November Student of the Month: Tobias Fuchs, OMS-II

ACOI recognizes osteopathic medical students who are outstanding members of their medical schools and communities with the Student of the Month Recognition Program.

Please join us in congratulating the October winner: Tobias Fuchs, OMS-II, Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine-Virginia.

Student Doctor Fuchs has been an invaluable figure in helping his class in all things anatomy to excel. As an anatomy tutor, he creates practice questions (sometimes even guessing exact exam questions) and stays late during lab review sessions to help students prepare for practicals. As an anatomy mentor at VCOM-VA, he sacrifices full days of his own study time to set up mock practicals, clean up afterward, and lead multiple review sessions, helping students approach structures, clarify answers, and answering all questions late into the night. He has gone above and beyond in every aspect, helping our class achieve some of the highest exam and practical scores the school has ever seen.

Tobias also helps during weekend round robin sessions, covering an entire lab or two of structures in 10 minutes alongside other interns. Tobias recently became an anatomy intern employed through the school, staying in the lab (even though second-years aren’t required) to teach first-year students as they progress through dissections, lead round robin sessions before practicals, earn butterfly ultrasound certification after 40 hours of graded imaging training, and join a faculty research project for a national conference, manuscript submission, and potential publication.

Tobias also serves as president of the Student Osteopathic Internal Medicine Association (SOIMA) at VCOM-VA. Under his leadership, the club has held numerous workshops benefiting our future physician training, including a free EKG workshop and screening where over 15 members became trained in lead placement and assisted physicians at a Virginia Tech event. He organized a free kidney screening at LewisGale Hospital where members provided blood pressure education to Virginia Tech students assisting with the event. He also set up radiology reviews before anatomy practicals, hosted guest speakers from specialties like dermatology, cardiology, and radiology, and collaborated with organizations like surgery and pediatrics to make these events more accessible. These examples reflect how Tobias has strengthened his school and community by providing hands-on training for future physicians and raising awareness of chronic diseases.

Meet Tobias Fuchs

What is your hometown?
Ashburn, VA.

What is your education?

• Bachelors of Science in Biology and minor in Chemistry at Indiana University of Pennsylvania
• Masters in Biomedical Sciences at Bluefield university
• Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine at Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine – Virginia (expected completion May 2028)

What are your hobbies?
My #1 stress relief and joy in life is working out at the gym but I also love spending time with my girlfriend, family, and my Alaskan Klee Kai, Nyla. If there’s ever the opportunity to binge watch a show or series, I will absolutely take it. 

What are three things people may not know about you?

1. I was originally born in Germany and moved to the United States when I was 6 years old. I’m trilingual and speak Farsi, German, and English fluently. I can understand and speak some Dari as well.
2. I used to have a YouTube channel that amassed 35k subscribers. It started as a gaming channel, and once I hit 10k subscribers I shifted to real-life videos where my brother and I did pranks and challenges on each other. I told myself if I hit 50k I wouldn’t go to college and would pursue content full-time, but I fell short and once I got into college, my goals shifted to excelling in premed.
3. I practice the Bahá’í faith, the youngest global monotheistic religion. A central belief of ours is progressive revelation, that God guides humanity through multiple prophets across history (including those from Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and others), each appearing for the needs of their time. The most recent messenger in our tradition is Bahá’u’lláh, whose teachings provide an updated blueprint for the modern era.

How has ACOI helped you in your education so far?
Overall, ACOI has helped me significantly foster and garner further leadership and management skills as President of VCOM’s SOIMA chapter. I’ve been able to achieve things I never thought I could while juggling academics, board review, research, volunteering, clinical experiences, and other positions/duties. This organization also gave me the support to reach out to community collaborators, make events happen, and connect with physicians. ACOI has been a very strong resource that I’ve been able to utilize in every aspect of my early medical career, and I suggest many others do the same!

Do you have an idea of what specialty you would like to go into?
My goal since I was very little has always been cardiothoracic surgery but cardiology through internal medicine is a close second!