this is how I grew if I met. Mm hmm. So it’s a really easy way to. Put your little unique spin on something that may be monotonous, I guess, or something that they see all the time. I think it’s those are such good points because we are all different. And especially with these essays, I’ve had students ask me like, Hey, can you read my essay and some of it’s just some of them are generic. Right. And it’s really you got to, you got to be kind of true to yourself, right. And you’re not going to be like everybody else, even though you have the same passion for it.
Colin: But I think those are really good points to take on your kind of experience. I always like when people do take gap years or even. Like two years, because I feel like you learn a little bit about yourself. And then it’s not like you’re just coming straight out of school and then all you have is academics, you know, so I always. I think that’s pretty helpful. Yeah. No, those are great. And what, how did you kind of like. prepare when you did get the interviews. How did you prepare for those interviews or what do you think like the admissions committee? What were they looking for? Like.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: How would you go and help people with that? Yeah. So I think the thing that helped me most, I guess I should preface by saying, I come was like the one school that I wanted to go to.
Colin: Okay. That’s where I’m a student as Idaho College of osteopathic medicine. So they were my first interview and then like a week or two later, they said I was accepted. Oh, no. And I canceled. Okay. There you go. Good. Good. Good. Good. For the interviews that I was preparing for, I think practice helps a lot. I know a lot of people just kind of went into. Other interviews, you know, saying, I’m going to be true to myself. Yeah, say what’s on my mind. What you want to do? But I think it’s super helpful to rehearse answers. Maybe with someone. who’s been there before, whether it be a doctor, or a pre-med advisor used to, I think he worked out of medical school.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: And so he kind of had his
Colin: and interesting takes on, you know, your answer, you didn’t say anything wrong, but this is what you could have said to make it this much better. Oh, yeah, that’s great.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: And so, I mean, I probably did five or six.
Colin: Practice interviews. And, you know, he would put on his interviewer face,
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: so no emotion.
Colin: And, you know, a lot of them would run from 20 to 30.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: And so, it was super helpful. And then you get into the actual interview and everyone’s way nicer than what you thought.
Colin: So, it was a breeze. Oh, that’s…
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: Great. How many was it like a one-on-one interview for you? Were there was like a panel? Like, what was the setting like?
Colin: Yeah, so I don’t know how it was when you were…
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: And so, I was kind of applying, but now for me,
Colin: at least that icon, it was kind of an interview day. Okay. And so, we kind of start with like a message from the Dean. He was talking… Okay.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: And then you’d go into your actual interview.
Colin: For icon, it was two faculty members, each taking turns asking questions.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: And that went on for 30.
Colin: So, we were in the same Zoom. Oh, okay. Gotcha. Gotcha. Gotcha. So, they were both there with me.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: And then I think we…
Colin: We had like a student panel later that day,
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: and then there was kind of like a closing kind of Q&A session.
Colin: Okay. Nice. That’s good to know. Yeah. Because for me, it was like a panel. It was like three or five. Okay. And so, it was kind of nerve-wracking a little bit. But once you do get in there, they are like… Nice. Even when you do your residency interviews, if they are like… Once you get the interview, that’s like the big step, I think. Once you get in there, it’s actually not bad. I didn’t really have any… Any bad interviews when I was like, Oh my gosh, I don’t know what to say or do. So, I think it’s just… It’s getting that interview that’s a huge hurdle.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: And then, yeah, you do have to be yourself,
Colin: but you do need to practice. I think that’s important.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: And then that’s really helpful advice.
Colin: That’s going to be helpful even when you kind of get out of residency
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: and you’re doing your boards, and then…
Colin: You have to do your cases and stuff. It’s good to have somebody go through those cases
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: and they ask you questions, and then you can kind of be put on the spot.
Colin: So, I think that’s… That’s awesome.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: What advice would you give pre-med students who are worried about having
Colin: like a non-linear path, so taking the gap year, or if they took maybe five years off, or… I just don’t know if I can cut it or I don’t know if medical school is right from me, or I’m too old or not. Yeah. I mean, in loss, you have been doing anything during that time. I think everyone can kind of flip it to be an advantage for them. I think experience is like… There’s nothing better than experience. Yeah.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: And that obviously comes with time. And so, depending on how long your kind of gap has been between undergrad and apply.
Colin: I think the longer it is, that’s just more experience that you have in your belt. So, like I said, there’s obviously a way that you can spin it to how that… That experience is going to help you be a better doctor, a better physician. Because obviously knowing the medicine, knowing the path of… Oh, Jesus, it’s obviously important. But at the end of the day, you’re just dealing with people. Mm-hmm.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: And so, that’s maybe something that non-traditional applicants…
Colin: Can offer that maybe a 22-year-old college student who’s just going straight into medical school… Can’t necessarily. Yeah. No, absolutely. Yeah. So, can… Yeah.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: And so, if you’re not going to be a teacher at the college, you just have to be able to use that…
Colin: Or be able to choose stuff that’s going to work out for you. Yeah.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: And I think a lot of the times it’s also impressive just because…
Colin: It’s much more of an arduous process to someone who’s coming from industry… Mm-hmm. …to kind of reroute like that and take on something like medical school. Yeah. So, it’s definitely something to be applauded and… I think it definitely helps them because, you know, you don’t have to… It’s very. It’s very obvious that if you’re making that decision medicine is what you really want to do… Mm-hmm.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: And so, being able to show that and showcase that is super valuable.
Colin: Yeah. No, absolutely.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: What do you think your weaknesses and your strengths were coming in as an applicant or coming into medical school?
Colin: Yeah. Weakness. Like GPA and MCAT. Mm-hmm. I didn’t start off undergrad super hot, which is totally fine. Yeah. I was looking at my application. Earlier today and I think my first semester, my first year was just barely over 2.0. Mm-hmm.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: And then senior year was like 3.8.
Colin: So, really good to hear. Yeah. I’m feeling like I’m failing.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: How can it be a doctor?
Colin: Yeah.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: And it’s super hard to tell people not to worry about that because they’re obviously in that…
Colin: Moment. Right. But I always told myself just like upward curve with as far as the GPA goes is all that matters is by the time you’re graduating. Try to have one or two semesters where you’re killing it. Yeah.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: And then MCAT too.
Colin: I was didn’t necessarily have like the resources to pay for a huge… You know, I just self studied and I did the job and I’m wearing that.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: And you just had to take it the one time.
Colin: Yeah. I just took it once. Perfect. But I would say that was my weaknesses. Just like on paper. I know I got screened out of some of the schools that I applied to because my GPA… Total GPA, you know, didn’t… wasn’t passed there or above their threshold I should say. Gotcha. Yep. But as far as strengths…
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: And based on the feedback that I kind of got about my application was I just kind of had
Colin: like an overall brand which I think was… super valuable in something that everyone can do. Mm-hmm.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: And to kind of like define what a brand is as far as a med school applicant was I obviously
Colin: had my… Which was exactly who I was and why I wanted to go into medicine. Mm-hmm.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: And then what people have told me is like if you go through my application, everything that I…
Colin: Did kind of… You could trace it back to that personal statement. Nice.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: And so for example like working with kids with disabilities you can trace that back to…
Colin: You know growing up with a brother with autism. Mm-hmm. Yep.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: And so in the moment that’s not necessarily something that I was thinking about but I think it was
Colin: something that when people… kind of took a step back and looked at my application as a whole. Mm-hmm. You could kind of see my experiences tracing back to who I had…
Colin: Yeah. I think like being a physician obviously medicine is like its own little industry. Being a physician is own little job. Mm-hmm. But there’s so many different aspects of it. Being a physician like we said like having the people skills. Yeah. Or that be patients, families, nurses, whatever it may be. I think it just is a blend of a bunch of different skills that don’t necessarily relate to medicine. Mm-hmm.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: And so that’s what I found to be helpful was…
Colin: …you know, no matter what the job is, if you’re working in fast food, maybe you can be like, you know, I had a manager that was really tough and this is how I deal with it.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: And so…
Colin: … …I think that’s the best way to kind of blend those things. Mm-hmm.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: And like I said, I think like my pre-med advisor really…
Colin: …courage me to, you know, in the descriptions of my roles, to kind of take part of that… …a lot of number of characters. Mm-hmm.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: And you know, add in how I grew from it.
Colin: Yeah.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: And obviously the growth just comes from self-reflection.
Colin: Yep, that’s so key. Yeah. That’s really, really…important.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: I think self-reflection, even at each point, right?
Colin: I mean, so I say you got to celebrate stuff and kind of reflect on your knee on your year, how’d you do that kind of stuff. That’s really, really I think, truly take, maybe…
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: All good partner education education and success, right?
Colin: Yeah, I understand, yes. Well I’ve got some exams that the amount can lead with, you know, even as you step into a management system, you can walk into a fitness session eating a food and keep the world safe. You know, this is gonna be a wrap, is going to be- All good. Mm-hmm. Yeah, and so I know that was super helpful for me as far as getting accepted. Mm-hmm. Because it was kind of a blend of, you know, a patient giving their… letter of recommendation and an employer and a friend. Mm-hmm. But then other than that, I had a professor that I worked with and did some research.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: And then that’s a position that I shadowed.
Colin: Okay, nice. That’s a good… I mean, you want to get some… Some people that know you, obviously. Yeah.
Colin: Using it. Yeah, I want to say I use it for everything. For me, something that I struggled with kind of when I started med school is, you know, what we were learning about was like cross
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: and you know, I had steps. I learned it without a problem. But then the
Colin: disease is really, we’re kicking my butt. And so… I just put in a prompt to chat GBT to teach me about this disease and then do like two to three rounds of teachbacks. So it would… My goodness. You know, get me… four or five paragraphs about maybe pathophys or clinical presentations. And so I read it and then just teach it back. That’s crazy. And so then it would give me another round where it was like you got this stuff right. This is where you could add in more detail or you got this wrong.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: So that’s why I say I don’t know. Know how we did it. Yeah. Oh my goodness. Oh yeah,
Colin: that’s what the other, my other Colin was saying that they… gave. She used it for like extra test questions in style. Yeah. It’ll just bang out, practice questions like nobody’s business. Oh my goodness. It’s pretty insane. I love that. I love that. So do you… I guess, I mean, do… How do you prefer to study? So are you kind of like a group study or are you… solo study or are you… If I need to get something done, definitely a solo study. Yeah. But that’s kind of… for me, that’s the quickest way to… burn out and kind of be over this whole med school thing. Yeah. So it’s definitely been important to find a balance. Yeah. You know, and accepting that I’m going to go… study with this group and maybe going to get half as much done in an hour than I would on my own. But at the end of the day, it’s going to be worth it because…
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: I’m going to have fun and take breaks talking to people. Nice. That’s awesome. What’s been the hardest part of this year for you?
Colin: I think just like… making sure that I’m consistent and kind of like the longevity side of med school. Yeah. Like for example, most recently, coming back… from winter break, I was ready to go. It kind of felt like I had been on break for too long. But then that first midterm hits and you’re really studying hard for that test. Yeah. And you can kind of feel it starting to take a toll on you. So it’s definitely not something that I figured out. I feel like, you know, for finals this week, I kind of crashed… burned heading into the week. But yeah, I think you don’t really like learn something all of a sudden. It’s like looking back to my… my first finals week, I’m doing way better than right now than I was back then. Oh good.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: So I was just finding little things to tweak and adjust. Yeah. To kind of optimize your…
Colin: for obviously optimizing your performance in school, but optimizing your mental health and
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: life outside of school. That’s awesome. What do you think a big win has been for you?
Colin: This year where you’re just like, man, that’s amazing. Like really proud of yourself. Honestly, I think just like getting through the first semester. Yeah. I don’t think there… was a specific grade or a specific exam that I was super excited about. But yeah, kind of the feelings after that first semester was like… you know, we just finished an entire semester of med school. Yeah. I’m doing the thing. So I was just super hyped to say that I finished and… did well in all my courses. Yep. Good. Yeah. The little stuff, right? Yes. It’s kind of like a macro win, I guess. Yeah. I think when you… before you get into… as a pre-med, everything is like focused on… getting in a medical school. And then when you get there, you don’t realize like, okay, well, I’ve gotten the first feet. I am here. This is what I’ve always wanted to do. So that’s really… that’s awesome.
Colin: That’s really good. What are you looking forward to? I guess for a second year or maybe this summer, are you doing something? It’s kind of a summer like break. Don’t… you have any summer plans as of right now. I guess what I’m really excited for is like third and fourth year. Yeah. Sounds like that’s gonna be super fun. Our school, I think, has a… really good simulation department, whether that be like mannequins or standardized patient actors.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: And so we have one of those kind of like, oskis.
Colin: Or kind of a simulated patient encounter maybe once a month. Okay. And so… You guys do it now? Or you do it in your third and fourth year? Yeah, we’re doing that right now. Oh my goodness, that’s great. Yeah. Being able to do that instead of, you know, have an actor patient and have to go back
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: and put your nose in a textbook. Yeah. Yeah.
Colin: Absolutely. What would you say to those pre-meds who are trying to do coursework, maybe trying to do their MCATs and their juggling work? Like what do you…
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: What advice would you give? Would you say, don’t focus so much on whatever, blah, blah, blah. So how would you help them out? It’s definitely hard. Yeah.
Colin: I think for stuff like that, it’s just definitely important to have kind of your priorities straight.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: So if grades aren’t necessarily working out or not in your favor.
Colin: Then that’s probably something to kind of put more of a focus on. Yeah. Not saying that grades are the most important thing, but they’re definitely kind of a… Cut off. Yeah. Depending on what they look like. MCAT for me, I was lucky enough that I could just kind of… I was living at home and so I just studied… For the MCAT for six months wasn’t really doing anything else. Okay. That’s good to know.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: So if someone had to work and do the MCAT, I’m not sure what that would look like, but it’s definitely dual.
Colin: I’m sure plenty of people are doing it and there’s always ways to figure that out. Yeah. Maybe it’s something that you could talk about on your everyday. Yeah. There you go. That’s great. It’s good to know that you don’t have to take the course. I know some of these courses are pretty expensive or the packages. So you can study and you can do it on your own. Yeah. That’s really nice to know. This is an interesting question that I came up with this with.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: So what job experience do you think is are underrated for future physicians?
Colin: Let’s see. I think, you know, obviously I’m biased because of my personal experience, but I think anything that gives you autonomy.
Colin: You know, I think it really teaches you to trust yourself.
Colin: From my experience, if you’re working underneath someone or kind of have someone watch…
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: what you’re doing, you can kind of count on them. You’ll say, hey, don’t do that. Yeah.
Colin: Or be careful here instead of kind of having to use your intuition.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: And instincts. And so that was something that I really enjoyed about my experiences before
Colin: med school was I feel like I got a lot of opportunities to… kind of have that autonomy and obviously mess up a bunch. But that is medicine all in one. It’s better to mess up sooner rather than later. You’re going to get to a point where you’re going to have like people help any help any
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: and then you’re going to get in practice and there’s nobody there. It’s like on my own. So yes, autonomy is great. Oh, that’s fantastic. I do talk about with some of my pre-meds,
Colin: about mindset. I think… that’s really, really important as you go to medical school, as you go to residency.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: What kind of mindset shift did you have or do you think you had or do you think it was the same?
Colin: Yeah, I think it definitely switches for a lot of people. You know, before med school, like you said, you’re balancing a lot of different stuff.
Colin: I think med school really just demands your full attention and effort.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: So that was super important. That was another piece of advice that I got that really helped.
Colin: You know, over that summer before you start med school is to really do a lot of self-reflection
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: and be certain why you’re doing this. What you plan to get out of it. So that was something that was super helpful for me. And that’s like those thoughts are just like something that I keep in a document. And so…
Colin: I always thought it was kind of corny when people would say that, you know, on your toughest days, read your personal statement. But it’s come out to be true. You know, when you’re having a rough finals week or maybe you didn’t do as well on an exam, as you would have liked to just kind of pull up that personal statement or those self-reflections.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: Kind of remind yourself, why are you here? Why it’s going to be worth it in the end?
Colin: That’s been super helpful for me. That’s so great. I love that. Yes, self-reflection. I think it’s a hard thing. But yeah, I think that it’s really important that you know the why you’re here and it has to be for you. I had a lot of friends that did it for other people. And that… Unfortunately, isn’t going to sustain you. And then people end up either burning out or dropping out or whatnot because you have to do the work. You’re the one doing the lay down. Yeah. So yeah, so you’ve got to know the why. And I think that’s right. You’ll get you through those tough nights. It’ll get you through residency. So, you know, when you’re looking at your specialty… Can I do this for 20, 25 years? Right? Because when you think about even for me in my practice, everything is… always glamorous. And sometimes there’s things that I kind of don’t want to do. But I have so much
Colin: passion in what I do that it’s just… It doesn’t matter to me. Like it’s just like… I’m just going to get it done because I really like the… getting people back to whatever sports or I love the anatomy of what I look at. That kind of drives me. So, I think you have to… I think you do have to reflect on that. But it’s got to be
Colin: all for you. Yeah. Exactly. A little selfish. But yeah. It’s all for you. So, okay. So, we’re at our segment with a rapid fire. And these are the MedMentr Pearls. So, best job that you think you have… Yeah. Once again, it’s got to be the caregiver. Yeah. I mean, just kind of checked a bunch of boxes for me, both application-wise and personally. It was a great teaching experience. It was a friendship that I was able to develop. There’s lots of like a lot of the people that I shadowed were connections with. The person that I was caring for. But yeah, as far as med school goes and the application in life, it was really… Yeah. I went back for Thanksgiving and we had them over for Thanksgiving. And so, it was it’s pretty cool just to think back and realize just taking… a single job could kind of alter your life. Yeah. I think that’s amazing. I think that’s
Colin: that’s very humble and I think that’s awesome. Name one skill every pre-med should develop. Yeah. Practical skill, I would say. It was definitely scheduling. It’s obviously super important. Something that really helped me was just having a calendar. Not only to keep you on track with med school, but also… block out that time for… you know, whether it’s going to the gym or making dinner or taking time to hang out with friends or with a partner. Super important. I think you can get caught up both ways, whether it be in school, you can kind of lose track of how much time you’re spending on school or the… that you can… you’re having so much fun that you don’t realize that you’ve spent half a day… Yeah. When you maybe should have been studying. So, that’s definitely practical. Yeah. No, that’s a really good one. Name a class. It can be either in medical…
Colin: medical school or undergrad, a class that humbled you. Yeah. So, I’d have… to go with a class in med school. For us, we call it C-Med. It’s like practice of clinical medicine, I think, is what the full name is. That’s what our simulated patient… Oh, okay. And it’s been super humbling. You know, you think that you know a disease or know a patient presentation and then… you go into that room and you don’t have any notes. You don’t have a question stem kind of jogging your memory. And it’s just insane to realize like how much doctors have. Up in their nog and all at once. Yep. Yep. Yep. So, it’s definitely super stressful but super motivating to get back out and get those pathologists. Yeah. The Oskis were… I just remember those and it’s so funny just because you’re all sitting outside of the war, right? And you’re about to go and it was just nerve-wracking.
Colin: Yeah. It was really, you know, the patient, the actor was like so good. And you just had nothing. You had a pencil and like a blank sheet of paper. Yeah. You’re just asking questions and you had the mirror. Someone is behind there. Yeah. It is nerve-wracking but it’s super helpful. I mean just to go through the thought process and then go off of like what they’re telling you and you know… Getting the history and everything. So, but yeah and all the stuff you have to retain. And it’s crazy. You will retain it all. I don’t think you will but your brain is pretty magical. It’s gonna retain all that stuff. That’s a good one. Something you learned outside of medicine that makes you a better future physician. It’s probably has to go back to farming just knowing that you like. You can handle the early mornings and the late nights and it’s not gonna totally derail you.
Colin: You know, obviously you need to take care of yourself but that was definitely something that was on my mind.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: When I was considering med school is like you know seeing surgeons that wake up at four in the morning and
Colin: they’re operating by seven seven thirty and leading the hospital at five it’s definitely super daunting. Yeah, but it’s obviously doable. Yeah. So, it was super helpful to learn that. Yeah, I think my morning starts at four thirty. A lot of it now is just having like me time for her. Just I have three kids and so that’s nice. But I’m a morning person.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: So and then yeah, just starting starting my day but I am like out cold at like eight, eight, nine p.m.
Colin: Yeah, definitely not a night out. So that’s really good.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: And then one myth about the perfect medical school applicant. One myth I think would have to be that
Colin: there’s kind of one way to do it. Like I said, if you do a quick Google search, I think there’s a lot of people that are going to kind of give you a mold that you feel like you need to fit into. As far as your application goes, but yeah, I think, I mean, I’m not pumping my own tires but I think I kind of was able to break that mold and stay true to myself. Be authentic in it. I’ve see worked out in my favor. And so I think that’s what I would say is if you think that you need to have. I always thought it was funny that you’d find someone that was putting an ideal number for research or volunteer hours. But it really is a game of quantity or sorry, quality, not quantity. Not quantity. Yep.
Dr. Tracye Lawyer: And so that’s that’s definitely the approach that I took and I’m glad that I did. Yeah.
Colin: Not only did it show through my application, but it also meant more to me. If I’d have just found a clinical job that checked the boxes of the hours and making sure that. You know, a clinical practice. I don’t know. It definitely wouldn’t have been as meaningful as my caregiver position. Yeah, definitely. That’s such good. Amazing. We’ll come at the end. So anything else that you would like to add or any advice you would like to give to pre-medical students. This has all been fantastic. Yeah, I think just the biggest piece of advice would be to stay true to yourself. That’s like, and not only is it the best thing for you, but as far as you. Application. I would be interested to see if anyone disagrees with me. Yeah. You know, as far as just putting who you are on paper. I think it can only. Work in your favor. Yep. No, I think that’s great. Yeah. And I think that that applies through
Colin: everything, right? So you want your doctor to be. Different than you don’t want it to be all like robots, basically, and all the same. And yeah. And so I think that you’ll find that out through training is continue to be yourself. Don’t. Compare yourself to other people. Just, you know, you go with what your passion is, how you think you should treat patients, that kind of stuff. So I think that’s super great advice. But thank you. Thank you so much for being here. This has been amazing. So you guys are going to appreciate all these pearls. So thank you once again. Yeah. Thank you.
