Tucker Smith knows a thing or two about taking leaps of faith — literally.

Since taking a leave of absence from medical school in 2024, Smith has been soaring above crowds in Las Vegas with Mystére by Cirque du Soleil, one of the world’s most acclaimed aerial trapeze shows.

While his path to becoming a clinician may be unorthodox, Smith has found a way to embrace both of his passions. He plans to return to medical school next year to complete his M4 year, and approaches medicine with a new perspective shaped by his time training and performing with Mystére.

“There are so many similarities between the cooperative nature of trapeze and a profession like medicine,” Smith said. “Trapeze challenges me in the best way to be a better teammate in a high-pressure environment, and I think I will be a better physician because of it.”

Discovering passions

Smith first found trapeze by chance at a sleepaway summer camp he attended as a pre-teen. With a foundation in high-level junior gymnastics, Smith was drawn to the trapeze rig towering 30 feet in the air, overlooking the rest of the camp.

“I immediately fell in love with it and went back to camp every year to train after that,” Smith said. “It was so fascinating and so far removed from day-to-day life things that I found boring as a kid.”

Smith excelled at trapeze early on and was even scouted to join a professional troupe at just 14 years old. His mother advised him to postpone that opportunity until he was older, and it was around the same time that he began to explore another of his passions: medicine.

Having grown up with a health-savvy mom raised by Smith’s “country physician” grandfather, the thought of pursuing medicine as a career had always been in the back of Smith’s mind. But it wasn't until his freshman year in high school, when he connected with a physician treating him for a resistant staph infection, that he began exploring the possibility of going to medical school.

“He recognized that I had an interest in medicine and talked me through painful procedures,” Smith said. “From there on, I knew I wanted to do this too.”

Unexpected opportunities

After college Smith spent a year touring with the traveling aerial team the Flying Royals and moved to Richmond in 2021 after being accepted into the VCU School of Medicine. Between the rigors of medical school demanding his full attention and the lack of access to a nearby trapeze gym, he assumed that his performing days were behind him and committed to the process of becoming a doctor.

But when his father died at the start of his M4 year, Smith found himself drawn back to the activity that had always been an outlet.

“I feel like trapeze has always been there for me when I’ve needed it most,” Smith said. “It’s a centering force that challenges me but also gives me space to process and cope with the loss of my father.”

He had already filed for a leave of absence (LOA) from medical school to be with his family as his dad’s health started deteriorating, and in the final stages of his illness, Smith told his father about his dream of performing professionally again. His “usually pragmatic” father surprised him by supporting the decision, saying he “had earned the right to do this.” Empowered by the encouragement, Smith applied for an extension on his LOA and moved to Las Vegas to begin training again.

“It was something I needed to at least try,” he said. “I regret not taking the chance to do something that I cherish so much at the highest level.”

Even after three years away from the sport, Smith said that muscle memory took over as soon as he was back on the aerial rig, and it wasn’t long before he was executing the same complex skills he had performed in front of audiences years before. Not long after, a scout from Cirque du Soleil — his dream company — offered him a spot in the show.

Chris Woleben, M.D., associate dean of student affairs, has been working closely with Smith to ensure he has a successful transition back to medical school. LOAs are available to students throughout all four years of the M.D. program, for reasons ranging from illness or a death in the family to pursuing research, a master's degree or, in Smith’s case, joining Cirque du Soleil. Chasing a professional trapeze dream is one of the more unique LOA requests Woleben has encountered, and he noted that the process can be tailored to each student’s specific needs, academic standing and goals.

“We want to be supportive of anything that students want to do, as long as it makes sense and they have a good plan for their future career,” Woleben said. “Tucker has done remarkably well keeping us updated to ensure his transition back to medical school goes smoothly.”

Living the dream

Now, Smith’s life is dramatically different, but just as busy and fulfilling as when he was a full-time medical student. Twice a day, five days a week, Smith soars above a crowd of thousands, performing death-defying flips with the complete trust that his teammates will catch him. He comes home sore and exhausted but spends his free time brushing up on his medical studies. He knew that he’d have to stay on top of his education during his time in Vegas, but leaping from platforms is what has given him new perspective on his future as a doctor.

“At some point in trapeze, you’re going to fall. It’s inevitable and happens in front of thousands of people. But you have to be able to get back up and make meaning out of those failures,” Smith said. “It's the same in medicine. At some point you’re going to not do as well as you hoped, but you can’t let that define you.”

When he begins the match process next year, Smith intends to pursue physical medicine and rehabilitation. He is eager to work with patients, especially fellow athletes, to help them get back on their feet after a musculoskeletal or nervous system diagnosis or injury.

“When an athlete is told they can’t do something they love because of injury, it’s devastating,” he said, noting that he has seen injuries and recoveries among his Mystére colleagues. “But the ability of athletes to heal physically and mentally after injury can be really triumphant.”

Smith knows his return to medicine will be an adjustment, especially without his usual outlet of trapeze, but said he looks forward to resuming his medical education and graduating with the Class of 2027. He is grateful for the understanding and encouragement he has received from the School of Medicine and the opportunity he has had to pursue both of his dreams.

“The road to becoming a physician takes years and years, and medicine is something most people do for the rest of their life,” Smith said. “I think as long as you work hard and have a plan, making your own path is okay.”

The Class of 2025’s Gabe Thomas grew up with a dream of becoming the first physician in his family. So it may come as a surprise that his favorite memory of the VCU School of Medicine isn’t getting accepted.

It’s the moment he found out he received a Dean’s Equity Scholarship to study on the MCV Campus.

“Getting into medical school, my first concern was ‘How am I going to pay for this?’ My family didn’t have the means to finance me and I knew I didn’t, either,” Thomas says. “Having a scholarship to decrease that financial burden allowed me to relax a little bit, at least financially. It was more exciting than getting into medical school. The first thing I did was call my mom and share that excitement with her.”

In 2020, Dean of Medicine Peter F. Buckley, M.D., committed $600,000 to the Dean’s Equity Scholarship Fund, which helps eliminate barriers to access for students of all backgrounds, cultures and socioeconomic status. Thomas is one of six incoming students named a Dean’s Equity Scholar this academic year. The fund also provided scholarship assistance to two returning students.

Thomas is now one step closer to fulfilling his goal of becoming an advocate for his family and community through medicine. At age 6, he and his mother moved from Texas to Florida to live with his grandmother. A few years later, his grandmother died at age 52. Then his father was diagnosed with congestive heart failure in his late 30s.

Thomas attributes their health struggles to an unwillingness to go to the doctor based on a mistrust of physicians that is sometimes found in the African American community.

“Learning about the history of African Americans and medicine, I understand their concerns were grounded in reason,” he says. “Becoming a physician allows me to get at the root of that. At least in my small circle, if I can encourage individuals who look like me to go see their physicians, maybe they can touch another person who can touch another person, and as a collective, we can break down some of those walls.”

‘I knew VCU was where I wanted to be’

A football scholar athlete at the University of Richmond, Thomas originally connected with VCU through its Black Men in Medicine pre-med student organization. The group’s adviser, Henry Lewis, encouraged Thomas to apply to the Summer Academic Enrichment Program offered by VCU Division of Health Sciences and Diversity. He completed the six-week, interprofessional program in 2020, just after graduating from college.

SAEP provides students with an academically rigorous experience that simulates the first year of dentistry, medicine, pharmacy or physical therapy professional instruction.

“The most beneficial thing about SAEP was it gave me confidence,” says Thomas, who was voted a medicine “track star” by his SAEP track coordinators. “I made so many connections and started building relationships; I knew VCU was where I wanted to be.”

During SAEP, he met Donna Jackson, Ed.D., assistant dean for admissions and director of student outreach in the VCU School of Medicine. She suggested Thomas apply to the medical school’s early decision program, and he was accepted in September 2020.

“It’s always rewarding to see someone whose life you’ve touched take the next step toward their future career,” Jackson says. “Having him choose VCU is the icing on the cake and the ability to offer him a scholarship are the sprinkles. It makes me happy that we had the resources to build a connection through SAEP and provide financial support so that this was the only place he could see himself.”

Shadowing alumni who had fond memories of their time on the MCV Campus also solidified Thomas’ decision. During college, he shadowed orthopaedic surgeons Andrew Bogle, M’07, and Paul Kiritsis, M.D., H’00, in Richmond, and cardiologist Peter Taylor, M.D., H’92, in Orlando, Florida.

Now Thomas is ready to carve his own path. He’s already stepped into the role of advocate as the first in his family to get the COVID-19 vaccine. His parents followed suit after he eased their concerns.

“Once I get to the point where I can be an ambassador for my parents and my family and show them physicians aren’t all scary figures — they can just think of me — then I’ll be the happiest.”

The Dean’s Equity Scholarship is one of many scholarships in the medical school helping to reduce student debt, reward student excellence and recruit top students who will thrive on the MCV Campus. The scholarship was instrumental in helping the medical school to recruit its most diverse class ever. “There is no better way to learn about others than to engage with them,” Jackson says. “A diverse medical school class provides a venue for this type of engagement for the benefit of all students and ultimately for the patients that our students will care for in the future.”

Measures of diversity include the number of students who identify as underrepresented in medicine (those racial and ethnic populations that are underrepresented in the medical profession relative to their numbers in the general population), those representing diversity in socioeconomic status, religion, gender or geography — those from rural counties or inner cities — as well as first generation college students and out-of-state residents from throughout the U.S.

To learn more about the medical school's scholarship program, go to our scholarship page, or to make a gift to the Dean’s Equity Scholarship, please visit our giving page.