Q&A with Dr. Walker

Aanya Rangaiahgari, 8/5/24

• Your undergraduate years shouldn't be entirely focused on becoming doctors. It's actually proven that more people with these types of majors get into medical school versus biology majors. However, you will be required to do extra work on your own to prepare for medical school, specifically the MCAT

When taking the required pre-med classes in your undergraduate year, did you feel the workload to be overwhelming with your chosen major?

• The work was pretty difficult.

• Undergraduate me was mostly studying. It took a couple years of discipline to master how to study hard. I was studying around 60 or more hours a week as an undergraduate. I had difficulty with organic chemistry.

What was the hardest part of medical school and how did you overcome it?

• There were several hard parts, haha. When I got married and had a baby during medical school, that's when the already stressful work became even more stressful. My wife wasn't doing well, I was making very little money, and our baby was extremely difficult to take care of. Balancing home life and medical school was definitely a challenge, especially considering the fact I was getting very little sleep every night, due to the baby. Who was, by the way, was a terrible baby. A year later, we had another child. Yeah, it was pretty hard.

Why do you believe most doctors take biology as their chosen major?

• Most people with biology-related majors are all competing to get into medical school, so it's easier to stand out if you do extremely well with a different major