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

Listener Luis wrote in expressing his anxiety that his med school--which he'll begin attending this fall--doesn't have the prestige or programs to support his desire for a competitive specialty like ophthalmology. If that's the case, he wondered, what can he do to increase his chances of obtaining his dream career?

The Short Coats discuss their perspective on how med school can test a romance, and what role it should play in the selection of a school to attend.

The Short Coats propose some paths forward for non-empathetic med school applicants, as well as outlining some of the less obvious areas empathy comes in handy they might want to think about

One of the things we Short Coats agree on is that the stigma medical students and physicians face when dealing with mental illness must end. We are people, too, and thus are subject to the full range of human maladies. So when listener Kate reached out to [email protected] to tell us of her University of Michigan classmate Rahael Gupta's JAMA article addressing her own struggles, we could only respond with sympathy and admiration.

Dave found himself with another group of women co-hosting the show, so what better time to talk about #MeToo and the powerful people being taken down by their sexual harassment and abuse of others. Erin Pazaski, Hillary O'Brien, Laura Quast, and Liza Mann weigh in on why this seems to have staying power in the news cycle, and why it seems to destroy some powerful men and not others. Plus, since this is a group of friends who, through med school, have come to know each other well, Dave challenges each to answer questions as their friends would. Speaking of creepy, The University of Miami has a problem on its hands with a medical student who's been posting other students' social media pics of their car selfies and beach photos on websites where other folks are excited by such things. A New Hampshire doc loses her license after refusing to use an EHR because she'd rather practice 'medical art' (among other things). And more medical schools want to hear from premeds what they think about health insurance. Your thoughts and comments are important to us! Call us at 347-SHORTCT anytime, visit our Facebook group, or email [email protected].

Can Courtney succeed in med school despite the demands of motherhood? We ask a mom who did it. And, how med students can erase debt fast.

In the first of a two-part answer to listener Courtney's question, Dr. Tom McNalley (MD '04) joins the gang to assure her that it is possible to be a parent of three small children while studying medicine. Also, we take personality inventories and compare the results; do we have what it takes to be in medical school?

We revisit this weeks' co-hosts fears of moving into the clinical curriculum--were their fears realized? The US's largest health insurance company is sick of their patients' bullshit. Needle exchanges may be coming to Iowa, and the work of our own Sarah Ziegenhorn, a 2nd year medical student here at Iowa and executive director of the Iowa Harm Reduction Coalition was featured on Iowa Public Radio this week. And If you're going to have a robot crawling around inside you, it'd better be cute.

During Human Rights Week at the Carver College of Medicine, we heard some hard truths from national news commentator, human rights activist, and podcaster Angela Rye. In her speech to the College of Medicine, she clued white people in on what black Americans face every day in 2017, and how Martin Luther King, Jr's "I Have a Dream" speech was just the beginning of his activism. Meanwhile, Mackenzie Walhof, Joyce Wahba, Claire Casteneda and Gabe Conley discuss the department of Health and Human Services announcement that it would be forming a department to protect doctors from having their rights infringed by requirements that they provide treatments that they don't agree with because of religion or conscience. Do doctors need that protection? Or do they self-select what they do and don't do by where they practice and what they specialize in? And with the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show in the history books, Dave delivers a pop quiz to see if his co-hosts can identify real or fake health-adjacent gadgets. The march of genetic medicine continues, as the NIH has given the green light to using CRISPR to modify cancer patients' T-cells ex vivo, hoping to turn them into killers of myeloma, sarcoma, and melanoma. And Walmart is going to do its part in the fight against opioid addiction by including in prescriptions a substance that destroys leftover opioids when patients are done with them, for free. Are you ready to patent Dave's inventions? Do you think docs need to be protected by the government from their patients' needs? Call us at 347-SHORTCT anytime, visit our Facebook group, or email [email protected].

Annie wrote in to [email protected] to ask Kaci McCleary, Erik Kneller, Gabriel Conley, and Marissa Evers if she should give up her 10-year job as a radiology tech so she'd have time to do research before applying to medical school. As is often the case with these kinds of questions, the answer is no! But maybe yes. In some cases. Later in the show, we say to hell with this brave new world of collaboration-not-competition, and battle to the death! Will neurotoxin triumph over infinite sausage? We discuss the recent Medscape Physician Lifestyle and Happiness Report and find out who will be happier: neurologist Kaci, or urologist Gabe. Also, we find out what they will drive, and how many friends they won't have. A Pennsylvania Democrat introduces The Stable Genius Act (tempting...). And we find out how the weather and the holidays impacts the blood supply and what the Red Cross wants you to do about it (hint: it involves giving blood now). It's coming up on application season! What questions do you have? Is our advice to Annie useful or rueful? Call us at 347-SHORTCT anytime, visit our Facebook group, or email [email protected].