In this Med School Deep Dive, I sat down with Cris, a first-year student from Central Philippine University College of Medicine, to get a real look at what CPU Med is like—especially with everything being affected by the pandemic. Instead of just talking about “requirements” on paper, we focused on the lived experience: what online med school actually feels like day-to-day, what surprised him as a new med student, and where the biggest adjustments happen when you’re learning medicine through a screen. We also talked about the challenges new medical students should expect: staying disciplined without the usual campus structure, managing workload when lectures and assessments are online, and keeping your mental energy up when everything blurs together at home. My goal with these interviews is always the same—help you make better decisions about your med journey and give you practical expectations before you commit. If you’re considering CPU College of Medicine (or any school doing online/hybrid learning), this is the kind of perspective that can save you a lot of stress later.