The Short Coat Podcast

On this episode, M2s Nathen Spitz and Sahaana Arumugam, M3 Emma Barr, and MD/PhD student Aline Sandouk reminisce about simpler Halloween times, when the only thing to worry about was whether your costume was going to be on the sexy branch or the non-sexy branch of the decision tree. Emma gives us her thoughts on … Continue reading Choosing Your Clinical Education: Community Hospital or Academic Medical Center? → The post Choosing Your Clinical Education: Community Hospital or Academic Medical Center? appeared first on The Short Coat.

Next semester Madi Wahlen will enter the PhD phase of her MD/PhD journey, and the though to that transition makes her kind of nervous. Fortunately, both she and Aline Sandouk were on this week’s episode, allowing space for Madi (and co-hosts Levi Endelman and AJ Chowdhury) to ask Aline questions about her experiences transitioning to … Continue reading Md/PhD worries: Transitioning to the Lab → The post Md/PhD worries: Transitioning to the Lab appeared first on The Short Coat.

What you should know about the super hierarchical world of medicine Have you ever wondered what the world of medicine would look like to an ethnographer? To University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Professor Tania Jenkins, perhaps it looks like a ladder of status, from the lowly med student to the exalted attending (and even … Continue reading On Top or Down Low: The Status Hierarchies in Medicine ft. Tania Jenkins, PhD → The post On Top or Down Low: The Status Hierarchies in Medicine ft. Tania Jenkins, PhD appeared first on The Short Coat.

What having a chronic health issue means to medical students varies…except that it will make them even better doctors. Listener Michael has type one diabetes and “an incredibly rare form” of epilepsy. He’s pretty open about this and plans to use his experience to inform his education on patient care. He got in touch to … Continue reading Chronic Conditions in Medical School → The post Chronic Conditions in Medical School appeared first on The Short Coat.

We are honored to talk with author and physician Jeff Moody, University of Iowa College of Medicine class of ’92, and urologist, here to talk with us about physician burnout, It’s the topic of his new book The Doctor is Burned Out:  A Physician’s Guide to Recovery. Co-hosts Madi Wahlen, Aline Sandouk, Ananya Munjal, and … Continue reading The Doctor is Burned Out ft. Jeff Moody, MD → The post The Doctor is Burned Out ft. Jeff Moody, MD appeared first on The Short Coat.

Things happen in Iowa. They really do. That’s why Dave put together a little trivia contest for his co-hosts–Sahaana Arumugam, Emma Barr, Aline Sandouk, and Brandon Bacalzo–to test their knowledge of the excitement that is Iowa. But first, we discuss the news that, as alleged by a whistleblowing nurse, a doctor in Georgia has been … Continue reading Flyover Country? Far From It! → The post Flyover Country? Far From It! appeared first on The Short Coat.

“He who laughs has not yet heard the bad news.” Co-hosts Nathen Spitz, Brandon Bacalzo, Mariam Mansour, and Greta Becker rehash their recent microbiology exam which they say kicked their butts, and how they deal with that nasty feeling. Dave discusses what Naegleria Fowleri means to him. Nathen and Mariam reminisce on their experiences with … Continue reading Liver Bits, Cold Glocks, and Cancer of the Cancer → The post Liver Bits, Cold Glocks, and Cancer of the Cancer appeared first on The Short Coat.

The UN Relief and Works Agency has a tough job, especially in Palestine. In this bonus episode (recorded prior to the US pa we talk with Dr. Akihiro Seita, the Director of Health and WHO Special Representative to The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees.  He joins thanks to our Global Health … Continue reading BONUS: The challenges of Refugee Healthcare with Dr. Akihiro Seita → The post BONUS: The challenges of Refugee Healthcare with Dr. Akihiro Seita appeared first on The Short Coat.

Preference Signaling Tokens may be a way to combat over-applying for residencies, but the schemes have a ways to go yet before they’re ready for prime time. Dave noticed something he’d never heard of before: a company offering ‘tokens’ (for a fee) that could be used by residency program applicants to signal their love for … Continue reading “Preference Signaling” –the Future of Applications? → The post “Preference Signaling” –the Future of Applications? appeared first on The Short Coat.

Listener Shivam wrote to theshortcoats@gmail.com to ask his question: does becoming a DO hinder one’s chances in competitive specialties? MD/PhD students Aline Sandouk and Sahaana Arumugam, M2 Nathan Spitz, and M4 Marisa Evers weigh in, while Dave uses his tiny brain to try and parse the National Residency Matching Program’s statistics to find an answer. … Continue reading does a DO Degree Ruin your Speciality plans? → The post does a DO Degree Ruin your Speciality plans? appeared first on The Short Coat.

Why was the Hispanic population in Clarion, Iowa seeing so many more infections? Dr. Michael McLoughlin, internist at Clarion Clinic, was puzzled. Why were 95% of the patients who showed up with novel coronavirus infections Hispanic? And what interventions would best help his community? Meanwhile, M2 Abby Walling was looking for a summer project centering … Continue reading A COVID Puzzle in a Rural Iowa Community → The post A COVID Puzzle in a Rural Iowa Community appeared first on The Short Coat.

A study is only as good as its methods, and the #medbikini study wasn’t pretty bad. Maybe you heard:  some researchers tried to help vascular surgeons understand that their social media profiles might contain “unprofessional” content.  Things like wearing swimsuits and swearing and drinking  *shudder* alcohol. Especially by wymmin! Okay, maybe it was better intentioned … Continue reading Putting on your #MedBikini → The post Putting on your #MedBikini appeared first on The Short Coat.

Hippocrates set a high bar. Dr. Danielle Ofri–NYU professor of medicine, Bellevue Hospital internist, and author of great renown–joined us this time to talk about her new book, When We Do Harm: A Doctor Confronts Medical Error.  Examining medical errors is a something all good physicians do–sometimes on a stage in front of their colleagues but … Continue reading When Doctors Do Harm ft. Danielle Ofri, MD → The post When Doctors Do Harm ft. Danielle Ofri, MD appeared first on The Short Coat.

Does a physician need to know everything about healthcare, even the *shudder* money stuff? Physicians go through years and years of school to be great at this calling, so why on earth would anyone want to tack on an MBA, too? Co-host Gabe Conley decided to do just that. He’s been thinking about this for … Continue reading MD/MBA: Why Physicians Must Know More About Business → The post MD/MBA: Why Physicians Must Know More About Business appeared first on The Short Coat.

No doubt about it, this road to becoming a physician has financial risks It feels risky to go to medical school, and for someone with a young family, like our listener who sent us their question to theshortcoats@gmail.com, those risks can feel existential. After all, if things don’t go as planned, the financial payoff of … Continue reading How A Young FAmily Should Think About The Risks Of Med School → The post How A Young FAmily Should Think About The Risks Of Med School appeared first on The Short Coat.

Listener Soma let us know that the AAMC has released an interview app for medical schools to collect videos of applicants answers to some standard questions. Their website says the tool addresses the needs expressed by its member schools during the upcoming interview season. Soma wondered, what do we think? Of course, that no matter … Continue reading AAMC ‘s VITA interview tool…is it Really Vital? → The post AAMC ‘s VITA interview tool…is it Really Vital? appeared first on The Short Coat.

Being a physician leaves you no choice–you ARE going to lead. One of the critical job responsibilities of being a physician is leading a team. Those teams can be small–such as those that are caring for patients–or huge–like those that lead healthcare systems. No matter what, learning how to lead a team–and how to be … Continue reading What Every Med Student Needs To Know About Being a Leader ft. Brent Lacey, MD → The post What Every Med Student Needs To Know About Being a Leader ft. Brent Lacey, MD appeared first on The Short Coat.

It feels risky to be wrong…here’s how to get used to that [Don’t forget to share the show with your friends and family–send a screenshot of the share to theshortcoats@gmail.com to get a free thank you gift from Dave!] The Socratic method–teaching using questions–is a big part of medical education. It’s also often a big … Continue reading What med students do when they don’t know the right answer → The post What med students do when they don’t know the right answer appeared first on The Short Coat.

[Once again, our circumstances force us to endure mild sound quality issues. Sorry, but that’s round-table podcasting in the pandemic age. You’ll be alright.] We got some lovely responses back from listeners of last week’s show (in which we discussed racism in America and in medicine), including a most important one from Cachae on the … Continue reading The Right (and Wrong) Ways to Get Help with Your Application → The post The Right (and Wrong) Ways to Get Help with Your Application appeared first on The Short Coat.

A group of public professionals, infectious disease professionals and community members are pushing back on the common perception that #BLM protests will unnecessarily exacerbate the pandemic. This news leads to a discussion of racism in America. NB: The discussion should speak for itself, but this is the age of internet outrage. So we acknowledge that … Continue reading Timing a peace-corps gap year, and Racism and Medicine → The post Timing a peace-corps gap year, and Racism and Medicine appeared first on The Short Coat.