Common Sense Medicine

My guest today is Dr. R. Peter Manes. We talk a lot about work-life balance as a doctor, how to become an ENT, and what excites him about surgery. Something that really amazes me about being a doctor is how specialized people become and how they are able to be just a handful of people in the world who know how to do the things that they do. For example, Dr. Manes is able to do endoscopic and rhinology skull base surgery, something that he had to train years to accomplish. And it is because of his efforts that people can live comfortably even though they have chronic sinusitis.

Something that I haven’t had the ability to appreciate in making these podcasts is the journey that I have had talking to different professionals, and Dr. Manes is right that it is a good time to reflect on my own journey and move ahead as I’m starting medical school.

Dr. Shannon Tapia stops by the podcast, and we talk about relationships, stand up comedy, and when to get married. It's a real talk which shows how life can take different turns when you least expect it. We started talking about how she was able to get into stand-up, and how she was able to turn bad experiences into good learning moments and her advice for women in medicine.

Something that I learned about Dr. Tapia during this podcast is her ability to not let things faze her. In a world where there is a culture of instant gratification, there is solace in the fact that she is adamant about not letting the outside world define her view of how things are going in her professional life. Also, we talked about how she planned around a family during her time in medical school, and how she planned around her boards (Step 1 and Step 2). Dr. Tapia also explained to me how "if you're a physician and a Mom, you're pretty much working 190% of the time"

Although I'm not a female pre-med student, I do understand that there are experiences that I won't ever get. However, that's the goal of this podcast: to gain perspectives that I wouldn't have gained otherwise. In this world, as Dr. Tapia says, you have to take any advice with a grain of salt -- the narrow perspective by which we see the world is limited, however, that's equally as true for other people. One of the goals of this podcast is to make sure that I am able to think, read, and write. That's not going to change as I make these podcasts and go through medical school.

If you are interested in learning more about Dr. Tapia, definitely check out her blog: http://medicineontap.net/

Have you ever wondered how to speak better and communicate more effectively? It's something that we do every day but it's getting harder and harder to do as we forget the core principles of communication and become lonelier and lonelier due to our focus on technology. I set out to search for people who could help me understand how to communicate better on the podcast or otherwise, and I stumbled into New York Speech and Vocal Coaching. My guest today is a Voice Teacher Associate, and he specializes in teaching a singing voice and is a rehabilitation specialist, which enables him to provide healing to injured singers and proper technique to avoid injury in healthy singers.

One thing that Brendan focused on was the "urgency pulse" which is getting anxiety when there is a need to speak. Speech coaching, the cognitive issues which arise when there is a need to speak is different than speech pathology, which is more of reducing a clinical condition. Brendan explained to me that my verbal ticks were because of this urgency pulse and reducing this by controlling my breathing would be helpful in future podcasts to communicate my point more clearly. This urgency pulse is due to the fight-or-flight response which we are ingrained with in an evolutionary sense.

He was able to rehabilitate his voice by taking part in the NYVC Voice Teacher Training and Certification under the teaching of Justin Stoney. In doing so, he has learned invaluable information to assist him in his voice teaching. The Voice Teacher Training has been the highlight of his career as a voice teacher and musician.

In addition to being a voice teacher, Brendan is also a licensed and certified speech-language pathologist. He is a Speech Coaching Associate at New York Speech Coaching and the Head of New York Speech Pathology. Brendan holds a Master of Arts degree in Speech-Language Pathology from Hofstra University as well as Bachelor of Arts degrees in Speech Communications and Philosophy/Religious Studies from St. Joseph’s College, where he also minored in music. We also talked about his own journey and some of the injuries that he saved himself from.

What is an endodontist? I was curious as to what dentistry entails and how I could learn more about the part of our body that physicians don't often treat, the teeth and how they connect to the whole body. My guest was Dr. Stephanie Tran, who is a New York based endodontist. She's a big game of thrones fan, something which we talk about in the podcast, but it led her to make her instagram title and bio, which is @her_holiness_the_pulp. If you're a dental student and want to learn more, message @csmedicine and we can arrange a quick Q+A!

An endodontist is basically someone who focuses on the apex of the tooth where the pulp meets the blood vessels of the gum. She works on very cool procedures which help save the teeth and reconstruct the surrounding structures of the tooth. We talked about the craziest cases she has seen in oral maxillofacial trauma, and other tooth trauma when teeth also came out of the socket!

There are a lot of specialties in dentistry as well, and so we talked about her journey in endodontics, and how she chose this one over other specialties like periodontics. However, she also appreciates these specialties and tries to learn from them as she practices. She also accelerated her training, so something that we also go into is how she was able to manage all of her studying as a college student -- some advice that I definitely needed and am going to apply as I go through my journey!

Furthermore, we talk about newer technology that's popping up in the world of dentistry. Have you ever heard of teeth being replaced using 3D technology? It's actually crazy to hear from someone in the forefront of technology in dentistry on how to make dentistry better. It's really cool to see someone who's so passionate about her work and it was a great conversation. I love to see what Dr. Tran does in the future!

Stoked to have @aliabdaal on the podcast. We were able to talk about lots of things, including his businesses and some advice for starting on YouTube. I have been following Ali for quite some time, so it was a great time to have him on the podcast to talk about some things that I see Common Sense Medicine becoming throughout my journey in medicine.

First, we talked about the video aspects of medical education. He thought it would be fun, and it would be a cool thing to start the podcast. We also talked about optimizing his productivity in medical school and tech, which he covers in his YouTube channel.

We also talked about how the UK and US differ in their structure of medical school. He was able to use his passion for coding to start a business based on his score on the BMAT (the medical entrance exam in the UK).

How often do you take care of your ears? Hearing hygiene is a thing, I learned through Dr. Marjorie C. McCullagh from the University of Michigan School of Medicine. She studies hearing loss in farmers, and gave me some tips on learning about how to put in my earplugs properly. 

Something that we don’t think about often is how concerts and other sounds can affect our health down the line. Hearing is something that we take for granted, and I know that I’m definitely going to think twice when I go to a concert without earplugs after hearing what Dr. McCullagh told me can happen when you don’t take proper precautions!

We also talk about how the sound level of even common place sounds can be too much if its an “impact” vs a “continuous” noise, and other advances in hearing research and behavioral incentives for helping rural health.

Prerak is a second year medical student at Yale School of Medicine. Currently, he is in his clerkship year, where he is rotating at multiple sites and getting a better idea of what each specialty entails. Outside of school, Prerak also enjoys sharing his experiences and what he has learned through his YouTube channel! YouTube gives Prerak a way to reflect on his journey while also assists others in theirs.

Rick Pescatore is the Director of Clinical Research for the Department of Emergency Medicine at CKHS. 

Dr. Kevin Jubbal is a physician, innovator, and educator. Find him on Instagram @KevinJubbalMD or @MedSchoolInsiders, or at KevinJubbal.com

Kateryna is a first generation immigrant that focuses on empowering those around her to reach a higher level of education. She grew up in a medically and educationally underserved community and would like to introduce a new perspective on medicine. Aside from medicine, she is a micro influencer and model for various companies.