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

Sister Helen Prejean has been an anti-death-penalty advocate since 1981, when she first became the pen pal of a death-row inmate in Louisiana's Angola State Prison. Since then she's witnessed five executions in Louisiana, and has written two books on the subject, including the book that was made into the 1996 film Dead Man Walking. The role of physicians in state-sanctioned death isn't much talked about, and being a prison physician isn't something many doctors aspire to; nevertheless, we saw an opportunity to talk with Sister Helen about why medical students should think more about the death penalty.

Dr. Lauren Hughes is a graduate of the Carver College of Medicine who, in addition to her work as a family physician, has made a career in public policy. During medical school she also got her Masters in Public Health at George Washington University in Washington, DC. After graduating from med school in 2009, she delayed her residency to serve the American Medical Student Association as its national president, and then completed her residency at the University of Washington. These days Dr. Hughes is the Deputy Secretary of Health Innovation at the Pennsylvania Department of Public Health. Mark Moubarek, Corbin Weaver, Rob Humble and newcomer Morgan Bobb spoke with her about her career in public health and policy.

On a recent show, Dave opined that shaving one's armpit hair might cut down on deodorant failure, and a listener called into vindicate him, much to Mark Moubarek's shame. Another listener, PharmD and author Tony wants to know how a medical student gets to the point where they can be confident enough to say to a patient, "There will be no problems." Mark, Amy Young, John Pienta, and newcomer Julie Gudenkauf weigh in on the acquisition of confidence and the art of reassurance.

John Pienta's been experimenting with his diet. Aline Sandouk, Mark Moubarek and Corbin Weaver talk about the science and John's experiences with a ketogenic diet and intermittent fasting. He concludes that the medical profession is giving bad advice about what we eat and how nutrition works. Plus, John drops some knowledge on how the combination of theanine and caffeine can improve cognitive performance (for goodness sake, ask your doctor first, none of us are qualified on this stuff). And is the tide shifting against the National Rifle Association? The American Medical Association's reaction to the recent Orlando mass shooting is one sign, perhaps. We discuss America's gun culture, the signal that open carriers send to people around them, the cultural components of using guns as a resolution to problems, and more. Is increasing violence in America a sign that humanity's immune system is kicking in?

In his former life, co-host Mark Moubarek was a children's entertainer. So in a stroke of genius, Dave decides to have him make balloon animals for Aline Sandouk, Marc Toral, and Rob Humble. On an audio podcast.  But it's okay because it's summer! Or, read another way, Dave had nothing prepared for the show, and so we're free styling.  Not a care (or a plan) in the world.  We talk about eating bugs, the television programs we were allowed to watch as children, Dave's impending trip to the Podcast Movement conference, and how he'd love to do a presentation on what podcasting can do for medicine.  Also, Aline's physical transformation after she took Step 1, and we observe the phenomenon of scientists with out of control eyebrows.

Ask "How are you?" of students in the hallways of the Carver College of Medicine, and you'll hear them respond that they're "living the dream." Okay, that's a bit tongue-in-cheek, but getting to live that dream is easier for some groups of people than it is for others. After Dave spoke to UI med student Terrance Wong about his plans to connect mentors with pre-meds who need them, especially minority pre-meds, Dave and Alison Pletch thought it'd be fun to get together with some of those very people and find out what they're doing to prepare for medical school. What are the challenges they've faced? And what resources have they found to help them get there? Xavier Ferrer, Teneme Konne, and Waale Gbara--members of the University of Iowa's Minority Association of Pre-Medical Students--join us with their personal stories; and if you are a student "underrepresented in medicine," what have you learned on your journey to medical school? And what questions would you have asked that we forgot? Tell us at http://theshortcoat.com/tellus

Is Dave ready for Snapchat? Corbin Weaver, Cole Cheney, Taz Khalid, and Tony Rosenberg try to convince him to start one up for the show. Are antibiotics really dead, now that the first totally resistant E.coli bacteria has been found in a US patient? Amazon reviews of common medical equipment leave everyone a bit unsettled. We explore Corbin's reflections on psychiatry and whether patients are helped or hindered when healthcare does the tasks of everyday life for them. And since dental health is so important for overall health, Dave creates some savory alternatives to traditional toothpaste flavors, and the crew tests them out, to see if any of them are a good idea.

We want to know more about you! Post a photo of where you're listening using #shortcoatpeeps, so we can creep on you. With the semester suddenly over, Doug and Rob look back with Kaci on their first year of medical school. We answer the questions of listeners Claire and Jennifer on the value of attending a prestigious medical school and the career opportunities afforded an MD/MPH graduate. Harvard biologist and mad (but probably awesome) biologist organizes a secret meeting to explore the production of synthetic human genomes, and we play a game to celebrate the end of another arduous semester.

Sister Helen Prejean has been an anti-death-penalty advocate since 1981, when she first became the pen pal of a death-row inmate in Louisiana's Angola State Prison. Since then she's witnessed five executions in Louisiana, and has written two books on the subject, including the book that was made into the 1996 film Dead Man Walking. The role of physicians in state-sanctioned death isn't much talked about, and being a prison physician isn't something many doctors aspire to; nevertheless, we saw an opportunity to talk with Sister Helen about why medical students should think more about the death penalty.

What can medical students and residents do to keep their chins up during their training? That's what listener Ross--who has noticed the contrast between his happy med student co-workers and his crabby resident co-workers--wants to know. John Pienta, Gabe Lancaster, Jake O'Brien, and Matt Becker consider the question and the advice we gathered from residents. Also, with the news this week that Hawkeye alumnus and former NFL player Tyler Sash, who passed away in September, was a victim of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, Jason Lewis joins in to examine the implications. Is football a worthy pass-time or is it a killer of young men? When parents ask their doctors for a sports physical, should their doctors be thinking about the risks? And when docs see kids with injuries caused by their participation in sports, do they need to consider their obligations as mandatory reporters of child abuse?