You Can Train Like An Athlete And Still Become A Doctor

You can chase medical school without shrinking your life down to nothing. We sit down with Adidi Ayer, a competitive college swimmer who found the LECOM pathway in high school, said yes to an affiliated undergrad, and proved that a demanding sport and a serious pre-med track can coexist when your systems are solid. If you’ve been told you must quit everything to become a doctor, her story offers a smarter, more sustainable blueprint.

We get specific about what the grind actually looks like: early wake-ups, two practices a day, long labs, weekend travel, and still keeping academics on track. Adidi explains why structure is the real advantage, from scheduling homework to protecting sleep to building MCAT study habits that do not collapse under stress. Along the way, we talk about osteopathic medicine, the DO route, and how early acceptance style programs can reduce the anxiety of the traditional medical school application cycle.

Then we shift into LECOM Erie and clinical training, where the lesson gets even more practical. Adidi shares how being quizzed in class helped her handle pressure, and why learning to calmly say “I don’t know” is essential for medical students on rotations, including in fast-paced settings like surgery. If you want better time management, a healthier pre-med lifestyle, and a clearer picture of how athletes can thrive on the path to medicine, this one will land. Subscribe, share with a pre-med friend, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway.

Transcript

Welcome And Quick Background

SPEAKER_00 0:00

I'm here with Adidi Ayer from the great state of Colorado, but your path has been Colorado, Chicago. Tell us kind of your experience in getting to LeeCom and maybe why why you made that decision.

SPEAKER_01 0:13

Okay, so um I was a senior in high school when I first found out about the program. I found out through a friend. Um and I didn't really know what DO was or anything. And I like looked into the program and into the affiliated schools, and I saw that um like a few of the schools on there I was interested to swim for. And so it worked out really well. There was one school that one of my um the undergrad that I went to that my one of my friends from high school who I swam with also swam for that school. And so I ended up going there for undergrad through the LeeCom program. And so uh that was my pathway into leecom.

SPEAKER_00 0:53

I think most high school students, if they're thinking they're going the medical school route, tend to think that they cannot do um extracurricular activities, that their life kind of becomes medical school, if that makes sense. Uh you have sort of a unique story. Um, you weren't just there swimming for fun, you were actually competing with a college program. So kind of explain that mindset and then also you know how difficult it was. You kind of mentioned your your days, how they looked earlier. So kind of talk about that process because very unique story.

SPEAKER_01 1:25

Yeah, so um I can't lie, it was definitely a little challenging. And I think for any um pre-med student, no matter what program you're in, it's very difficult, you know. But I think what was nice about LeeCom was I wasn't super stressed about the application cycle. And especially like your junior year, that's when it's really big, you know. You're talking about junior of college. College, yes, sorry, junior year of college. And um, that's that's when the application cycle is really big and everything. So that takes up a lot of your time. And I personally I know that I wouldn't have been able to um swim if I was, you know, um, or I would have had to take a gap year or something. Um, I wouldn't have been able to uh joggle swimming with the medical school applications. Um, but honestly, I loved swimming. Like it was just even aside from the sport itself, like it was just a good structure for me. I need structure. Like I thrive on, you know, having waking up at a certain time, like going to bed at a certain time, like and you know, going to classes in between. I really liked, you know, having that structure. And so yes, it was painful, especially. Um, there's like this time where they really right before a big meet at a conference championship, like at the end of the season, I remember I would just be so exhausted. Like I don't even know how I would stay awake during classes and everything. But um I think my grades were always the best during swim season because it was just like a good structure for me and that's what I needed, you know. I knew I had to get my homework done at a certain time. And when I was studying for the MCAT, like I knew it, like I had I had to stick to a schedule, you know, um, for it as well in order to make my practices and to get like a certain amount of sleep and everything.

The Daily Grind Of Two Practices

SPEAKER_00 3:08

So it was so you were talking earlier about uh getting up at like 4 30 in the morning, swimming, and then even coming back later in the day. So kind of walk us through that on top of taking some of the classes, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:18

So it really depended on the day. So there were two there were two practices. I think one was at 5 15 and then there was a later one at 1. 5 15 a.m. Yeah, 5 15 a.m. And then another one that was at like 6 45. And so it just depended on your schedule. And also, um, I was a distance swimmer, and so uh I went to my team was pretty small, and so I think most of the distance practices were the early morning practices. So even if I didn't have 8 a.m. classes, I would still most of the time I was in the 515 practice. Um, so yes, I would wake up really early and I need like eight hours of sleep. I was one of those I was in bed at 9 p.m. in undergrad. I really needed like, and so I knew that I like thrived with a good amount of sleep. And so um I would make sure that I was getting that sleep. So I'd wake up at like 4:30, 4:45, you know, get ready to go to practice, and then I'd have practice in the morning. Um, most of the time I'd have to, I'd go like shower and go straight to my classes because I would I I feel like oh most days I would have 8 a.m. But don't quote me on that. There were definitely some days that I would have like 10 a.m. or like even afternoon classes. And so um, and then I think at least four days a week we would have afternoon practices, whether it was lifting or swimming or what, whatever. Um, so after classes, I would go in again for my afternoon practices. Some of my classes even went like late. I would have labs. Sometimes I'd have labs till 7:30. So I'd go to practice and then I'd go into my labs, you know. And so um long days. Yeah, they were long days. But it was just it was I loved it. Like, and I did um I did pretty well. I mean, it's definitely did have its challenges, like, but um plus travel on the weekends to meets, yeah. Travel on the weekends to meets and everything. So um, I just had to learn how to juggle and time manage, which is really important in for medical schools.

SPEAKER_00 5:04

So I would say you sound like you had a very uh robust and well-rounded undergraduate experience. So um I think kind of a unique experience. And you kind of mentioned too that maybe not having to worry your junior year about what's your future held held, are you gonna get into med school? And that's one of the advantages I see of the leecom program that students can kind of either take more challenging classes. There's a there's a lot of great stories coming out of this today. So um, but then you go to leakom. So can I talk about the lee comm experience and then kind of where you are in your placement right now?

SPEAKER_01 5:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:34

Um, so and which campus did you go to as far as leak?

Learning To Say I Don’t Know

SPEAKER_01 5:37

Yes. So I went to the Erie campus. I was um LDP, like I mentioned before. I do really well in structure with structure. So I needed to be sitting in a classroom from 8 a.m. to like 4 p.m. roughly. Um, and so I really liked it. Honestly, um, it was it was a really good. I know like sometimes, you know, lectures can be a little bit boring and everything, but it was I really needed to be sitting in a classroom, like because otherwise if I know that if I'm stuck, like if I'm trying to study on my own, I won't get work done. So I knew like going in that I needed structure. And it was also nice. I was um, it was like a hundred person, hundred, 120 kids roughly in my um pathway. And I was sitting on the aisle. So I would get quizzed a lot. The professors, they would always be standing next to me and quizzing me, and everyone knew too. Like everyone knew that, like I was always getting asked questions. And honestly, it was it was really good for me now because I at first I was really nervous, like when they would ask me questions, especially in front of all of these like really smart kids in medical school, you know. And I remember my face would turn bright red. And even if I knew the answer, I would blink because I was so stressed about it. But um, and I wish I could say that I answered all of the questions that I got asked, like, and I was, you know, a genius and knew all the answers and everything, but I'd say maybe like probably maximum 50% of the time, I actually knew the answer. So I got very comfortable saying, I don't know. And I think that's like a big learning lesson, like especially now when I'm, you know, in these rotations and everything, because if I like we knew all the answers, we wouldn't be in school. Like there was no need to be doing this. And so I got very comfortable saying, I don't know. And even like now, like um, I get like I'm on surgery and um my preceptor has been grilling me, you know, all of these questions about um like anatomy, physiology, everything. And I say I don't know a lot, and it's like totally okay because it's we're medical students, we're not gonna know everything, you know. And it's just nice because like in Lee Com to and in Ammercy, like it they make it an environment conducive for learning. Like I don't feel bad for saying I don't know. Like they know that I'm still learning and they know that I want to learn, you know. And so, which is really awesome because they're not making me feel bad for you know answering the questions.

SPEAKER_00 7:49

Sort of another barrier reduced there.

Final Thoughts And Goodbye

SPEAKER_01 7:51

Yeah, you know, and everyone makes mistakes, we're not gonna know everything. So it's been nice. Like I'm not horribly stressed, you know, like going in, or even when I was by the end of it, like my two years at LeeCom, like I I would definitely say, I don't know, and I would say very casually, it wouldn't be like my face is bright red, I was trembling, you know, saying, Oh, I have no idea what you're talking about, you know. Like, yeah, I don't know, like what's like please explain this to me. Sure. And same, same here at Mercy Jefferson, like, which is awesome. You know, that's like how it should be. We should feel comfortable, you know, um, asking, like, okay, I don't know what this is. Can you please explain this to me? So it's a great environment.

SPEAKER_00 8:29

Great story. It's also cool to see the well rounded part of this as well. So thanks for sharing your story and good luck to you. Yeah, thank you so much. Thank you.