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Valentine’s Day Live Stream

2019-02-14 · Livestream or live hangout · Ali · recording, 46:10 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Medicine and his doctor years (also: Relationships and personal life, Learning and studying, Books and reading, Mindset, motivation and happiness, Productivity and time, Tools, apps and tech, YouTube, writing online and creators) · mode: Answering questions · tags: Aimed at students, His own numbers

In a Valentine's Day live stream, junior doctor Ali answers viewers' questions on A-level and GCSE revision, medicine applications (gap year, work experience, personal statement), public speaking, books and podcasts, Kindle versus Audible, a budget iPad, why YouTubers burn out, and his move away from obstetrics and gynaecology towards emergency medicine.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Setting up the phone, microphone and books to start the stream

00:02:48 — Valentine's Day plans, his day off and the Apple Watch

  • ★★ Ali says the Apple Watch is not really a productivity device: it is a very expensive gadget with few productivity uses. — 00:03:42 · Apple Watch
  • ★★ Ali is working on a video about the Apple Watch in which he will say more about its productivity uses. — 00:03:42 · Apple Watch

00:06:26 — Junior doctor pay, past live streams and the UCL rejection

  • ★★ Ali used to do many live streams as a medical student. — 00:06:26
  • ★★ Asked why UCL rejected him for medicine, Ali says they thought he was arrogant. — 00:06:55 · University College London

00:07:17 — A-level revision with CGP guides and past papers

  • ★★★ For A-level revision Ali says Google Sheets is not even needed: use CGP revision guides and past papers and memorise the mark schemes to get good marks. — 00:07:17 · Google Sheets

00:07:49 — Kindle or paper, revising as a doctor, learning to edit, his grades and Atomic Habits

  • ★★ Ali prefers the Kindle to paper books; he keeps paper books only to show them in videos. — 00:07:49 · Kindle
  • ★★ Ali says he hardly revises any more as a doctor: doctors do not need to revise much unless they have exams coming up. — 00:09:06
  • ★★ Ali says you learn to edit videos by editing lots of videos. — 00:09:44
  • ★★ Ali got straight A*s at GCSE; at AS he took triple science, maths and English literature, and dropped English literature for A2. — 00:09:44
  • ★★ Ali calls Atomic Habits by James Clear a really good book: it is his second most highlighted book, after Happy by Derren Brown. — 00:10:17 · Atomic Habits, James Clear, Derren Brown

00:10:42 — The hardest part of being an F1, contentment, and how medical school prepared him

  • ★★ Ali finds dealing with uncertainty the hardest part of being an F1 doctor: patients' families ask things he is not sure about, and he cannot ask his seniors about every little thing. — 00:10:42 · Foundation Programme
  • ★★ Ali avoids the word happy, which means different things to different people, but says his contentment with life is at a pretty high point. — 00:11:19
  • ★★ To improve problem-solving for interviews, Ali advises improving problem-solving skills in general, which then makes you better at interviews. — 00:12:07
  • ★★ Ali says Cambridge medical school prepared him well for breaking bad news to families: he follows a system, a formula, and feels comfortable in those conversations. — 00:12:35 · University of Cambridge
  • ★★ Ali has lived in the UK since 2003 and learned English as a first language before then. — 00:12:57
  • ★★ Ali is making a video about the fantasy book The Way of Kings. — 00:12:57

00:13:22 — Overcoming the fear of public speaking

  • ★★ Ali says he used to have a massive fear of public speaking and still has a stutter, which makes public speaking harder. — 00:13:22
  • ★★★ Ali overcame his fear of public speaking by practice, by believing that what he has to say is valuable, and by aiming for a laugh about every minute, entertaining like a stand-up comedian. — 00:13:45

00:14:27 — Books at once, working hours, Jordan Peterson, podcast recommendations and 6med

  • ★★ Ali usually has one audiobook going, several podcast episodes a week, and one fiction and one nonfiction book on his Kindle at a time. — 00:14:27 · Kindle
  • ★★ Ali works 46 hours a week on average. — 00:14:27
  • ★★ Ali tried Jordan Peterson's 12 Rules for Life but did not get past the first chapter because of its verbose style; since so many rave about it, he might try again. — 00:15:16
  • ★★ Ali's podcast recommendations: The Tim Ferriss Show, The Ground Up Show, the Indie Hackers Podcast, Seth Godin's Startup School, The Art of Manliness, Reasons to be Cheerful, Friday Night Comedy, Sam Harris's Waking Up and The Joe Rogan Experience, though he has heard little of the last. — 00:15:16 · The Tim Ferriss Show
  • ★★ Ali turns down a medical-application podcast: after years running 6med, which makes content for medical applicants, it has got a bit boring and he wants to move on to other things. — 00:15:59 · 6med

00:16:30 — Russell Group universities and Cambridge scholarships

  • ★★ Ali says he is from Pakistan. — 00:16:30 · Pakistan
  • ★★ Ali does not think anyone cares whether you went to a Russell Group university or not. — 00:16:30
  • ★★ Ali says there are no scholarships to study at Cambridge unless your own government provides one, as Singapore, Malaysia or Botswana do. — 00:16:30 · University of Cambridge, Singapore

00:16:54 — Mere Christianity and productive procrastination

  • ★★ Ali recommends Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis, a book a friend gave him, which he is 23 pages into and means to finish. — 00:16:54
  • ★★★ Against procrastination Ali likes productive procrastination: even when procrastinating, do something inherently useful, such as learning the piano or guitar or writing something. — 00:16:54

00:17:43 — How much GCSE revision per day, spaced repetition and OSCE tips

  • ★★★ For GCSE revision Ali says start now; about an hour a day of solid, efficient study for now, then ramp it up as the exams get closer. — 00:17:43
  • ★★ Ali does not like recommending a number of revision hours, because people study with different efficiency, baselines and environments. — 00:17:43
  • ★★ Ali knows people who studied eight hours a day while he got more done in half an hour, and his friend Paul understood in an hour what took Ali four. — 00:18:20 · Paul
  • ★★ Asked for the next best study technique if not active recall, Ali names spaced repetition. — 00:18:20 · active recall, spaced repetition
  • ★★ For OSCEs Ali advises practising a lot with friends, seniors and doctors on the ward, finding patients with signs around the hospital, and keeping OSCE preparation focused. — 00:18:45 · OSCE

00:19:17 — No Valentine's date, his geriatrics job, the coming emergency block and book suggestions

  • ★★ Ali has no Valentine's Day date: he plans to order a takeaway and film another video. — 00:19:17
  • ★★ Few of Ali's patients are emergencies now, but his emergency block starts in two weeks, when all of them will be. — 00:19:17
  • ★★ Ali is currently working in geriatrics, care of the elderly, which he finds quite fun. — 00:20:06
  • ★★ Ali recommends Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy as wonderful, and agrees with a viewer's suggestion of The Way of Kings. — 00:20:32 · Mistborn, Brandon Sanderson

00:21:01 — What he looks for in a partner

  • ★★ Ali finds it attractive when a partner has her own things to do: his ideal is being in the same place, each doing their own thing and occasionally talking. — 00:21:01

00:21:31 — Patients' trust, other careers, A-levels, St John's and Caius, hair loss and sport

  • ★★ Ali says patients have never distrusted him for being young or new; he can put on a doctor's voice that inspires trust. — 00:21:31
  • ★★ Had he not become a doctor, Ali was going to apply for computer science and might have become a software engineer. — 00:21:53
  • ★★ Ali does not wish he were a doctor in America: if he wanted that, he would take the USMLE and go, but he does not want that kind of life. — 00:21:53 · United States, USMLE
  • ★★ Ali says A-levels, at least in the sciences, are comparatively straightforward next to university work. — 00:22:23
  • ★★ Correcting something he said before, Ali says St John's College is not known for an intense academic atmosphere in medicine; Caius is. — 00:22:57
  • ★★ Ali first noticed hair loss, hair on his pillowcase, from about the age of 15. — 00:23:58
  • ★★ Ali plays squash, tennis and badminton. — 00:23:58

00:24:48 — Ukulele, World of Warcraft, colleges, a study-with-me video and passive income

  • ★★ Ali played World of Warcraft for about four years between 14 and 17, clocking 180 days of playtime, about three to four hours a day. — 00:25:18 · World of Warcraft
  • ★★ Asked for another study-with-me video, Ali says he might make one next Tuesday (19 February 2019), his day off. (hedged) — 00:25:47
  • ★★ Ali could make a passive-income video but does not know what he would cover: his passive income is specific to the medical-application niche, advice few others could apply. — 00:25:47 · passive income

00:26:18 — Why he prefers Apple devices

  • ★★ To go private as a doctor in the UK you must be a consultant with several years of experience, at least in your 40s; after that Ali does not think it is hard. — 00:26:18
  • ★★ Ali prefers Apple devices because they work nicely together, he is tied into the ecosystem, he likes the look, and the Apple store fixes anything that breaks. — 00:26:18 · Apple

00:26:48 — Private practice, obstetrics and gynaecology, his interview, the BMAT and the personal statement

  • ★★★ Ali says he has gone off obstetrics and gynaecology and is moving towards emergency medicine. — 00:26:48 · Obstetrics and gynaecology
  • ★★ What Ali liked in obstetrics and gynaecology was its blend of medicine and surgery and its communication challenge, especially as a man handling embarrassing problems sensitively. — 00:27:28 · Obstetrics and gynaecology
  • ★★ After his Cambridge interview Ali thought he would probably get the offer, but said so only to his mum. — 00:27:53 · University of Cambridge, Ali Abdaal's mother
  • ★★ Asked for a free alternative to Notability, Ali is unsure and suggests OneNote. (unsure) — 00:27:53 · Notability, Microsoft OneNote
  • ★★ Ali does not look at the price of apps when he buys them, because they are so cheap for how much use you get out of them. — 00:28:24
  • ★★ Ali used Dr Najeeb's lecture series for learning a lot in his first year of medicine, but not after that. — 00:28:52
  • ★★ Of the BMAT and the UKCAT, Ali prefers the BMAT. — 00:28:52 · BMAT, UKCAT
  • ★★★ For a personal statement Ali advises not starting with the introduction: write the rest first, then worry about the introduction. — 00:28:52 · Personal statement

00:29:27 — A budget iPad for students, TV and crushes

  • ★★★ For a student with little money, Ali says a budget iPad is no requirement: if you struggle to pay rent or go out with friends, don't buy one; otherwise he would save up, as it can make you a bit more productive. — 00:29:27 · iPad
  • ★★ Ali watches no TV except Game of Thrones. — 00:30:03 · Game of Thrones

00:31:05 — One channel, and why YouTubers burn out

  • ★★ Ali will not start a second channel for piano or tech: he puts everything on one channel, even if the mix of content annoys some viewers. — 00:31:05

  • ★★★ Ali thinks a big reason YouTubers burn out is trying too hard to please the audience; he focuses on making the videos he wants to make, as long as they are good. — 00:31:05

    “a big reason as to why YouTubers burn out is because they try and please the audience too much”

00:31:35 — No offers: take a gap year; junior doctor pay

  • ★★ Junior doctors at Ali's level earn between £30,000 and £36,000 a year, and he is about halfway through that range in his full-time job. — 00:31:35 · Foundation Programme
  • ★★★ To a medicine applicant with no offers, Ali says rejoice: take a gap year and develop skills, hobbies and yourself while friends at university are not gaining them. — 00:31:35

00:32:16 — He sings Can You Feel the Love Tonight

  • ★★ Ali found none of his medicine interview questions memorable: they were all very standard. — 00:32:16

00:35:54 — Days off, F1 and the media, his old iPad and Quizlet

00:38:29 — Work experience, bad grades, standing out and getting into Cambridge

  • ★★ A viewer emailed Ali's hospital asking to shadow him; the hospital told Ali he may not let people shadow him for work experience, which must go through official routes. — 00:38:29 · Work experience
  • ★★ For someone with bad college grades who wants medicine, Ali suggests getting better grades, graduate-entry medicine, or studying medicine abroad. (hedged) — 00:39:22
  • ★★ Ali thinks he stood out as a medicine applicant through good grades and interesting hobbies he could talk about: at Imperial they asked about his being a magician. — 00:39:47 · Imperial College London
  • ★★ Ali wakes up at 6:15 every morning, or tries to. — 00:40:16
  • ★★ Ali's one best tip for getting into Cambridge: get really good grades, which is pretty much all you need. — 00:40:16 · University of Cambridge
  • ★★ To get medicine work experience without contacts, Ali says email hospitals or go to every general practice in your area and ask; contacts help but are not needed. — 00:40:40 · Work experience

00:41:08 — Kindle versus Audible

  • ★★★ Ali calls the Kindle his second most valuable purchase after his camera and Audible the third; if you must choose, the Kindle, because reading is faster than listening. — 00:41:08 · Kindle, Audible

00:41:42 — Reapplying to Oxbridge and his grammar school

  • ★★ On reapplying to Oxbridge with no other offers, Ali says it depends what you want; in that position he would probably have taken a gap year and reapplied. (hedged) — 00:41:42
  • ★★ Ali went to a grammar school, Westcliff High School for Boys. — 00:42:08

00:42:31 — Getting good at a skill by doing it regularly, learning the piano, the MRCP

  • ★★★ Ali got good at writing and making videos by starting in July 2017 and doing it regularly: start anything, do it regularly, try to get a bit better, and you end up good at it. — 00:42:31
  • ★★ Ali says enjoying something means needing less discipline for it: he enjoyed making videos, so he did not need to motivate himself to make them. — 00:42:55
  • ★★ Ali started learning the piano in his third year of university, when he had a piano in his room and was doing psychology, a very relaxed year. — 00:42:55
  • ★★ For the MRCP, Ali has heard you just do past papers. (hedged) — 00:42:55 · MRCP

00:43:32 — Dating apps and the stream dropping out

  • ★★ Ali has accounts on Tinder and Bumble and has toyed with them briefly, but not seriously. — 00:43:32

00:45:15 — Sign-off and the next video on Google Sheets

  • ★★ After the stream Ali is going to film a video on how he uses Google Sheets for his retrospective revision timetable. — 00:45:15 · Google Sheets

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Kindle

Also: People: Ali Abdaal's mother · Brandon Sanderson · Derren Brown · Dr Najeeb · James Clear · Jordan Peterson · Paul

Works: 12 Rules for Life · Atomic Habits · BMAT · Friday Night Comedy · Game of Thrones · Happy: Why More or Less Everything is Absolutely Fine · Indie Hackers podcast · Mere Christianity · Mistborn · MRCP · Reasons to be Cheerful · Seth Godin's Startup School · The Art of Manliness Podcast · The Ground Up Show · The Joe Rogan Experience · The Tim Ferriss Show · The Way of Kings · UKCAT · USMLE · Waking Up Podcast

Organizations: 6med · Apple · CGP · Gonville and Caius College · Imperial College London · St John's College · University College London · University of Cambridge · Westcliff High School for Boys

Concepts: active recall · Breaking bad news · Emergency medicine · Foundation Programme · Gap year · General practice · Geriatric medicine · Obstetrics and gynaecology · OSCE · passive income · Personal statement · productive procrastination · spaced repetition · stutter · Work experience

Places: Pakistan · Singapore · United States

Products: Anki · Apple Watch · Audible · Bumble · Google Sheets · iPad · Microsoft OneNote · Notability · Quizlet · Tinder · World of Warcraft

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