(00:00) — Pre-k graduation and "I want to be a baby doctor": Where the idea of medicine first appeared for Riya.

(01:07) — Seventh-grade biology and Hashimoto's thyroiditis: The classroom moment that made medicine feel like a real possibility.

(02:24) — Hospital volunteering in high school: First clinical exposure, patient interaction, and what sparked genuine interest.

(04:57) — Discovering combined BSMD and BSDO programs: How Riya and her mom researched programs in eleventh grade and decided to pursue them.

(06:45) — Reflecting on the accelerated path: Whether finishing undergrad in three years meant missing out.

(07:15) — The MCAT decision: Why avoiding the MCAT was a meaningful factor in choosing a program.

(09:12) — Applying to 23 schools: The breakdown of combined versus traditional applications and getting into four programs.

(10:05) — Choosing between programs: Family proximity, location, and the DO philosophy as deciding factors.

(10:54) — Why DO over MD: What the osteopathic mind-body-spirit philosophy and hands-on technique meant to her personally.

(12:22) — Conditional acceptance pressure in undergrad: Carrying valedictorian stress into a three-year sprint.

(13:42) — The hardest semester: o-chem, biochem, and anatomy simultaneously with three concurrent labs.

(14:45) — Physical planners and time management: How Riya stayed on top of classes, tutoring, and two research projects.

(15:33) — Finding The Premed Years on a two-hour drive: How the podcast became part of her routine.

(17:10) — Medical school versus premed undergrad: Why the schedule now feels more manageable.

(19:14) — Finding your own study method: Why copying what works for others often backfires.

(24:19) — Menstrual health app, a thousand-dollar prize, and a TikTok research project: How curiosity led to unexpected opportunities.

(26:54) — Words for the stressed premed: Gratitude journals, getting back up, and holding on to small happy moments.

Riya knew she wanted to be a doctor before she could fully explain what that meant. By eleventh grade she was researching combined BSDO and BSMD programs with her mom, and she eventually applied to around fifteen of them alongside traditional schools. She got into four combined programs and chose a three-plus-four DO pathway that let her stay near family during undergrad before moving states for medical school. The cost was real: she finished prerequisites in three years, took organic chemistry, biochemistry, and anatomy in the same semester with three concurrent labs, tutored classmates, and ran two research projects simultaneously. She also drove two hours home most weekends and, on those drives, found this podcast. Now in medical school and studying for Step, Riya reflects on choosing DO over MD, what the osteopathic philosophy genuinely gave her, and why she has no regrets about any of it. She talks honestly about the stress of a conditional acceptance, the trial and error of finding a study method that actually works, and how keeping a gratitude journal got her through a brutal first semester away from family.

What You'll Learn:

- How combined BSMD and BSDO programs work and what it actually takes to stay in one through undergrad.

- Why one student chose a DO program over MD programs she was also accepted to, and what that decision has meant in practice.

- How to manage an overwhelming premed course load using intentional time planning rather than sheer willpower.

- Why finding your own study method matters more than copying the approaches that work for classmates.

- How following genuine curiosity across research, hackathons, and extracurriculars can open doors that a straight-line approach would miss.