why does this dude look like he's about to laugh at a joke at any moment

Thanks a lot I'm in 9th grade and want to become a neurosurgeon, I am going to take this advice and pursues my dreams.

I am a fifth year dental student in Poland. It's been very busy. While my friends are going out and party, I need to study. But I couldn't be happier with what I am doing. Seeing a smile after I'm done working is the best thing you can ask for. Be prepare to give up many things, but everything will pay off one day. Be the person who loves your job and doesn't have to worry about the future.

Jesus christ, how are your teeth so perfect.

Love this video! 100% true. Enjoy life! I'm the exact 'traditional' premed student you talked about. I had some killer motivation my freshman and sophomore year, and now in my junior year I've just felt a little burned out. Studying for the MCAT drained my life in every aspect. I just took the MCAT on Jan. 13th and am now trying to get back in the swing of things and enjoy life once again. Burnout is real for premeds and I'm glad you mentioned it. Great editing on these videos too!

Really nice to hear about your non-traditional path. I’m currently taking a gap year before starting university (medicine is a possibility in the future), and I’ve been nervous about how this year could really throw off my life. It’s refreshing to see that you did a similar thing, and you’ve come so far. Congratulations, and thanks again.

His application fees mustve been like 10 grand 😯

I am constantly told I cannot be a doctor. As my father who is a M.D. I have always wanted to follow in his footsteps. Except....I am doing it for me. After being around the medical field for so many years, I realized I wanted to be a doctor at a young age. I have been lazy my Junior year in High school. As a senior in High school right now. I just want to prove that I actually can become a D.O. I have fallen in love with Sports Medicine and I know that next year I am going to become a strong candidate and apply myself to do what my goals have been for the last eight years. I thank you for the motivation. I don't think it will be easy, but once I am in college I am going to try to the best of my ability to achieve greatness and become a D.O. I love the whole D.O. Philosophy I can't tell you enough how I just want to start college already and pursue my aspiring dreams. I kindly thank you for your amazing videos and I cannot wait to see you get your Degree. Well Respected and very smart. Thanks for your awesome videos, Annie

SD Thompson, thanks for sharing your path to med school. From the comments posted here and in response to your other videos, your channel has been super helpful to a lot of aspiring doctors. I'm also glad that you've let people know that it's totally fine to have a "non-traditional" path to med school. In my experience, there is very little correlation between which students follow the traditional, straight-through college to med school path, and which students become the most respected and successful doctors. I would add two more pieces of advice to your great video: First, while most med schools seek out a diversity of backgrounds and paths in the applicants to whom they offer spots, schools' greatest concern is not wanting to accept an applicant who will fail to complete the degree. This isn't a matter of money, but rather a combination of prestige and internal validation. If a class starts with 100 first year students, but 10 drop out before graduation, it reflects very poorly on the school. Thus, schools want to offer spots to people who not only want to be there, but also have a strong track record of following through on commitments. Obviously, this doesn't mean that an aspiring doctor can't take time off during college or between college and med school (as I've already said above), or that he/she can't change careers - of course they can, it happens all the time and it's completely fine. But it does mean that the aspiring doctor should do something demonstratably meaningful duing that time. You don't need to volunteer for the Peace Core or start your own company, but when the med school interviewer asks what you did during the time away from school, if the answer is limited to "I travelled around a lot" or "I found myself", either rightly or wrongly, that's a red flag indicating you may not have sufficient "grit" for med school. (i.e. grit for medical applicants is a relatively new concept that can be defined as "perseverance and passion for long-term goals, working strenuously toward challenges, and maintaining effort and interest over the years despite failure, adversity, and plateaus in progress"). In terms of how to predict which applicants will ultimately grow into successful doctors, schools are starting to appreciate that grit is more predictive than their MCAT scores, grades, or which colleges they went to. The second piece of advice is to consider the current and future states of medicine before committing to med school. Ruling out alternative careers to medicine isn't the same as ruling in medicine. Health care in the US has changed dramatically in the past 10 years, most prominently in private practice primary care. While as an academic hospitalist, I'm personally very happy with my current career, I have yet to encounter a community primary care doctor who is content with either their personal career, or with the state of primary care in general. The reasons for this are incredibly complex, but if a person who is considering medicine has a primary goal for their future career of "helping people", that person can help far more people by entering a career in health policy (which may still include an MD degree for optimal perspective). I'm not trying to be a downer, but anyone considering medicine needs to realize that life isn't ponies and rainbows after residency (unless you go into derm or ophtho...j/k!) Keep up the great work SD Thompson!

You have no idea how much I appreciate this video. Keep it up you're amazing!!

Thank you for the reminder to enjoy life before medical school; i've really been getting caught up with studies that I am seeing my priorities become poorly balanced. God bless and I can't wait to see more video updates!

I feel like I can relate to you because I definitely lived for awhile based off of finishing my bachelors but then felt completely empty with the work I was doing. I feel complete, passionate and blessed to be on this pathway finally. NEW SUBBIE thanks for your inspirational words

Very nice video! Loved the story. Very realistic and shows that anything is achievable if you put your mind into it! :) This inspired me in so many ways!

I love that you had a different way of getting there I am now in the same boat of enjoying life before med school. Thanks

This sounds like my future med school interview

Thank you so much for your insight! I definitely can relate so much because I personally want to do pre-med, but later in life so this definitely makes me feel more secure about how I feel. And that being non-traditional is not the worst thing that can happen especially if you live a fulfilling life before committing yourself to the journey.

Oh Man, you applied to 40 med schools !!!

Amazing story..this is really motivating. Thank you Dr. Thompson!

I have a 3.8 GPA, scored a 20/36 on the ACT on 1st try and I'm planning to take it again, I'm taking the hardest classes I can take possible, and I'm on student government. I'm working my butt off to keep my GPA with my classes, and studying for the ACT to get at least a 30/36 just to get into Vanderbilt. I don't think I'm enjoying one bit of my life, and I'm certainly not going to. Your journey of becoming a doctor might have been untraditional, and seemingly easier than most, but you could be giving people false hope, people need to learn to be prepared for the worst.

I really needed to hear this message, so thank you for sharing. I've been out of school for almost 3 years and, while not everyone supported my decision, I decided to take time off to "cool my brain off" before diving back in nose first. That time was EXTREMELY necessary and the patient care experience I gained helped solidify that medical school was for me. Thanks for taking the time to make these inspirational and informational videos. You are greatly appreciated ☺️

Loved the video. I'm a non-traditional student as well and all you here from advisors and other speakers is that "traditional" advice. So thank you for letting us known your story, I can definitely relate.

Thank you for the advice ;) As a highschool student, interested in med school, I really appreciate hearing what you had to say!

This is exactly what I’m looking for! Thank you so much you’ve been so helpful!

as a pre-med student, this helped me so much! i just need to partake in more ECs in the next two years before i apply. it makes me feel a bit better that you didn't rush into it. there's so much pressure in school from all the students trying to rush into medical school but I think that taking time off to do stuff for yourself is a great idea too! thanks for the video!

I love this video & your advice!I Had one unit left before I can enrol for med school but the summer(holiday) course was cancelled, so now I have to spend this first semester on it. Annoyed at first at the time loss, but now I'm encouraged to use the free schedule to get a job, go to the gym, and have fun before 6yrs of med school starts next year! After all, I'll be turning 19 this year, so I'm still pretty young. Huge thanks from Fiji! :D

Awesome, awesome, simple awesome advice. Thank you for sharing. This video can certainly be a beacon of light for both traditional and non-traditional students like me ;) Wonderful!

You're inspiring (: I appreciate that you shared your story because I'm also not taking a traditional route. I'm in my second year in college so I still have a way to go. I'm sure I'm not the only one, but at times it might seem overwhelming and I worry that I won't get into a med school. But other times, many times, I have this deep feeling that I will and can be a great physician. I hope that feeling is right, and I'll continue to work hard in order to make it.

Excellent video and story, Thompson! When I heard the words "Eagle Scout," I was immediately captivated. I, too, am an Eagle Scout from Las Vegas, Nevada! I began my journey in college on the pre-medicine route, majoring in biology, but quickly became aware of the fact that I wasn't as passionate about medicine as I initially presumed. I am now a philosophy major, and hope to pursue a graduate degree in either philosophy itself, or alternatively, earn a Psy.D, and then become a licensed psychologist. Best of luck to you in your future endeavors and journey to self-discovery!

I would like to genuinely thank you for posting this video as well as your others. It was on my recommended list and I'm glad I didn't overlook it. I grew up in a broken home without overwhelming support for pursuing further education. As a senior in high school I set up my schedule so that I could graduate early as to get myself out of the negative environment with hopes to pursue premed. Unfortunately, other family obligations got in the way and I ended up not graduating at all- at least not yet. It's now a year later, I work full time and I'm scheduled to finish high school by the end of April. I will finally be able to attend a university in the fall and am so ready to zero in on my education and starting the path to becoming a physician. Thank you for a realistic video like this. Sometimes life gives us curveballs but that's a part of figuring out where you're meant to be. Best wishes on your next semester!

Medical school sounds horrible in USA. In Finland its the best time of your life. Your life wont be only studying. There will be a lot of time to do other activities too.

Thank you so much for this! I guess this is all I needed to hear.

Woah, this sounds like what I am doing now. I volunteered 4 years as a missionary/volunteer for my church and now am ready to pursue medical school. You're such an inspiration!

You are super inspiring my man. Thank you for uploading this, new sub for sure.

Thanks for sharing this! Wrestling and becoming an Eagle scout can actually give you MANY of the traits needed to become a doctor. I hope those is you that want a career in medicine accomplish your goals!😊👍🏾❤👨🏾‍🎓👨🏾‍⚕️📚

Well, sometimes it takes more time to figure out what you really want to do in your life. Great video, fingers crossed for your brilliant medical career! :)

So awesome that you volunteered at Shriners Hospital for Children! I've been a patient there for years. I'm almost 17 now and I really want to be a doctor when I grow up! I feel such a calling into medicine.

it was really interesting to hear "your story" education wise. it was kind of an unorthodox way to go through college life and all. I think that's why i found this video so valuable for me because I'm so indecisive about what my specific path is going to be. so it was really liberating and cool to see that you had this like other way of finishing college aside from the "norm". I'm interested in engineering (sort of), i've been going through Engineering and STEM programs since i was 6 so it's something i've grown up with. Possibly planning on going into Aerospace engineering or mechanical and then narrowing down. But I'm also really interested in Neuroscience and becoming a surgeon one day. Plus extracurricular and traveling abroad for a few years. so nothing too structured, i'm praying about it and figuring it out as I go along. Thanks so much! - a current Junior in High School

I love this story. I went to school for engineering for a couple years, then took a couple years off and just worked in retail management. I am now going back to school as a pre med student working part time, and hopefully can get some loans so I can quit my job and be a full time student. Thank you for your story it was very motivational

This is the best advice I've ever heard on this subject. Thank you bro.

Dude you inspired me & i will pursue my dreams. Its never too late!!!

I love your channel. I am beyond my 20s and glad to see videos and advice from older folks as well who have lived life and want to get into med school. Most of the videos and advice I have found seem to target students in highschool or still in college. I graduated with a BA 9 years ago and I am only considering med school now. Thank you so much for sharing your experience and being so candid about how life can surprise us all.

Thanks for this. It cleared up some thoughts about this road.

I'm starting premed school after high school. Thanks for this video really helped me a lot. :)

Thanks man, this really made me rething my decision about going to medical school.

Wow thank you for making this video !! God bless you !!

Hey thanks for this awesome video. I am currently studying healthcare administration at BYU-I. I kind of feel the same about the business side of life and how I don't feel like it will give me the satisfaction that I want from a career or job. I have contemplated going to medical school, but I haven't even taken one chemistry class. Your video really gave me some good hope about starting late, (not SO late) at 24. Thanks again!

This definitely was an inspiration for me... Thank you very much, God bless.

Huge help! Very encouraging!

Thank you so much for this video, it really helps a lot for high school seniors like me with a serious interest in medicine, but an uncertainty in what the future of medicine holds. Thanks again.

You have given me hope. Thank you for the videos.

I've been a correctional officer, a car salesman at a huge Toyota dealership, and now, at age 20, I've finally decided to follow my passion of helping people in a career that actually means something to me. I've experienced life and struggled and because of that, I think my motivation is stronger than ever.

Great insight! Life as a medical student can be tough with the workload, so it is important to enjoy life before you get there. However, you should always try to hold on to the things which do make you happy and reduce stress in your life. They can be great coping mechanisms during medical school!

Thank you very much! Finally someone understands. I'm not going for BS Bio. but I'm taking all the Pre-Med prerequisites. However, I would like to enjoy my life first before committing myself to medicine like going around the world, etc... Thank you very much for your advice!

Yay advice from a mormon. I needed this as I’m a high school sophomore who likes to plan ahead. And am mormon as well

How crazy!! IDAHO!! Glad I found you, fellow Idahoan:)

Thank you for sharing. I'm trying to decide whether I should I try to go to med school. It's always been a dream of mine. In high school that's all I ever wanted to do. Then I got to college and things got real. I had a great freshman year, then came sophomore year and that's where it all went downhill. At that time, I didn't realize what I know now. I appreciate all my ups and downs throughout my undergrad and I've definitely been on a mission to travel since. Thank you for sharing your path, because mine seems to have been similar.

You've inspired me so much :O Thank you!!

Thank you for this story. This is fantastic.

When he hits us with that "took two years off for my church" and "eagle scout" you know he's LDS. How blessed to get the Switzerland mission though, what a beautiful place.

AMAZING STORY! Thanks for sharing it with us!!

thank you you're story and many others that have commented on you're video give me hope that even though am older, married with a child my hope of becoming a doctor is not impossible :).

:) this was so refreshing. thank you so much.

I have a similar story. Attended various colleges and a program(which I completed) before graduating with a degree in Education. Been traveling since I was young since my family use to go on missions trips, I became greatly passionate about serving people because of so. Currently I'm residing and working in South Korea as an EFL Teacher and I am looking forward to starting a Post-Bac Pre- Med Program next year. I have done just about everything(seriously) and I've realized how my desire to become a doctor one day has never faded. It's now or never!

wow! you give me lots of hope. Im a teen mom in my senior year of high school and i want to be a pediatrician one day. The cost of med school scares me a bit.

Thank you so much! I am applying this year as a senior and I am super nervous. This really helps!

Thank you **so** much for making this video. I am in my last year of high school and I would love to see myself really doing something meaningful everyday. I want a job where I can build relationships and help people. I have thought about majoring in other things, but I get this excited feeling in my gut considering pre-med. I am a Christian and I consider that the most important thing about me, & in researching I got pretty discouraged that basically to get through medical school I would have to learn to put myself first, won't have time to serve others, my life and worth would be school, etc. I am a very hard worker, but I want to be a hard worker in what I do for and because of Christ. I am a little hesitant because I just want my life to really mean something, and I feel that I have to choose now.

you are a guy who actually lived ..... great thing to have someone ( your wife) to support you through these drastic changes. all the best ... great video thanks :)

You take a ton of time to answer questions on here. I admire that. You and Dr. Tooley lead the youtube young doctor team

This was such a nice video thanks for the advice 🙂

Thank you for another video. I just signed up for my premed classes I went to school before and didnt know what I wanted to do and wasted time and money. I took a couple years off and figured it out and im so excited and anxious to get started! I am looking into start job shadowing soon and I already work at a hospital as a CNA but idk what other advice u may have for me as far as extra curricular activities go. I always enjoy your videos and im keeping you and ur family in my prayers.

Can you give an update on your life? I am so encouraged after watching this! I'm so curious to know where you are and what your are doing now?

Wha?!? You're from Idaho? I live in Boise, small world. I am a non-traditional student as well. Thank you for showing me that my dream as a non-traditional student is possible!!

Wow. Very inspiring. Thank you!

Hey! I don't usually leave comments. But thank you. I'm a first year neuroscience student in Canada. Med school is different I think from than in America. Highschool marks are never considered for medical schools in Alberta. Which is nice. I consider myself non-traditional as well. I went on an exchange in high school to Austria, graduated, took a year off in Australia, went back to university and was in a Bachelor of Arts to do international relations. Hated my life. Hated going to school. Withdrew and worked full time as a cook for the military and started my program this fall and I am so so so happy. Needless to say I agree with your statements. university of Calgary Med school asks you to list 10 things that have happened in your life that shaped who you are. They often compare working at McDonald's to being on an Olympic team as equivalent. Because it's not what you did and how impressive it is; but who you are and what kind of physician you'll be. Again, that's just my perspective on the medical school in Calgary. :) Thanks for the video.

Great vid! Thanks for sharing. Greetings from Puerto Rico!

LOVE this video!!

Super informative! Thanks!

Haha, I did 2 years of missionary work too after my first year of college. I'm looking into pre-med pretty soon. Thanks for your advice!

Thank you for this!

I really appreciate your take on this. I think maybe you're right in saying that your other options should be eliminated before you pursue medical school.

this encourages me so much.. thanks

I just subscribed now, and I wanted to know what you're grades were like in high school because if you didn't receive a high ACT score, you should have good grades and GPA to back it up

Loved this thank you!

SD Thompson, Your videos are great and I find them extremely helpful. I am also a "non-traditional" student and can relate to everything you've discussed. I was a bad student in high school and I continued to do poorly in my first year of college. I started off at a community college, didn't take an SAT. I had no inclination or focus whatsoever as I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life and I decided after a few bad semesters to jump in the employment pool and work. That's what I did and I became extremely unhappy with my life, career wise, as I was barely scraping by. I decided to go back to college and have been doing very well. I consider my time off, like yourself, an advantage as I was able to travel, gain occupational knowledge/experience, and narrow down what I wanted in life. Anyway, I have several questions after watching all of your videos. Have you come across anybody at your med school that maybe dealt with a similar situation as myself? Someone that transferred from a junior college to a university, started off very poorly, but brought their grades (GPA) up to meet med school requirements? I'm 25 and just now getting back into the swing of things, trying to bring my GPA up to ensure med school admission. I realize that because of my academic performance, I will need to have pretty heavy clinical, research, and volunteer experience. So I was wondering if you can possibly do a video on just that, your volunteering, clinical and research experiences. How do you volunteer in another country without high cost? Did your church pay for a portion or were you responsible for full payment? How long did you volunteer? How did you come across the opportunity to participate in researching genetics? Was this all set up by your school? Also, I have questions pertaining to your med school interview. You stated you applied to several schools, I think 40 or so, did you interview at several schools? Were you responsible for flight and hotel fees? What were you interview experiences? Were they in-person or internet interviews? What were common questions? How extensive are the applications? What do the applications for admission entail? Etc. Thank you in advance for taking the time to read through my questions, I hope to see a new video soon!

This is really awesome.

Thanks for the video. I'm 20 years old currently in my 4th year of college and doing some extracurricular on the side such as part time work at McDonald, research assistant in psych, and volunteer coach for special Olympics. Throughout high school I was into sports and formed many great experiences, but in my 1st year of undergrad, personal issues hindered my education and my marks suffered. The idea of pursuing medicine hadn't even crossed my mind yet. As time went on from 2nd to 3rd, I started to get my life back together and things turned around. I realized that I wanted my relatively short time i have in this world to be more than just working an office job. I wanted to work in a field that made an impact and aligned with my interest. So the prospect of a career in practicing medicine really resonated with me. Having said that it feels really weird talking about my goals and ambitions to others personally; particularly this one. I always wonder if others feel the same way. Perhaps its a self-esteem issue. When i see an another premed student i always feel inferior. Maybe its because of self-doubt (in my marks and in my experiences). My grades are generally what successful applicants have so it's nothing too spectacular. Or maybe it's just my life of being raised in a single parent family with relatively low income and no relatives in medicine while studying in a fairly middle to high class academic institution. I just finished all my pre-med requirement and planning to take the MCAT this December hoping with a year to study it's shouldn't be too bad. Currently, im finishing my degree and i'm planning to take 2 years off volunteering more vigorously, accumulating the capital to pay for my education, and generally taking this time to reflect on my past actions and decision to attempt med school application. The question i ask myself everyday is that... 'when i walk into the interview room (if i get a chance to) and they ask me a question will i have enough life experience to draw from to give a honest answer so that they will consider me for acceptance' And the answer to this day is "i dont know" and for many days to come it will still be that same answer. If you read this long comment, thanks. It's not too often i get to express my goals like this even thought it's just on youtube, but your video was inspiring.

Im in 10th grade and i want to be a doctor and I have my heart set on it. Its what im going to do regardless of what anyone tells me

Great video. Thanks.

Thanks for a more realistic journey!

Thanks man. I’m from the uk and unfortunately I get to pick only 4 universities for medicine. I’ve been rejected by two so far, and I felt like the whole world was crashing on me. Here in the uk you don’t have to do premed before medicine, you could by doing a biomedical science degree before medicine, which is probably what I will do. Thanks for the advices man, God bless!

This is exactly what I am going through right now, got wait listed at schools this past year right after undergrad, but never got in. At first I was concerned with having a "gap year", but now I am working and volunteering and loving life by doing all the things I never got to do in undergrad. Definitely worth it.

As a junior in high school this helped a lot! Thank you so much! But I feel bad that my GPA might not be high enough, I'm still a little iffy about medicine.

How many of the 40 schools did you get accepted into?

Thank you for sharing. I feel like I can relate quite a lot to your life. Now that you are at med school and are working/studying 7am to 10 how do you balance your family and your education?

I am think I will enjoy med school, smart people, nice topic, interesting job.

Thank you for making these videos! I'm considering going to med school, what resources should I check out to see if it's right for me?

Thank you so much, so so much.

I love your videos!

I really appreciate this video.

I have a head start, freshman in Early College High School. I'd most likely want to become a radiologist or an orthopedic surgeon. I don't choose what I want to major in until I become a junior.