What is it about public health issues that lends itself to bandwagons? John Pienta, Levi Endelman, Hillary O'Brien, Issac Schwantes, and Jason Lewis discuss Finland's contribution to parenting, the cardboard box in which babies sleep. This year, hundreds of thousands of boxes will be given to new parents by US states in an attempt to improve infant mortality rates. Is that at all helpful, or are we ignoring other causes of death among infants? You know things are weird in healthcare when baking soda is in such short supply that hospitals start cutting back on open-heart surgery. And thanks to a certain 19th neuroanatomist's ideas about the relative sizes of the frontal lobe and the olfactory bulb, we decided that humans have crappy senses of smell...a 'fact' that turns out was never tested and is probably not at all true! We also heard from listener Mike, who we offended 70 episodes ago. We're not entirely sure what we said, exactly, that made Mike give us up after listening to roughly 80 hours of our half-baked opinions, but we always count ourselves fortunate to hear specific negative feedback (and hey, positive feedback is nice, too). Call us at 347-SHORTCT any time, and email [email protected].

Sometimes you're having so much fun that the time flies by and you forget that you have other important things to do. That's what happened on this week's show, in which Dave brings Aditi Patel, Aline Sandouk, Kylie Miller and Irene Morcuende along for a trip through the medical supplies section of Amazon. Can they guess what the medical device is based on the reviews alone? We did get to talk about one bit of medical news, pointed out to us on twitter by AJtha808Scientist: the fact that Iowa made national news by forcing the closure of 1/4 of its Planned Parenthood clinics. Thanks for the tip! We also heard from Hannah of Jackson Hole, Wyoming. She wrote in to let us know why, according to the study we discussed in our last show about longevity in US counties, her beautiful corner of the country is so damn healthy. Spoiler: it doesn't involve sitting on the couch and eating chips like Dave was hoping. Listeners, share your suggestions with us each week. Call us at 347-SHORTCT any time, and email [email protected].

It's a more-or-less unstated goal of ours to show medical learners that podcasting can be a beneficial experience both for the host and for listeners. And we're always banging on about the need for better science communicators. So Erin Pazaski, Levi Endelman, Kylie Miller, and Irene Morcuende were recently excited to get an email from Terel Jackson, a premed at OSU who said she had gotten the message! She started her own show, Health Science (For The Rest of Us), which takes "a super practical look at the body, its shenanigans, and the world of fascinating ways we try to keep it healthy." Of course, we had to have her on the show to tell us all about her adventures in radiation, body odor, neti pots, and more. Also, how Americans' lifespans vary widely by county, and the unusual prescription one PA hospital is giving their patients. Listeners, share your suggestions with us each week. Call us at 347-SHORTCT any time, and email [email protected].

Listener T'keyah sends Cole Cheney, Aline Sandouk, and John Pienta a question on gap years, which boils down to what kinds of gaps are okay according to admissions committees? Cole reveals his post-med school podcasting plans, and he and John discuss how not getting your residency match can be a GOOD thing...after one is done crying. And at T'Keyah's suggestion, we try to offer sex education to each other without using words or concepts banned by state boards of education. Listeners, share your suggestions with us each week. Call us at 347-SHORTCT any time, and email [email protected].

One of our podcasting goals is to encourage others to create their own shows, especially medical learners. So John Pienta, Irisa Mahaparn, Adam Erwood, and Erin Pazaski were pleased to hear from listener Terel, who got it and launched a podcast of her own! Go, Terel! Although perhaps she and her fellow pre-meds should (not) consider the path taken by another undergrad, who decided to skip all that pesky applying and test taking and just declare herself a medical student so she could jump right in and start seeing patients. On the other hand, if you worked hard getting your MD, then getting married to it may be something to consider. And Dave offers his co-hosts some practice at answering health questions they might really hear someday, which he pulled from the saddest place on the internet: Yahoo! Answers. Listeners, share your thoughts with us each week. Call us at 347-SHORTCT any time, and email [email protected].

Improvisational acting is a greater part of medical school than one might expect. Between pretending to be doctors for one's simulated patients, or acting like you know what you're doing when you're not entirely sure, a big part of med ed is faking it until you make it. So Dave, in his never ending quest to offer (ahem) valuable teaching moments, asks Mark Moubarek, Irisa Mahaparn, Kaci McCleary, and newcomer Johnny Henstrom to put on their masks once again for a game of General Haze-pital. Will Johnny be cured by the dashing doctor Dr. Mark and his two eager med students, Kaci and Irisa? Tune in to find out. Also, we discuss the recent trend of trying to cure public health issues by using market forces, including the recent proposal to tax prescription opioid manufacturers a penny per milligram to fund addiction treatment and prevention. And an Indian medical student turns to Whatsapp to deliver a baby on a train...thus fulfilling a heroic daydream we've all had about saving the day in dire circumstances. Listeners, share your thoughts with us each week. Call us at 347-SHORTCT anytime, or send your greetings to us at [email protected].

We've got a crowd of M1s in the house rapidly approaching the end of their first year. This past week, Kylie Jade Miller, Levi Endelman, Adam Erwood, and new co-host Irene Morcuende took their physical exam skills practical exam; and they discussed some research they did at the intersections of medical and society--the public health implications of the American-as-apple-pie cycle of incarceration, the effects of Medicare expansion have had on access to mental healthcare, what happens when substance abuse sufferers are offered clean needle and Narcan, and whether taxing sugary drinks have an effect on obesity. Dave, seeing an opportunity to torture his co-hosts, put them through a Pop Quiz: can they discern if the research he presents to them is real or from the depths of Dave's mind? Kylie uses the occasion to let her secret gunner out. Listeners, we offer free advice! Call us at 347-SHORTCT anytime, or email us at [email protected].

Dave is no scientist, but he is 'science-adjacent.' This week, after having read of research involving the benefits to brain function conferred by Marmite consumption, he conducts his own experiment on SCP hosts John Pienta, Kaci McCleary, Aline Sandouk, and Nathan Miller. Will they be able to use their new Marmite-based powers to pass Dave's Pop Quiz and identify actual Amazing Health Products You Can Get? Listener Hannah wants to know all about the medical science training program lifestyle, and how it differs from the MD student experience, and since Aline is an MSTP student herself, Hannah's in luck. And 23andMe has finally received approval from the FDA to offer genetic screenings for defects that either one already knows about or that knowing about might do more harm than good. Listeners, if you like what you hear today, please leave us a review on iTunes!

Among the topics we Short Coats often ruminate on is the lack of basic science literacy in the public and press...and among politicians. How did we get to this place when science is so mistrusted? So when Dave put out the call for co-hosts to talk with this week's guest, Kelsy Adler, Levi Endelman, Lisa Wehr, Marc Toral, and Laura Quast were only too happy to oblige. Shaughnessy Naughton is the founder of 314 Action, an organization that seeks to address dearth of science knowledge among politicians directly by encouraging and financing the election of people with STEM backgrounds to public office at all levels. Shaughnessy Naughton is the founder of 314 Action, which "champions electing more leaders to the U.S. Senate, House, State Executive and Legislative offices who come from STEM backgrounds." her organization seeks to change are politicians' active resistance to the acquisition of data on things like gun violence and climate change, and ignorance of the evidence that already exists on vaccinations and evolution. Among the challenges they face is the perception that science is above politics; the task of creating and financing a network of donors and supporters; understanding and effectively countering the politician's biases toward reflecting certainty instead of nuance. And they're addressing the need for training people of science to move beyond simple advocacy so that they can engage with the political process and change the system's anti-science biases from within. Listeners, share your thoughts with us each week. Call us at 347-SHORTCT any time, and see our Facebook page for occasional Live shows in which you can participate.

Sometimes, Dave has ideas. This time Dave's idea was to get his long-suffering co-hosts to enjoy the YouTube beauty treatment known as The Black Mask. Because, dermatology! Which is better, the DIY treatment or the store-bought version? Kaci McCleary, John Pienta, Adam Erwood, and Lisa Wehr will try to suss it out so you don' t have to. Also, we discuss Iowa's shortcomings with respect to mental health--its recent closures of state mental health hospitals and the reduction of psych beds across the state--as well as Iowa's recent moves counter to the trend--adding hospital beds and even residency programs! Meanwhile, is the anesthetic ketamine poised to revolutionize emergency treatment for suicidal depression? It's been many years since we had a new class of drugs to treat depression, but as always there are risks and doubts to be considered. On a related note, Dave attended a meeting of CCOM's new chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, and John reviews briefly the College's new class "The Thriving Physician," both meant as antidotes for medical education's deleterious effects on mental health. Listeners, share your thoughts with us each week. Call us at 347-SHORTCT any time, and see our Facebook page where we often broadcast our recording sessions live so you can join in on Fridays.