The Short Coat (Audio): An Inside Look at Getting Into and Getting Through Medical School

We on The Short Coat Podcast like to encourage people to follow their med school dreams in spite of whatever apparent obstacles stand in the way. So when we found out that Jessica McCabe, host of the popular YouTube channel How to ADHD, was coming to the University of Iowa, we were excited to get her on the show. And with co-hosts Irene Morcuende and Kelsey Adler--both successful medical students and ADHD brains--on hand along with CCOM learning specialist Chia-Wen Moon to prove that this obstacle can be just another bump in the road. You may be surprised to hear how those with ADHD brains--and the groups they work in--can actually benefit from their atypical thought processes.

But what kinds of effects does ADHD have in med school? What techniques have worked for Kelsey, Jessica, and Irene? How do relationships suffer and flourish when one of you has ADHD? What are the myths about ADHD that need busting? How can a learning specialist help? And how can medical schools support its students who need the help? All questions we answer for you, Short Coats!

We Want to Hear From You: Do you have ADHD? What about a learning disability? What are you struggling with, and who or what has helped you? Call us at 347-SHORTCT anytime, or email [email protected].

Today's show features multiple screams, so don't freak out. Because it's Halloweeeeeeeen! Co-hosts Hillary O'Brien, Jenna Johnson, Elizabeth Shirazi, and newbie Erica Noyes (all M1s) tell their scary med student stories for your entertainment. And Short Coat MD Wannabe has a serious question about her future, as her post-bacc program is proving harder than expected.

This Week in Medical News: Mortician YouTuber Caitlin Doughty, of Ask a Mortician, is doing good work to change how America fears death and draw the curtain back from its mysteries. Some undergrad has the amazing job of making little cars for rats to drive around in. And a haunted wheelchair is terrifying security guards in Chandigarh, India.

We Want to Hear From You: What's the scariest thing to ever happen to you? Call us at 347-SHORTCT to tell us in your own words!

Second year students Abby Fyfe, Mason LaMarche, and Madeline Cusimano offer their advice to first-year Morgan Kennedy, who confesses that she's feeling the burn of being an M1. And Mason discusses the opportunities he's had to present his undergraduate work at conferences, a good way to stand out from other pre-medical applicants. And it doesn't have to be bench or clinical science, either, as Mason demonstrates. Plus, Dave pretends to be a medical educator with a game he calls MegaBattle. Can his co-hosts help their professors defeat a variety of creatures with strange powers?

This Week in Medical News: A Venezuelan telenovela is being chopped up and overdubbed to deliver public health messages in Africa. Migrant children detained in the US are battling preventable diseases as Customs and Border Patrol throws up their hands at the complexity of offering vaccinations to that population. And a childhood cancer drug--the only on that exists--is in short supply in the US because it's hard for Pfizer to turn a profit on it.

We Want to Hear From You: What are you struggling with? We can help--call us at 347-SHORTCT anytime or email [email protected]!

Short Coat Scribbleson Wordsonpaper (not his real name) wrote a paper for one of his classes, and was told it'd be worth putting it out there for publication. But where, and how? So we asked Writing and Humanities Program Director (and SCP exec producer) Cate Dicharry to give some guidance. Scribbleson's second question, about the lifestyle factors that medical students weigh when making a specialty choice, was a great one for co-hosts Mackenzie Walhof, Miranda Schene, and Abby Fyfe to dig into.

Plus Dave puts on his ten-gallon perfesser hat, offering up a pop quiz on the 2019 Ig Nobel prize winners.

This Week in Medical News: what happens when you want to study pregnancy and other women's health issues? Yeah, your research proposal gets rejected because you didn't include men among your subjects. And an Oregon doctor finds out that he has 17 kids he didn't know about from his time in medical school.

We Want to Hear From You: What factors are you weighing to make your specialty choice? Call us at 347-SHORTCT anytime, visit our Facebook group, or email [email protected].

Two questions this week from Short Coats! Listener Luis wrote in to ask what books co-hosts Hillary O'Brien, Kylie Miller, Emma Barr and newbie Sahaana Arumugam consulted to find their paths. And Mia wrote to [email protected] to find out more about MS/DO or MS/MD programs and what they look for in their applicants. And can we find patient-care uses for weird proverbs? No, we can't. But it was fun to try.

This Week in Medical News.

This week Dave learned about "The Husband Stitch" much to his disgust. North Dakota physicians no longer have to lie to their patients about drug-induced abortions; and long-ignored African DNA is finding its way into gene banks courtesy of a Nigerian health tech startup.

We Want to Hear From You.

What's going on in your world? We like stories, so call us at 347-SHORTCT anytime, or send your questions or comments to [email protected]!

Fourth-year students David Rudolph and Chandini Reddy join co-hosts Brendan George and LJ Agistonelli to answer listener Krista's question--a self-confessed "loud mouth" with radical hopes about how she'd like to practice medicine one day. Can she bring those ideals to life, or will she be drummed out of medicine. And is it even practical for her to consider this career given her age and background? We've got you, Krista!

Plus, Dave asks David and Chandini what they learned from watching their Medical Student Performance Evaluation take shape before it gets sent off to residency programs they're applying to.

This Week in Medical News: Weill Cornell joins the list of schools offering med school for free (to some). Napping is good for you, up to a point. And skeletons aren't just scary during Halloween--they seem to be part of the fight-or-flight response in a rather big way. We Want to Hear From You: so, how are you? Tell us at 347-SHORTCT anytime, visit our Facebook group, or email [email protected].

A cliche, of course, but true. Because without the nurses (and other people) doing their jobs to help the doctor, the doctor can't do nuthin'--no IVs, no regular BP checks, no comfortable patients, no monitoring while they're home sleeping, no nothing. Listener Amber stops by to ask what med students learn about nurses and how to work with them, and of course M4s Hillary O'Brien and Kylie Miller and new M1 co-hosts Jessica De Haan and Greta Becker are happy to help. And Fifi Trixiebell returns, craving med school war stories. Also, Hillary and Kylie discuss the residency personal statements they wrote and where they sought help. Do you have war stories to share? Call us at 347-SHORTCT anytime to tell us. We'll play them for Fifi (and whoever else is listening).

Co-host and MD/PhD student Miranda Schene is a woman who has obviously been raised well. So when her mother, Ginny, wrote to [email protected] asking about the surprises med school had in store for this week's gang, Dave--who also loves his mother--couldn't very well say no! M1 Nathan Spitz and M2 Jenna Mullins, along with new co-host M1 Bryn Myers join in to give Mama Ginny the deets. Plus Dave asks if his co-hosts can find and supply doctors' testimonials for some As-Seen-On-TV products.

This Week in Medical News: The plight of a Colorado prisoner sheds more light on the abysmal healthcare incarcerated mothers-to-be get. And some interesting case studies show why it might not be a good idea to keep roosters in your backyard if you have varicose veins; and what a diet of chips, fries, and sausages can do to your eyes.

We Want to Hear From You! What are your favorite case studies? Call us at 347-SHORTCT anytime, visit our Facebook group, or email [email protected]. Dave can't get enough!

Some of the most important contributions to knowledge have come at a terrible price. The BBC featured a story on their site about an anatomy atlas that was created by a Nazi doctor, and the images within are those of hundreds of dissected political prisoners. The very conditions in Hitler's concentration camps may have been among the reasons why these illustrations are so detailed. It is a terrible piece of work. This book, now out of print for decades, is still on the shelves of surgeons and consulted (if rather furtively) when they run out of other options. But we have to ask--can its vast utility outweigh it's evil origins? Short Coats, we'd love to hear your thoughts. Plus the gang visits Yahoo! Answers to practice their patient-communication skills, sort of. Pharmaceutical giants Johnson & Johnson and Purdue Pharma were both in the news recently as opioid manufacturers who will be paying millions for their roles in the opioid epidemic. And a study suggests intermittent fasting (a religious practice but also a diet fad) may be effective at limiting inflammation for rheumatoid arthritis patients.

Elders are not just sickly adults. Ours is an aging society, and as the populations skews older, medicine has begun to realize that treating elder patients isn't the same as treating adults or children. Treating the conditions of older people means that clinicians have to understand them in ways that go beyond diseases and drugs. Hence, the science of geriatrics. Dr. Louise Aronson is a geriatrician and the author of Elderhood: Redefining Aging, Transforming Medicine, Reimagining Life (Bloomsbury 2019). It's a beautifully written book the focuses on the stories of our elders and what they can teach us about their needs both biological and psychological. Among the things co-hosts Miranda Schene, Emma Barr, Mason LaMarche and Nick Lind learned: Older people respond in unpredictable ways to medications. Often the work of a geriatrician is to 'deprescribe' medicines that are hurting them.

Never undervalue the things that are important to elders just because they aren't medicines or procedures. If the patient needs something from their doctor that increases their success in life, then it's important.

Recognizing when you as a doctor are doing things for you, vs. when you're doing things for your patient is important. Older people are no longer beyond help simply due to age. With the right training and an in-depth understanding of the science of aging, huge gains can be made in treating the serious disorders of elderhood. American medicine's concept of "the Good Death" (aka, dying at home surrounded by loved ones) isn't a given for elders. Understanding what elders want, rather than subscribing to some monolithic idea, is important.

We Want to Hear From You: Are you considering geriatrics, and why? Call us at 347-SHORTCT anytime, visit our Facebook group, or email [email protected].