One of the lesser known benefits of being a Big Fish in a Small Pond, is that you have all the support that comes from community and friendship—and they are places where innovation and individuality are not frowned upon.

Having worked with and interviewed Rhodes, Fulbright, Goldwater, and Schwarzman scholars, what distinguishes them all is what I term the stair step effect. It is a succession of dozens of increasingly impactful pursuits, one after the next - like rising stair-steps, that ultimately qualifies them for selection.

Artificial intelligence will certainly reshape medicine. This much is clear. Here are some areas of opportunity for it's use in medicine.

My dream is that The Pre-Med Academy becomes a world renowned program such that the top medical schools in the country compete to recruit our students. Schools will even promise scholarship money to entice them to attend their elite medical training institutions.

We put together a webinar evaluating a real AMCAS application of a top student. Learn the secrets of getting into a top medical school.

A Faustian Bargain is a metaphorical deal where a person sacrifices something of great value, usually themselves, for worldly gain, career success, knowledge, or wealth. Many physicians burn out in medicine. Is a career in this field a Faustian Bargain, must you sacrifice yourself to "make it?"

"A professional and clean format is more about effective communication, not about showcasing your personality. That comes out in your attitude, your experiences, your insights. It also comes out through how deeply you've thought about who you are, where you're going, and the problems you hope to solve will naturally and organically express your personality."

The search for the answers to these questions took me to The University of Oxford as a visiting student. I wanted to understand how Oxford consistently produced students who were prolific and left a deep impact in their field and on the world.

"The fear of rejection is deeply rooted in our biology. We are terrified of physical threats and threats to our social standing. When we perceive we are about to be rejected we are flooded with disruptive emotions. Therefore, to be successful, you must gain the discipline of mastering your emotions when getting past no. Nothing takes a higher degree of emotional control than asking for what you want and handling objections."

"Some leaders are old, wise, and experienced; while others are young brash and adventurous. Some give speeches; some are nervous in front of the crowd. Some are charismatic, others are effective leaders without charisma. Most people conflate leadership with charisma, but that is simply not the case."

"The reality is that there is no such thing as work life balance. Life comes and goes in seasons. Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall. Life has a cadence. Periods of work and toil followed by periods of lax and ease. An example of this is an entrepreneur who is starting a business. They may try to condense a 15-20 year career into a brutal 5 years of work. That person in the short term is completely off balance but over longer time horizon they regain their freedom and so it balances out on average."

"I want to share with you a few frameworks that might be useful for studying for your exams. Most students don't have a set strategy to. In fact, no one strategy works for every class. When asked what is the highest technique, Martial Arts Legend Bruce Lee responded: "To have no technique." What he meant here is that you need to be flexible and adapt based on your circumstances. While your study methods should vary from class to class, there are frameworks you can use as guiding principles."