"It's not even the competitiveness, really. The coursework and classes are just really hard and there's so many of them and it's just too much for some people. They get overwhelmed and can't keep up. I had to quit a job, the only reason I can keep up with the clinic is that I own it. It's open on my schedule."

Otherwise...no, Nadine couldn't work and learn to be a doctor at the same time. The academy is too demanding and the schedule not terribly forgiving. But as she'd said, it's worth it. She's getting a hell of an education, equal to any Ivy League school back home.

"Plus you get the students who didn't expect it to be so...messy. Those ones take off pretty quick once the practice cadavers and bone saws come out."