Introduction
Vlogging and schooling, has never been an easy task. However the Student Doctor, Precious Anyaoha of White Coat Chronicles finds a way to combine both excellently well. Fun fact – she finally tells the public about her views on Nigerian and Ghanaian jollof.
PENDICAL’S INTERVIEW SESSION WITH PRECIOUS ANYAOHA OF WHITE COAT CHRONICLES
Pendical: Can we meet you?
Precious Anyaoha: Hello my name is Precious Anyaoha, and I am a 3rd year medical student in Atlanta, Ga. I am originally from Nigeria. During my 1st year of Med school I created a YouTube channel called White Coat Chronicles. Through this channel I hope to give an authentic viewpoint of what medical school is like, while providing advice and mentorship to pre med and medical students. Following medical school, I will pursue a specialty in Emergency Medicine.
Pendical: Briefly run us through a typical day of yours in med school.
Precious Anyaoha: During the 1st and 2nd years, I have two classes in the morning, then lunch break. After lunch break, we typically have anatomy lab, or pathology lab, in the afternoon. I come home around 4 or 5pm, rest, and then study for a few hours in the evening.
In 3rd year, a typical day consists of arriving at the hospital between 6am and 7am, and leaving around 4pm. We see patients all day. When I get home, I study the material for whichever rotation I’m on. I currently just finished OBGYN.
Pendical: What has been your most stressful year so far in med school and why?
Precious Anyaoha: 2nd year. We learned A LOT of information in 2nd year: Pathology, Pharmacology, Microbiology, Pathophysiology. We take all these courses at the same time. At the end of the year, we take our board exam – USMLE Step 1. The score on this exam determines which specialty of residency you can apply for after medical school.
Pendical: What is your best part of being a medical student?
Precious Anyaoha: Learning about the human body and treating patients
Pendical: What is your biggest challenge as a medical student?
Precious Anyaoha: Limited amount of time because you’re dedicated and focused on your studies. There are a lot of sacrifices that must be made during medical school.
Pendical: Oh yes, you delivered your first baby this November, how was the feeling?
Precious Anyaoha: Great feeling! My resident trusted me with the delivery and walked me through the entire process.
Pendical: Which works better for you between textbooks and academic video tutorials?
Precious Anyaoha: Both! I love to be able to read a textbook and get some of the background details that it provides. I love videos because to me, it’s helpful to hear someone else break down a concept.
Pendical: How well do you try to ensure a healthy eating habit seeing that you’re busy most of the time?
Precious Anyaoha: I don’t eat out at restaurants much. I eat home-cooked meals. I’m fortunate that I attend school in the city where I grew up, so I go home on some weekends and my mom cooks for me. But it can be difficult for some students to avoid eating out and eating unhealthy.
Pendical: What is your favourite go-to snack on a very busy day?
Precious Anyaoha: Hmmm, I love packing bars. Like Nutrigrain fruit bars or peanut butter crackers or pretzels
Pendical: How often do you come back home (Nigeria)?
Precious Anyaoha: About every 2 years. Last time I was there was Christmas of 2017.
Pendical: What is your best part of Nigeria?
Precious Anyaoha: Being with family
Pendical: Do you plan on coming back to Nigeria to practice after school?
Precious Anyaoha: I don’t plan to practice there. But I would love to go back and volunteer my medical services.
Pendical: A caption on your Instagram post when you once visited Ghana reads, “…and trying jollof from multiple sources, I think the Naija vs Ghana jollof is crazy lol” but you never really picked a side, haha. So let’s settle it here, Ghanaian jollof or Nigerian jollof?
Precious Anyaoha: Naija Jollof of course!! Haha
Pendical: In your first vlog, you mentioned a number of things you’ll love to achieve through your YouTube channel and how often you planned to post — every Sunday. How well do you think you’ve done in achieving these through the years?
Precious Anyaoha: That’s awesome that you’ve seen my first post! Through my first year I was very consistent with posting weekly. During 2nd year, I slowed down because of the demands of the course load. Now in 3rd year I have found a good balance and I’m picking up the consistency again.
Pendical: You also mentioned in your first video that we would follow you on your hair journey. Have you ever considered adding a section on hair: hair care, hair styling, hair products or anything of that sort?
Precious Anyaoha: I’m not sure if my viewers will connect with that. But maybe I can ask and see how much interest there is for that content.
Pendical: A very interesting vlog on your channel is one on keeping relationships in med school. How do you manage to maintain a beautiful love life despite your tight schedule?
Precious Anyaoha: Communication is key. There must be understanding of each other’s schedules. Making each other a priority is key, but also understanding that school is a priority.
Pendical: On average, how long does it take you to come up with a video from filming to editing?
Precious Anyaoha: Coming up with the concepts doesn’t take long at all. I typically just film my day, but I must think about how to creatively capture my mundane days. When I do sit-down videos like “How to get into med school”, “Interview tips”, etc, I take my time to write out a script.
Editing is done on my phone using iMove. Then I transfer it to my laptop to add the music. I edit in small chunks throughout the day. So, if I vlog for a full week, I do some editing each day, instead of waiting until the end of the week to edit the entire vlog.
I make sure that my channel is not very time consuming, because school is number 1 priority.
Pendical: Is there anything new you plan to add to your brand as you progress that you’ll love to share?
Precious Anyaoha: As of now, I just want to continue creatively capturing my life in med school. I always reach out to my viewers to see what they’re interested in seeing on my channel.
Pendical: Who are your best three ‘YouTubers’?
Precious Anyaoha: Jamie and Nikki, Jon Olsson, Adanna and David
Pendical: After med school, what next?
Precious Anyaoha: Residency. I plan to specialize in Emergency Medicine.
Pendical: Are there any words you would love to share with those reading this?
Precious Anyaoha: If you want to pursue medicine, then make sure you’re disciplined, and you have a sharp focus. The road is not easy. It takes a lot of dedication. But in the end, it is worth it. There will be ups and downs, and you may doubt your ability along the journey, but keep your faith.
