The New Medical Student: Tips and Tricks from First-Years

A new group of co-hosts, all M1s, discuss what it’s been like to start medical school (in a pandemic). TL;DR We discuss what our new co-hosts, all M1s, learned about themselves and med school this year.Did they prepare or study before they started school in the fall?And very important: what flatulence schedule would they prefer? Steph Rodriguez, Zain Mehdi, Martin Goree, and Carl Skoog are approaching the end of that stressful first year of medical school.  Dave seized the opportunity to talk about the things many incoming students might want to know about starting medical school in the coming year.  We talk about whether to prepare before school starts, what sacrifices they feel they made to study medicine, what they’ve struggle with and what was easier than expected, and whether in the midst of a lot more online learning than they were used to, did they find their people among their classmates.    Dave likes getting to know people, so he also posed some Would You Rather questions in the hopes of revealing things about his new co-hosts. We Want to Hear From You How’d we do on this week’s show? Did we miss anything in our conversation? Did we anger you? Did we make you smile? Call us at 347-SHORTCT anytime  or email theshortcoats@gmail.com.  It’s always a pleasure to hear from you! You deserve to be happy and healthy. If you’re struggling with racism, harassment, hate, your mental health, or some other crisis, visit http://theshortcoat.com/help, and send additions to the resources there to theshortcoats@gmail.com. We love you. Music provided by Argofox.  License: bit.ly/CCAttributionDOCTOR VOX – Heatstroke: youtu.be/j1n1zlxzyRE Catmosphere – Candy-Coloured Sky: youtu.be/AZjYZ8Kjgs8 ;Hexalyte – Wandering Hours: youtu.be/FOAo2zsYnvA; What an AI thinks we said Dave Etler: [00:00:00] Welcome back to the short code podcast, a production of the university of Iowa Carver college of medicine. I’m Dave Etler. With me today in the studio and live streaming on our Facebook group, the short code student lounge, it’s all first year med students, Steph Rodriguez joins us in the form of ones and zeros here in the studio. It’s Zane Medi. They do that right. Uh, Martin Gorey is here What’s going on in the man whose last name should absolutely be a verb. It’s Carl Skoog. Uh, guys, if Carl’s last name was a verb or a descriptive noun and Carl, you don’t get to answer this because that’s not how this works. If Carl’s last name was a verb or whatever, what would it mean? Carl Skoog: [00:01:12] It’s kind of like a snail. That’s like scooping along on the ground, you know, it’s like a little slimy, but it’s like it’s Dave Etler: [00:01:19] yeah, Zain Mehdi: [00:01:20] yeah. And you have the answer quick. Yeah, Martin Goree: [00:01:23] I thought about this. I Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:01:29] was thinking more of like a scoop, like ice cream now, like he’s scooping ladies away and scooping ice cream and all that Dave Etler: [00:01:36] scooping ladies away. Is that what you’re busy scooping them, ladies away. Those ladies, they got schooled. Did you get, did did school cause you to get made fun of did that not really Martin Goree: [00:01:52] made fun of, but mispronounced like more than you would imagine. Dave Etler: [00:01:55] What kind of name is scoop? I’d Swedish. I knew, I think Martin Goree: [00:01:59] it, I think it has some sort of, like, I think it’s a noun actually like means something about the forest or something like that. Oh, don’t quote me because I’m not Dave Etler: [00:02:07] a hundred percent sure. But I’ve said this on the show before. Do you know what Etler means in Turkish? I don’t remember now. Steph looked like she was about to guess. Do you, like an animal Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:02:17] is a, like a, like a biking. Dave Etler: [00:02:21] That was another one. Antler. Thank you. No, it means meats in Turkish. If you look up Etler on Google and look at image search, you’ll see a lot of pictures of cuts of meat. Interesting. Zain Mehdi: [00:02:33] It’s very different. Martin Goree: [00:02:35] And have you had a nice Etler? Dave Etler: [00:02:39] Oh wow. All Etler is delicious. Zain Mehdi: [00:02:42] It is. It looks just like any meat. It’s just like meat. Dave Etler: [00:02:44] I think it’s just meats, like , uh, the general category. No, Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:02:51] it looks good. I’m looking at these pictures right now and they’re like fat, meaty. Well, Dave Etler: [00:02:56] that’s all true. Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:03:04] I’m going to tell her shop to go get us some Etler. Dave Etler: [00:03:07] Yes. I’m so glad. We’ve got a bunch of em, ones today who are also new podcasters as your first year , uh, rushes to a close. I thought we should take some time to talk about that. Let’s give the listeners a sense of what it was like to , um, Oh , uh, yeah, because you know, what’s , uh, Courtney, thank you. Um, because I forgot that I have control over cameras. And so Stephanie has been the only person , uh, is there we go. Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:03:33] They only see my face. They’re only seeing Dave Etler: [00:03:35] your face for a long time. I hope you didn’t pick your nose. Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:03:38] I started like dancing and everything. Martin Goree: [00:03:41] Wheat. Dave Etler: [00:03:44] Thank you, Courtney, for , uh, calling the out. Is that the Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:03:46] one live Dave Etler: [00:03:46] person? No, there’s a few people now. My mom not joined in yet. What’s your mom’s name is your mom’s name? Uh, David Kelly or Garrett. Etler well Carl Skoog: [00:04:00] like a burner Facebook account. Yeah. Dave Etler: [00:04:02] Uh, anyway , uh, I would like to give the listeners a sense of what it was like for you to enter medical school, what you didn’t know , um, what you did know. Barry, what you didn’t know what you know now , um, which should be relevant and useful for once , uh, on the podcast. But also want to get to know you better since it’s your first time here and , uh, for several of you, my actual first time meeting you. So let’s start. Where did you go to undergrad? What did you study? Um, Oh, David Kelly says lies. I am her mother. Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:04:31] I’m obviously not dad. Fans not know what to do with technology. I would have to set it up for her. Dave Etler: [00:04:37] Uh, where did you go to undergrad and what did you say we’ll start with , uh, we’ll start with you Carl. Sure. Martin Goree: [00:04:42] So I went to university of Iowa for undergrad. So I am in Iowa city in, at this point, I guess you could say. Okay. But I studied biomedical science Dave Etler: [00:04:51] and graduated in 2020. All right. Uh, uh, Martin. All right, Carl Skoog: [00:04:54] well, I’m from Iowa city originally. I moved to St. Louis. I went to wash U for undergrad. I graduated in 2019. Um, but I’ve returned to the Dave Etler: [00:05:00] nest. Okay. Uh, Zane, Zain Mehdi: [00:05:02] um, I went to cor Cornell university, upstate New York for undergrad and studied double major in bio and English. And then I graduated last year in 20, 20 everyone’s favorite year Dave Etler: [00:05:16] and stuff. Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:05:17] Um, I am from the suburbs near Chicago. And so I went to Loyola, Chicago. I did biochemistry psychology. Um, it’s really cool that you did English major is saying, because then you can like, look at my essays since they are horrible and I don’t know what to do with them. So Dave Etler: [00:05:34] good to know. Well, we can also help you with that in the writing and humanities program. That’s Zain Mehdi: [00:05:38] know, I’ve heard Kate is very helpful with that kind of stuff. She is. Dave Etler: [00:05:41] She is amazing. That’s what we’re here for. That’s why we were made step. So if you want to, if you want to go to some rando. I mean to get critique on your writing, excuse me, you know, I can’t stop you, but Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:05:57] actually after , um, when I was writing my personal statement, I like sent it to so many people that by the end of it, I was like, Oh, this person sounds interesting, but it is not me. Yeah. That’s what I sent out when I got admitted. So whatever it Dave Etler: [00:06:10] was all lies at that point, Zain Mehdi: [00:06:13] writing all that stuff for med school was a lot of work. Yeah, for sure. But I think, I, I definitely feel like I had a little bit easier being, having an English degree because I knew I didn’t have to proofread like every 15 minutes. Like every time I re-read it, because I was just been writing for so much, like for four years straight, just kind of writing a bunch of Dave Etler: [00:06:32] stuff. So hopefully, you Zain Mehdi: [00:06:33] know, a little bit about that slight advantage. I think hopefully, otherwise I wasted a lot of money. Well, the real, Dave Etler: [00:06:38] I mean, the real trick is knowing what people want to hear from you, I guess. Yeah. That’s more Zain Mehdi: [00:06:42] important obviously. Dave Etler: [00:06:44] Well , uh, and you guys who took a year year , um, after graduating undergrad why did you do that? Carl Skoog: [00:06:49] I was an idiot , uh, my first two years of college , um, my grades weren’t great. I was having a lot of fun. Uh, it was kind of buckled down. Um, you know, I might’ve gotten into a med school who’s to say, I definitely wouldn’t have been, you know, in an especially safe spot by any stretch of the imagination. Uh, so really I feel like until my junior year of college, I was not really in any place where that was something that could like, you know, immediately be considered. Um, and at that point it’s getting a little late. I was Dave Etler: [00:07:12] also an idiot in college, so I guess Carl Skoog: [00:07:15] I think it’s a valuable experience in its own way, you know? Dave Etler: [00:07:17] Sure. But , uh, there are cheaper ways to socialize. Yeah, there absolutely are. Uh, Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:07:21] he’s hitting you with the truth right there. Dave Etler: [00:07:23] Hey man. That’s my truth. You know what I’m saying? Um, what about you? Uh, uh, Carl, I think you also actually went straight in, you went straight in Oh, Steph. Oh, it Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:07:31] was me. Yeah. Um, I took two years. Well, okay. Cause I made a different type of mistake. I worked full time while I was in college. And so I worked at the airport as like a gate agent. I was that person that was like , um, the airplane is ready for boarding, please come through and everything like that. And I also worked at like the hospital and at the pharmacy. And so I did a lot of stuff just because I liked working more than I did , um, going to school and yeah, that’s a mistake. Yeah. No, and it wasn’t, you know, I made a lot of money. I met a lot of people like at the airport, met like a ton of celebrities. That was fun. Dave Etler: [00:08:05] So I don’t think that’s a mistake at all. I think that’s a. No, I think there’s this. I think there’s a certain mindset that you got to , uh, it’s somehow a problem if you don’t, get into it early , um, because of opportunity costs and all this kind of stuff, you know, like you’re, you’re losing out on income and you know, you’re going to be old when you’re done and all that kind of stuff, which you’re still going to be old, you know, at some point you might as well, and it doesn’t matter that you’re done with med school or not. So I don’t know. Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:08:28] I think, yeah, no, that is true. I know, I know some people do think about that. Who knows? Yeah, I think it, it got brought up a lot during my interviews, for sure. I say like I got in just because of my extracurricular activities, not because of like my GPA or my MCAT was fine, but like my GPA was like, I also had a lot of fun, you know, my spare time, I was like more in, so I wanted to have fun during my twenties. And so that’s why. Dave Etler: [00:08:52] Uh, crystal says, OMG, I did the same job at the airport during school and while studying for the MCAT. So there you go right now. Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:08:59] Ooh, it is fun guys. It is, you get free flights and everything. Zain Mehdi: [00:09:05] That’s Dave Etler: [00:09:05] where it matters. That’s cute. Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:09:08] That’s what got you. Dave Etler: [00:09:09] But you weren’t on you. Weren’t working. You didn’t work on planes. You weren’t like a steward. No, no, Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:09:14] no. I had done it. Those, those flight attendants. Let me tell you about those flight attendants. They’re very mean I spill the Dave Etler: [00:09:23] tea on the flight attendants. Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:09:25] Very mean they, they act like they own the place and I’m like, I’m just trying to make an announcement. And then because you know, those planes, it costs them like a lot of money every second that they’re like late. And so I’m just trying to get people into the plane, make the announcement and then by, you know , um, so it’s a lot of work, a lot of responsibility. Dave Etler: [00:09:45] Where are you , uh, worried about starting med school in a pandemic year? Oh, sure. I mean, of course you were worried about starting med school. Cause you’re not crazy. Zain Mehdi: [00:09:55] I would say, I feel like the biggest thing was like not being taught, like see people and like, that was like a huge factor for me. Cause I was like looking at like a few different places and one of them was in the West coast, one of the most East coast and then there’s Iowa right in the middle and both ends, like the country were hit like really bad by like the pandemic early on. So like everything was closed down. Like there’s like nothing going to be in person. And I was like, this is going to suck for, for like our first semester, first year of med school. Like not going to be, to do anything in person, no like anatomy lab in person and that kind of stuff. And I was like, this doesn’t sound good. Um, but then thankfully here we were able to do stuff in person, which was a blessing, especially with like. How, like how few interactions I had throughout the quarantine with people besides my family, it was definitely like , uh, nice to be able to see people in person and be able to do stuff in person. But again, there’s still like its own complications because not everyone can be together at once. It was kind of like just small, like pieces of social interaction that you could have. Um, and even like, not being able to talk to like professors and like people like administration, faculty, like in-person is different than it would have been otherwise. So definitely a challenge to think about when starting off. But I think Carver handled it pretty well with everything. Dave Etler: [00:11:08] Sure. I was going to ask you like, yeah. Zain Mehdi: [00:11:09] I mean, I have, cause I know some people like at other med schools who didn’t have anything in person until like November and that was, I was like, wow, that really sucks. Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:11:20] How do you inform friendships Zain Mehdi: [00:11:21] then either you had like friends beforehand or like you’re just desperate for any kind of like zoom, social interaction. How else do you try and like engage with Martin Goree: [00:11:30] people it’s been hard enough even having like some in-person activities to meet people. Because I would say that I probably there’s 150 people in our class. Uh, I’d say I probably know 50 people, like pretty well. And then there’s another 50 people that I’ve just maybe never seen before. And that’s because they have the option, you know, stay home and do zoom if they want or come in for some stuff. But I don’t know. I really wish I’d met more people in my, in our class by now. Oh, for sure. Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:11:53] Yeah, just, I think it depends how lenient , um, some of the students are, some are more like, Oh, in-person stuff and others are more like I’m going to stay home because of the pandemic. I think it’s just depends on the attitude of everything. Carl Skoog: [00:12:04] If you were smack downs between people about that than I actually would have predicted, to be honest with you given like how polarizing the topic is. Right. What do you mean in terms of like people feeling like, you know, strongly either that we should be doing more in-person stuff or none at all. Um, and you know, in reality, the college has kind of just kind of played it down the middle for the most part. Anyway , um, Dave Etler: [00:12:23] we were, they were working pretty hard to like to walk a line. Um, and it was, it was for the most part, I think , um, it wasn’t a hundred percent. Uh, virtual. Was it because you did small group stuff? Zain Mehdi: [00:12:35] Oh yeah. We had a fair bit. Yeah. In the beginning that was in person, which was nice. Like there was, we had like, all our small groups were in person. We had anatomy lab in person. And so like, there’s like a fair bit of interaction, again, not like nearly as much as it would be without the pandemic, but like a lot more than the other plate. Like other places that I know of in other med schools that like I have friends that go to is very different in that regard. So yeah. I know Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:12:58] some places didn’t have like an anatomy lab. I mean, they didn’t have like a in-person anatomy Zain Mehdi: [00:13:03] for our third exam. We had to like do it virtually, which was horrible. And I cannot, I cannot imagine doing the entirety of anatomy lab, like virtually it was, it was like not a fun experience. So being able to do an Adam 11 person was really, really, yeah. Dave Etler: [00:13:17] Um, did you prepare in any way before you matriculated. Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:13:20] I felt like I needed to prepare, but I’m so happy. I didn’t, I’m so happy. I did it cause there’s no way you can prepare for like med school. I think just taking like the , um, classes and undergrad, like taking that biochem anatomy that really helped me , um, my first semester , uh, taking those classes just so it was much smoother and , um, easier to like go ahead and have some more free time to go ahead and make friends or be a part of activities as well. I don’t know about you guys. Dave Etler: [00:13:45] Well, this might be relevant for somebody like you, who this question might be relevant for somebody like you, who took some time away from your science studies. Um, so what do you think Martin? Carl Skoog: [00:13:55] Yeah, you know, it’s a good question. Um, I think med school teaches you everything you need to know. Right? That’s like the single biggest takeaway. There’s no need to like do mini med school during college, before med school. Um, obviously there are circumstances where it’ll make the transition easier going into classes during med school. Um, but I don’t know. I mean, like, I feel like anatomy was a bit of a foreign concept to me at first. I hadn’t had any exposure to that previously. Um, and I’m going to guess maybe like a third to half of the class had something like that, at least in some respect. Um, so that took a little while to get like, you know, my feet wet in it, but , um, I think as you kind of progress further and further, those differences tend to even out a lot. Dave Etler: [00:14:33] Yeah. I don’t know. That’s that’s our job is right. Carl Skoog: [00:14:36] Um, and I don’t know, I guess kind of what I’ve found personally is a lot of people who scribed in particular, like in an emergency room or something that were exposed to like a lot of different things before med school, the first two months kind of seemed like gods, you know, they had like a really broad knowledge base compared to other people. And then I think that’s kind of. I, I don’t know. I’d be willing to a wager that there’s not much of a difference now at this point. Yeah, no, I totally Martin Goree: [00:14:58] agree. I think most people are on a level playing field by this. Zain Mehdi: [00:15:01] Yeah. Now it’s gotten better, but yeah. Cause I, again, being like one of my majors being like something completely unrelated to medicine as it stands currently, like academically, why wise, but then like my other, like my bio major was focused so much on like molecular pathways. Like that’s like what I studied and that kind of stuff, which is like, which we covered in like the first, like two weeks of, of foundations. Like, okay, well that’s my entire degree there. That’s all I know. And so everything that was pretty foreign. And so Dave Etler: [00:15:30] you’re like, I could have done Martin Goree: [00:15:31] this in two weeks. Zain Mehdi: [00:15:32] Come on. It’s like I spent 40 waste of money and we learned it all in the first like month. Um, But, yeah. And so, cause I know I took like one anatomy class, which is like a comparative anatomy. So it wasn’t even just about like human anatomy. I was like about like turtles and like a bunch of random animals and like just awful, like apparently flies is a big thing. Cause the entirety of embryology was focused on fly embryology. I don’t know. Dave Etler: [00:15:55] It was a of pretty much the same when they’re Zain Mehdi: [00:15:57] embryo, I guess so, but like it was a mandatory class for every bio major. So I must’ve been important just in general, but um, really did not help much with anatomy lab, but like I know a few people who like had there’s one person who’s like did like a masters in anatomy. I’m like, okay, well, you know, a lot more than I do and I will come to you for advice. Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:16:14] Is it, those people that like came to like each , um, lab group and like started teaching us Zain Mehdi: [00:16:19] during the no, no, no, no, just another student. Yeah. Just another student just like had, had taken Academy masters and like anatomy or in the human anatomy. I was like, well, she knows everything already. And I’m like, Hey, you don’t know any of these things. Um, and then like, like Martin said that people had experienced, like after taking a year or two off to like work in like the hospital and like CBL, they’re like, Oh yeah, let’s do this, this, this, this I’m like, I don’t know what any of these things are. I felt so lost in the beginning, but I think you’re Dave Etler: [00:16:47] supposed to feel lost in the beginning. Oh yeah, yeah. Yeah. Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:16:50] People from different backgrounds. And so that’s a nice thing. Like everyone’s teaching each other, their own thing. Everybody has a weakness and a strength. And so it’s great that we’re all able to come together and learn from Dave Etler: [00:16:59] each other. So even in, I was going to ask that cause even, cause one of the things that, you know, I think we in student affairs we’re concerned about , um, is. You know, that we were sort of worried about a loss of the potential lack of opportunities to find your people and to do social learning , um, uh, and all that kind of stuff. Uh, it sounds like there were opportunities though, so, so that’s good, Martin Goree: [00:17:20] um, Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:17:20] to Dave Etler: [00:17:20] like meet each other to meet each other, but also to learn with each other. Yeah. I know you live in, in Firo, one of the medical facilities and there’s also a KK, so maybe you had a, I don’t know, some sort of advantage in that regard to somebody who lives, you know, maybe in their own apartment or Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:17:38] yeah. You know, that’s a big thing. That’s the whole reason why, especially because of COVID, but , uh, it made me decide to go ahead and live in a fraternity and a medical fraternity. Um, Uh, I say medical fraternity. Cause whenever I tell my friends, Oh, I live in a frat. They’re like, are you the only girl? They’re like, what’s going on? I’m like, know, Oh, it’s co-ed guys. I swear. It’s coed. And one of my friends came along and she saw only guys. And she’s like, didn’t you say this was co-ed? And I said, I said, so where there are girls here, they are coming out. They are just in their rooms or something. Um, but yeah, no, it was great. Yeah. I got to meet a lot of people as a result and then also upper class men as well to just give advice about exams when I would tell them like, Oh, I’m freaking out about this exam. They’d be like, yeah, that exam was super hard. I almost failed. And I was like, that is not the attitude I need right now. I need positivity. But , um, no, it’s great living with a bunch of other people during the pandemic. Um, just so you can make those friendships and it’s important to have a support group while you’re in med school. That is so important to have a support group. I can’t stress that enough. You need somebody, you can like tell your worries too. That is so important. Dave Etler: [00:18:38] Well, speaking of support, I get pitches , uh, almost every day from people who want to come on the podcast, which is nice. Um, but I got one the other day that I just wasn’t sure about. It was the author of a book about how to raise it was how to raise your child to be a physician. And I mean, that’s what it seemed like from the title title. I’m not going to say, say the title because maybe we’ll have this person on the show. I’m not really Zain Mehdi: [00:19:04] explained themselves Dave Etler: [00:19:05] through, except you’re like, I really want them to be like, what the hell. Um, yeah. All right. I’m just going to say it cause they’re not coming on the show. Um, , uh, I was looking at the Amazon description and it’s like, whether your child is a toddler, a teen or in college will help you figure out how to re I’m. Like, why are you doing that? No, you can’t. Who’s doing this. Did you guys, I like as a student affairs professional as a student affairs professional. All right. I’m going to tell you the truth. Martin Goree: [00:19:33] I don’t want to hear from your parents. Dave Etler: [00:19:35] You’re too old for that. I worry, you know, like when student, when parents con I’ve had a couple of parents contact me over the years and every time I’m like, Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:19:44] what are they contacting you about? Dave Etler: [00:19:46] Ah, there was a couple of times I got contacted , uh, during the, the fall semester from parents asking about vaccination. Like when is my chalk and your vaccination? I don’t know why they’re calling me probably because my, like, I don’t have anything to do with that. Um, I mean, my name is like among the first and the contact page on our website, so I’m pretty sure that’s why. Um, but like, I’m like, you guys are adults, you guys were adults before you even came into medical school. I don’t wanna hear you. I just think , uh, maybe parents shouldn’t be involved at this point. I don’t know. Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:20:15] Completely agree. Completely agree, but I bring this up because Dave Etler: [00:20:19] yeah, but I bring this up because , um, families are a source of support. Did you guys, did you guys feel supported by your families or did they just not have any idea what is going on? Zain Mehdi: [00:20:29] No, I, I definitely feel like it’s super important to have like, at least, I think for me, at least it’s been very important to have like my family support because , um, like my brother, he was like, he’s like the. He went through the whole like med school, like process first. And so it was like learning, like experience, like, see like, okay, this is what I’m getting into. Like being able to understand that like actually like, see if this is if it actually is for me or Dave Etler: [00:20:51] yeah. Yeah. You had an important , uh, I don’t know if advantage is the right word, but you had a nice window into it. Definitely an advantage. Zain Mehdi: [00:20:56] I didn’t, I would have been a very lost otherwise about like how to do certain things. Cause it’s like both my parents, they do research and like, that’s like, it’s, it’s different for sure from like medicine and like going through med school and becoming a physician. And so , um, like they try to offer advice on that, like, Oh yeah. Research. Like, if you’re interested in this, I can tell you about this. But like, that’s not even the majority of what, like being a physician is about research is like only if you’re interested in kind of thing. Um, so their advice was just kind of like, not as helpful as it could have been. Uh, but still like very important to me, just like kind of the support, like they’re trying to help like that super, I mean, just like effort is like all that. You need and like, just that kind of like, okay, if you need anything, let me know that kind of stuff. It works super well. Where’d your brother go to school? He went to Drexel in Philadelphia for med school. Okay. I mean, we’re from Pennsylvania, just having him as a resource was super helpful and still is like, sometimes, like I remember last semester for one of our CBLs I had a doing learning issue on, on EKG, which is , uh, feet there. Cause like there’s like a bunch of leads. It was like, it was so I was like, it was like Sunday night and I was like, Oh my God, I am, I have no idea what I’m doing. And so like, I called them up and. How he helped me a lot because he’s an internal medicine and going to go into interventional cardiology. So like that’s his feet. So like yeah. If yeah. Having that as a resource. Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:22:18] your sister also want to be , uh, go into Zain Mehdi: [00:22:19] medicine. Yeah. So she’s a, she’s already in like a BSDL program where, so she like, doesn’t, she’s like, she just started her freshman year of college, but like, she doesn’t need to like apply to med schools cause she’s already in a program it’s kind of like you apply to like, it’s like a dual degree kind of thing. And so she’s already set to go with that. Dave Etler: [00:22:37] There is a tendency to talk about being a medical student and physician in terms of sacrifices , um, like your, your, the sacrifices that you make to become a physician or a med or even a med student. Um, do you guys feel like you’ve made sacrifices. Carl Skoog: [00:22:52] That’s an interesting question. I don’t know. I guess, like, I don’t think there’s any right way to approach this necessarily. Like, I think it can just be like a job, you can treat it as like a job that you did, like a little bit of extra schooling for , um, obviously like certain time commitments, whatever, you know, can I push the boundaries lab? Dave Etler: [00:23:07] I guess there are things that technical, you do sacrifice, right? Like some people would say , um, Oh, I don’t know you because you know, you could go into another field and make more money for less outlay. Um, so I guess that’s kind of a sacrifice. Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:23:21] I dunno. I have like , um, engineering friends, cause I have majority of my friends back home are like engineers. And so here they are, I’m done with school , um, and their jobs making money and they’re like planning, vacations. All I are just like spilling money. Like, like it’s nothing, you know, and I’m over here like, Oh, I would love to join in maybe next time. But I have this test that I have to like study for. So I do feel that there is that sacrifice, but it’s nice knowing that , um, at the end I will get there. At one point, I will be kind of like them and I’ll be in my dream job. And so I think it’s so important to work in something that you’re not like constantly, like, why am I here at one? Is it going to be over this shift? So I think that’s so important about life because life is already, so can be sometimes boring. And so to spice it up, it’s nice to have a job that you love in my opinion. Well, we’ll Dave Etler: [00:24:11] check in toward the end of your third year. Martin Goree: [00:24:16] Like when you’re like, why am I here? Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:24:19] What Martin Goree: [00:24:20] is this over? I don’t want to be a family medicine doctor. Dave Etler: [00:24:22] I hate Martin Goree: [00:24:23] ophthalmology. I don’t Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:24:25] actually like ophthalmology. Dave Etler: [00:24:27] I don’t want to put words in your mouth, but you know , um, Martin Goree: [00:24:29] I think in that same vein of sacrifice, there’s like a nice sense of comradery. That’s comforting knowing that like all the other people in our class are going through the same thing and giving up the same things like , uh, you know, spending extra time with friends and. Doing fun weekend, things like that. There is a nice sense of comfort. Now. Carl Skoog: [00:24:45] I Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:24:45] think that’s what makes med school like bearable, just because of like all of us, like we know what we’re, what the stresses that we have, we have common stresses. And so being able to go on the weekends, knowing that we have a test on Friday or something like that, and not just caring about that and just living in the moment. I don’t know. It’s really nice. It’s important to make those friendships during school because you’re going to need those Martin Goree: [00:25:05] for sure. Dave Etler: [00:25:22] what didn’t you know about med school before you started? Carl Skoog: [00:25:25] It’s a little bit more busy work than I would have expected to be completely honest with you. Like, I pictured myself as just kind of being like, you know, a bit of a shut-in who like, you know, studies like 12 hours a day. And, you know, I think like that level of workload and commitment maybe like kind of picks up a little bit and coming years, but at least during your first year, you know, it’s not like I’m living off of like frozen pizza and , uh, You know, not doing anything bad by grinding for an exam four weeks off in the future. Exactly. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So I don’t know. I mean, I guess it’s like a little more similar to college than I would have predicted actually. Okay. Dave Etler: [00:25:58] I didn’t expect that , uh, anybody agree or disagree. Martin Goree: [00:26:01] I agree on the busy work. I mean, it’s not necessarily a hindrance, but there is a lot of it and you find Dave Etler: [00:26:06] ways to, well, let’s talk about what do you mean by busy work? I’m not Zain Mehdi: [00:26:09] clear Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:26:10] if you think there’s going to be more or Carl Skoog: [00:26:12] less. I thought there would be less. I thought it would be primarily entirely exam driven with some clinical encounters. Um, as opposed to like, write this one page assignment Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:26:22] about. Yeah, we have a lot of assignments due on Monday there. I liked just like , um, the clinical notes and like the reflections and activity that we’re supposed to be learning about , um, on the side. So yeah, there is a lot of that and I don’t, I don’t, I don’t know the reasoning behind that. There is, I forgot the reasoning they gave and a Carl Skoog: [00:26:40] lot of it’s just like mandated, you know, Dave Etler: [00:26:42] but isn’t the reasoning, isn’t the reasoning for stuff like that. you are in the process of becoming something. Okay. And this is, this is kind of a big deal. I mean, you don’t see, maybe you don’t see it while you’re inside, but you are in the process of becoming something and it’s worth understanding what you’re becoming and how that’s changing you. Um, Martin Goree: [00:26:59] And Dave Etler: [00:26:59] the extent to which you are. And in that understanding, I think really helps guide. It could help guide you to , um, you know, to, to be more fully aware of, you know, your own humanity and your own biases , um, and your own understanding of human nature and all that kind of stuff, which is actually kind of important. I mean, yes, you’re, you know, scores are important. Um, grades are important, but , uh, uh, doc, after who isn’t fully air, at least as fully as possible cognizant of , um, human nature and doesn’t, and hasn’t put in any work to understand how they’re going to affect people and the kind of people. I mean, if there’s one thing we’ve learned in 2020 , um, You know, people matter, and it’s not just about science, but, you know? Yeah. So I don’t know exactly what you were assigned. So I am making, I’m making , uh, assumptions. Zain Mehdi: [00:27:53] We had a similar discussion during the humanities elective on Tuesday with Kate and yeah. And Kate, by the Dave Etler: [00:27:59] way is much better at articulating these things than I am. Zain Mehdi: [00:28:02] Cause we were just discussing, seemed like writing and its place in medicine. And like obviously someone who like has like, cares about that and like writes like that’s something that I do. I was like, okay. Yeah, I totally agree. Because it’s like reflective of like you’re reflecting on yourself and your own experiences. And that gives you your own perspectives to think about later on. But it also like reading about other people’s reflections and other people’s experiences, especially if it’s like a patient can help you in the future, understand that kind of population better. And um, but like I, again, I still get it. Like there’s a lot of work that seems like it’s not. Important compared to like all the science stuff that we need to learn. And like, it seems much more like a priority for us, like focus on that because that’s what, like, essentially that’s what matters, like first, like just take care of taking care for the patient’s health. Like that’s like the primary goal, but , um, it’s just like, I feel like it’s still important to like, think about those things. Occasionally. Maybe there’s a little bit too much of it right now, just because there’s just a bunch of different things that we have to do. But occasionally I feel like it’s, it’s a good way to just. Think back and like, think about what’s going on and understanding things better , um, in a way that you might not have thought about before. Cause you just sell like immersed in the material. Um, but yeah, that’s kind of like how our discussion went on Tuesday about the Carl Skoog: [00:29:19] topic too. Yeah, no, I absolutely don’t want anyone to think that I was like arguing that, you know, med school should Dave Etler: [00:29:24] be somewhere it’s a little late for that. Yeah. Martin Goree: [00:29:27] Just cut that from the record. Dave Etler: [00:29:30] Totally. Carl Skoog: [00:29:31] I don’t know. I mean, well, the fact that there are like, you know, a number of like smaller assignments that, you know, exist on kind of like a periodic basis that need to be turned in. That’s something, I guess I wasn’t fully like expecting not that it’s bad by any means and just, you Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:29:43] know, I’d rather, it’d be like a discussion than it being us like writing something, but maybe that’s because I don’t like writing, writing, Dave Etler: [00:29:51] writing is tough. Uh, I, you know, I can, I can see that. Um, you know, I, I mean, personally I’m like, I like this format better. Like just people sitting down and talking. About, yeah. About these things should Zain Mehdi: [00:30:01] be mandated that every med student at one point goes to the shortcut. Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:30:05] Yes. People come out of their shell. I told a friend actually to come on when I was like trying to recruit , um, the last minute spa and my friend was like, Oh, I don’t know how I feel about being recorded and everything like that. And I was like, and this person always carries cash on her. And I was like, maybe you’re looking protective custody or something like that. Cause like always has cash on her. She doesn’t like to be recorded. She doesn’t like pictures to be posted. And I’m like, Hmm. Dave Etler: [00:30:31] I think you’re onto something. This person is definitely is definitely in the mob. Martin Goree: [00:30:38] I told Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:30:38] her, I was like, if you’re in the mob, I will accept you. That’s Zain Mehdi: [00:30:42] okay. Yeah, I’m okay with HIPAA you’re covered. I don’t Martin Goree: [00:30:47] think that’s covered, but Zain Mehdi: [00:30:49] definitely not. If you’re a threat to others. Dave Etler: [00:30:52] What was the easiest part of med school so far? Martin Goree: [00:30:56] Huh? Hm, Dave Etler: [00:30:58] wow. I really expected there to be Zain Mehdi: [00:31:00] something for me personally, I really liked just like the simulated, like patient stuff that we do. I feel it gets very Dave Etler: [00:31:09] well Zain Mehdi: [00:31:09] reviewed. Yeah. It’s just, I feel like I really didn’t. George is like talking to like, if I sure it’s like a fake patient by talking to a patient about like, what’s going on and wait, wait, wait, we don’t call them fake patients, simulated patients. Sorry. But , um, I just, I, I thought that was a lot of fun. Like, especially this week we had like our own, like one-on-one where we kind of did like a full thing with everything, with an SP where we did like the full HPI, like past medical history, family history, everything as well as doing a physical exam based on like a potential differential we had on mind. And I thought that was super a lot of fun and like, not easy for sure. But like, it’s definitely just, that was a nice way to just like. Feel more like a physician, you know, before we’re actually physicians. And so I really liked that part , um, and thought that was a good time. And I think we’ve been prepared, like we’ve been getting prepared slowly to get to that level and it’s been getting better and better, which with each encounter that way I Martin Goree: [00:31:59] would agree. I think the curriculum does a nice job building upon itself. Like looking back at the first couple of weeks and that school will be like, this is how you talk to someone. This is how you can have a conversation. And then, you know, they slowly out on different components of the fiscal exam, like parts of the interview. And then by the end of the first semester, I felt like super confident in my abilities to meet with patients. And I wouldn’t say it was easy, but like, it was definitely not as difficult as I expected it to be ahead of time. Yeah. So yeah, Dave Etler: [00:32:24] that looks good. And they do a great Carl Skoog: [00:32:25] job of making , um, I think like assignments of that nature, like really approachable. Um, you know, I don’t think anyone that I’ve talked to anyways really felt like there was just kind of some like overbearing evaluator who was just like breathing down their necks, ready to like knock them off for, you know, whatever they could do wrong. It’s it’s very much like an encouraging building process. Zain Mehdi: [00:32:42] Yeah. I think that’s a super important part of it. Like being able to like make mistakes and no one care that you made a mistake, it’s just kind of like, okay, you made this mistake, this is a better way to do it. Potentially try to figure it out this way. And I think that’s super helpful. Cause then, cause we all eventually will take care of patients in a slightly different way and being able to like figure that out ourselves I think is super helpful. Dave Etler: [00:33:01] Um, okay. Well what have you struggled with Zain Mehdi: [00:33:03] time management? Yeah, Carl Skoog: [00:33:06] the stuff’s hard boring answers, but it’s kind of true, Martin Goree: [00:33:10] especially. Oh no, go ahead. I was just every week is so different. Yeah, it’s really, I mean you can’t learning time management is kind of an ongoing process. Like we never have the same schedule every week. So it’s, you really have to adapt. Zain Mehdi: [00:33:21] I was going to say one thing. I was like, okay. Cause like one week we have absolutely nothing going on, like testing wise and the next week we have a test and like, there’s a bunch of stuff that like, it’s so different each week that like, it like messes up, like whatever schedule I have for one week, because I have to figure out how to do it differently the next week. Martin Goree: [00:33:37] I don’t know about you guys also, but Stephanie, but I don’t usually plan too far ahead because of that. Like, you can’t really plan look more than four or five days ahead, which is fine. But Zain Mehdi: [00:33:47] no, I see that very often people are like, Oh yeah, well we have this tomorrow or in two days I’m like, Oh really? I haven’t looked past today. And like, I feel like that’s a very, and yeah, I don’t know. It’s just this just how it is. Cause there’s just so much to focus on at one time that like, you can only take it like day by day in some cases. Is Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:34:05] this why you can’t like give me a set date on when we’re going rock climbing. Zain Mehdi: [00:34:11] I don’t know how anything works. And, and I’m just like trying to figure out things as much as I can. And it’s, it’s just not, I’m not good at it. I made it this far, so true. Fair enough. But if you want to go on Monday down to go, you’re going on Monday. I have no idea. Maybe, maybe not we’ll week. So I don’t know. Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:34:33] Oh, I don’t know. Test weeks are Swedes are interesting. It’s more about winging it and everything like that. I don’t know. I was going to go with Zane rock climbing this week, and then I remembered I had my COVID my second dose COVID vaccine scheduled later in the day. That’s what I mean, like you take it day by day. I was like, Oh, you know what? Maybe it’s not a good idea to go right after I get the second dose. And so he Dave Etler: [00:34:55] almost had him though. You almost got him to go rock climbing on Monday. Zain Mehdi: [00:34:59] I went twice this week. Just like, it just didn’t work out with like Steph schedule, other people that had went with. Cause it was like a fairly large group of kids here. Who like, Dave Etler: [00:35:09] are you talking about like actual climbing of actual rocks or at the, Zain Mehdi: [00:35:13] yeah, at the rec center? Um, cause I don’t know how to do like lead climbing yet. That’s not, that’s like the next step. Um, but right now it was just kind of the top rope and bouldering on like the wall that they have at HTR, T H C Martin Goree: [00:35:24] H Dave Etler: [00:35:25] CR CRP X Carl Skoog: [00:35:27] four letters Zain Mehdi: [00:35:28] and roll. I dunno because there’s another, there’s like a tennis rec center that’s near where I live and that’s the one that I think about, but no, it’s CWIC um, Dave Etler: [00:35:34] And campus recreation and wellness center. I already Zain Mehdi: [00:35:37] forgot it. Right. Um, yeah, but I, yeah, twice this week, because there’s like a large group of kids who like rock climbing and so it’s been a good time, good way to meet, like, hang out with people that you might otherwise not like see often. Good. It’s nice to know that. Yeah. Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:35:51] People are really are Dorsey here. Yeah. That’s what I learned when I moved to Iowa really outdoors. Dave Etler: [00:35:56] Um, who or what has helped you this year in any Martin Goree: [00:35:59] fashion? Dr. Swales? Zain Mehdi: [00:36:02] Yeah, like Dr. Swales person, just Martin Goree: [00:36:06] like he brings is Zain Mehdi: [00:36:06] really positive. It’s just like, it’s like, he validates like what we’re feeling, but also is like, try to get us more excited to do what we’re doing and it really, it helps for sure. Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:36:17] Yes. He has an Instagram, which is like the cutest with his little histology stuff going on. If you guys should follow him. Carl Skoog: [00:36:25] Yeah. Martin Goree: [00:36:28] This Dave Etler: [00:36:28] is second account. Oh, I didn’t, I didn’t know about that. So the Zain Mehdi: [00:36:31] second Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:36:32] credit as followers, Martin Goree: [00:36:33] it’s like 30,000 followers. That’s incredible. We Dave Etler: [00:36:35] are you serious? Oh yeah. It’s Zain Mehdi: [00:36:37] kind of a common thought you follow it? Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:36:40] No, no I do, but I don’t look at the followers. I just looked at his like images and everything was, Martin Goree: [00:36:45] you know Dave Etler: [00:36:45] what that’s, that’s refreshing Steph doesn’t care about your followers. I don’t care about Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:36:50] that. Thank you. I also have an Instagram and there’s zero posts. So maybe that’s why I’m actually like the social media chair for like a number of Dave Etler: [00:37:05] she’s an influencer. Zain Mehdi: [00:37:07] Really? Yeah. Do you, so you met it at the bowl where Instagram. Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:37:11] I control the bulwark, Instagram. I control the women, surgeons of Iowa, whatever Instagram. I also control, like sometimes the SNMA one. I just jump into a ton, Zain Mehdi: [00:37:23] you know? Dave Etler: [00:37:24] Okay. Well now I know now I know who isn’t liking my posts on our Instagram. Oh, the short coat. I just, you know, Martin Goree: [00:37:36] I don’t know that Carl Skoog: [00:37:41] popularity here, David. Oh, you’re right. I spoke was the only listener we’d still be doing this. Zain Mehdi: [00:37:47] I’m there. Dave Etler: [00:37:48] Uh, Carl Skoog: [00:37:48] shout out to that guy, by the way. I only remember the one name. Yeah. Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:37:51] I just gave you like, Dave Etler: [00:37:54] like likes or for chumps. I need a share or a comment or a save, please. That’s how the algorithm works. Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:38:02] And I felt like when people are like, it’s so cute emoji, I see that all the Dave Etler: [00:38:08] time. We’re like the lowest, the lowest interaction, I think saves, saves are the highest, the most valuable interaction. Cause it says, Oh, at least leave a comment Martin Goree: [00:38:20] or something, leave a Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:38:21] comment. Yeah. I think they should get rid of likes and just leave comments. It would open up discussions for people. The Dave Etler: [00:38:27] likes of the only interactions I get. So apparently Zain Mehdi: [00:38:31] I can’t see likes anymore Dave Etler: [00:38:32] in my Instagram. Yeah. you have to click through, or maybe you have to be a creator or a business account to see them. I think that’s what it is. They did deemphasize them. Cause I can’t see it anymore. And I think the reason they, they said the reason they deemphasized them was because , um, they weren’t as important. Um, no, that’s fair, but the whole goal of instant we can go on for the whole goal of Instagram. As I understand it is to keep people on Instagram. Okay. That’s Alice. So all of those other things are like. Strong signals that you’re on Instagram. You’re staying on Instagram . Let’s I w I’ve enjoyed getting to know you in this fashion. Let’s uh, go through a few. Would you rather, , um, maybe we can know you a little bit more. Um, would you rather murder a squirrel or murder a clown? That’s important question murder, a squirrel or murder a clown. Martin Goree: [00:39:30] Is it an evil clown? Clown? I feel like most Dave Etler: [00:39:34] people either like clowns or don’t like clowns and they don’t really, I mean, if it’s, if it’s, I mean, obviously if it’s the clown, that’s like the worst clown, right. But clowns are pretty bad for some people. I probably Zain Mehdi: [00:39:49] killed a squirrel. I don’t know. I feel like I don’t, I don’t have a problem with clowns. And if he makes me a balloon animal all the better, Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:39:57] yeah. He brings happiness. I’m Carl Skoog: [00:39:58] more afraid of clowns than the squirrel. So I’m going to avoid antagonizing a clown and I will also go the squirrel route for the larger lown listenership out there. This is Martin Gorrie. I’m on your side. Okay. Let’s just establish that. Dave Etler: [00:40:16] People doing their gap years as clowns, someone has to, it’s gotta be one listener, dude. I would love, love, love to hear about that Carl Skoog: [00:40:23] listener. MarkerWhat percentage of the population do you think is in like the clown profession, less Zain Mehdi: [00:40:28] than London per second, one dying, Carl Skoog: [00:40:31] like kind of common. Do you think it’s more than 1%? Go with like 15, 15 I bet if you put a poll in our class group me right now asking how many people were clowns, you’d get like 24 Zain Mehdi: [00:40:48] versus like an actual clown, like in like white base. That’s Carl Skoog: [00:40:51] what I’m saying. We’re out, we’re on the same page here. Kind Martin Goree: [00:40:54] of interesting. We’re all pro clown. Carl Skoog: [00:40:57] I’m not good with estimations. Dave Etler: [00:40:58] did you express a , uh, an opinion on this stuff? I Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:41:01] wouldn’t, I would kill the squirrel because I don’t know. I have a lot of trees next to my building. And these squirrels sometimes will follow me to the door. I’m kind of Zain Mehdi: [00:41:10] afraid of them. Martin Goree: [00:41:12] Dave said, murder, not kill your murder. Do you, Dave Etler: [00:41:16] do you try, do you accidentally leave a trail of nuts as you walk around, you might, you might want to check. You might want to check your pockets for holes. Maybe the nuts are falling out of your pockets and the squirrels are, are just, you know, they’re just doing their squirrel thing. Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:41:33] Well, that my building also leaves the door open. And so they can like easily go into the kitchen downstairs and grab some Dave Etler: [00:41:40] food. They’re really skeeved out by squirrels. So Zain Mehdi: [00:41:42] I bet I was squares a little bit more bold. And as well as that I’ve seen, like, they don’t like, if there’s a human around them, they’re not running away instantly, which is different from where I’m from, where if the squirrel comes in like 10 feet radius, they run away. Yeah. Dave Etler: [00:41:54] Um, would you rather. Lick a scalpel recently used for cadaver dissection or drop your phone in a portable toilet near the stadium after halftime and retrieve it Zain Mehdi: [00:42:07] without a doubt. I’ll look that scalpel, I’m not dropping my phone in a port-a-potty next to it. Music festival, Carl Skoog: [00:42:14] God gave us antibiotics for a reason. You know, Zain Mehdi: [00:42:16] I’ll take the scalpel, the scalpel, like all of that preservative. I’m sure it’s probably going to be a little bit less problematic than all the whatever is in that port-a-potty Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:42:25] Well, you can like lick the scalpel. You don’t have to like spit it out immediately and you can just spit it out. Yeah, Dave Etler: [00:42:31] you could, you could technically reach into a port-a-potty with a gloved hand, grab your phone and then somehow Zain Mehdi: [00:42:36] phone is not getting it every single, like no crevice that phone’s gone and you have to fish it out. Yeah. So that’s Dave Etler: [00:42:46] the part, that’s the worst part. So you just abandoned the phone just because it’s not worth worthless. I spent a thousand dollars on that phone, but I am licking Zain Mehdi: [00:42:53] that scalpel without a doubt. I have a waterproof Martin Goree: [00:42:55] case. I Dave Etler: [00:42:56] think I’d still like , uh, Steph , uh, you seem to have a visceral reaction to this question. Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:43:02] I’m thinking of the scalpel and the porta-potty and everything like that. Martin Goree: [00:43:05] Uh, Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:43:05] I’m scared because like, what if somebody does pick up your cell phone from the port-a-potty and like steal all your information? I have like my cards on my style and I do Zain Mehdi: [00:43:14] like the Apple. First of all, who’s who’s fishing that out for you sounds Dave Etler: [00:43:19] strangely like you’re off the grid friend right now, two in the Martin Goree: [00:43:23] same room Zain Mehdi: [00:43:24] before they’re so concerned that even a phone that’s fallen into a port-a-potty is a greater concern of their like personal identity that someone might stretch. Dave Etler: [00:43:35] Well, fears are fears are often , um, irrational. So that’s fine. Would you rather get plastic surgery that made you look as beautiful as the most beautiful person in the world or become a doctor in the specialty of your dreams? I mean, everybody in this room is already as beautiful as the most beautiful person in the world. So I guess this was, and step two, Zain Mehdi: [00:43:54] I was going to say the, exactly, like we’re already at contract to becoming whatever physician we want to be, hopefully, but Dave Etler: [00:44:01] your dream, your journey, like all Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:44:04] saying, you want to go into neurosurgery. So Zain Mehdi: [00:44:08] it is harder, but I feel like it’s like, it’s plausible. It’s not, it’s not plausible that plastic surgery will end well all the time. So if I make it work exactly right, then Dave Etler: [00:44:19] it would work. I mean that’s, I mean, it’s, it’s not, there’s no chance that this plastic surgery wouldn’t work. That’s why I’m leaning more. Zain Mehdi: [00:44:26] Yeah. Yeah. Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:44:26] But don’t, you have to go ahead and like, let’s say, if you get like , uh, like breast surgery that once every 10 years you have to go ahead and replace it. So would you want to go through that hassle every time Martin Goree: [00:44:40] I’m talking about the Dave Etler: [00:44:40] female, I guess we know something about staff. They’re Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:44:47] my friends, we talked about this just because there’s a friend of ours that wants to be a plastic surgeon. So we like talking about like, Zain Mehdi: [00:44:53] yeah, I saw a few of the like discussions for breast implant stuff, because last semester I was in my ECE, which is our early clinical exposure exposures. If for those listening , um, was in the plastic clinic. And so I, we like, it’s gnarly for sure. Down the line. They’re not fooling around. Yeah. But the whole thing is it’s going to be perfect. That’s that’s, that’s the thing. So. In this scenario. Dave Etler: [00:45:16] So project you’re supposed Carl Skoog: [00:45:20] to, I don’t know, I’ve hesitated long enough that I guess I have to suck it up and answer the plastic surgery. One, to be completely honest, I would want the plastic surgery. If I was approaching this from Lincoln altruistic angle, I should have known that within like a millisecond and I Dave Etler: [00:45:35] definitely didn’t. Okay. All right. So you’re to you’re getting plastic surgery. It looks super hot. Oh yeah. But you’ll still be a doctor you just went. Yeah. Right? Yeah. All right, dude, did you a way in there? Yeah. I’ll take the Martin Goree: [00:45:47] plastic surgery. Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:45:50] I’m so surprised about Zain Mehdi: [00:45:51] this. Are you going to pick the dream dream specialty? Is that your answer? I Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:45:57] don’t know. I think like if you, if you look super. Did you say, like you would look perfect after this plastic surgery, Dave Etler: [00:46:04] beautiful person in the world. It was beautiful person whose opinion in the world’s opinion, the entire entire world got together, Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:46:13] thinks the same and Zain Mehdi: [00:46:14] I’m sure that’ll help get your dream like specialty. Exactly. That’s what I was thinking. And the hottest person in the room. Oh yeah. Okay. All right. So it, the full purpose. Proficiency is out the window. Nope. If you’re, if you’re hot enough and she can get away with anything, Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:46:29] I think there’s like a research study about that. Like people Zain Mehdi: [00:46:32] call it it’s like halo effect or something. It’s Carl Skoog: [00:46:35] actually my summer research project coming up. Yeah. I am taking a sample size of 10,000 supermodels and then 10,000 people who look like me. Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:46:45] I would believe that. So is that true? I’m looking at Martin Goree: [00:46:49] every word of it. Zain Mehdi: [00:46:51] Whenever they saw that to review for SRF. They’re like, this is the one Martin Goree: [00:46:57] to see the comments. Dave Etler: [00:46:58] All right. Would you rather wake up in nursing school, dentist school, physical therapy school or pharmacy school got a four way thing here. Nursing dentist, PT or farm. Zain Mehdi: [00:47:12] I’d probably go PT. I feel like that’s okay. That’s the thing I think of most interesting of the bunch to me. Dave Etler: [00:47:20] I don’t know. There are no wrong answers, huh? Okay. Carl Skoog: [00:47:22] I was like, I don’t think I mentioned this at the beginning when I was supposed to, I did a chem major and then was actually looking at jobs for Pfizer, out of college for antibiotics synthesis. So you missed your chance? I think. Exactly. Yep. Uh, you would not want a vaccine made by me Dave Etler: [00:47:37] right now, Carl Skoog: [00:47:39] but I’ll go with the cop out and go with pharmacy for that Dave Etler: [00:47:42] reason. All right. Fair enough. I think I’d go with dentistry dentistry. It’s a Carl Skoog: [00:47:47] procedure holistic field and Dave Etler: [00:47:49] I Martin Goree: [00:47:49] like that, so. Okay. Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:47:51] Uh, physical therapy or dentist, I don’t know, maybe physical therapy. I would love to have, I wouldn’t be one of those buff people and get an Instagram and show people how to do squats because I can’t do squats Carl Skoog: [00:48:00] correctly Dave Etler: [00:48:02] to Steph and Instagram yet she has zero Martin Goree: [00:48:08] posts. Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:48:08] I have zero posts. I’m not big about social media. Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:48:13] So that’s why. except if you have been on Snapchat, your stories are amazing. Stories are wild, so they should not be seen by a Zain Mehdi: [00:48:23] professional. Like I’m always , uh, complaining about stuff. I do art or do art. Yeah. That’s the two Dave Etler: [00:48:30] options I am on Snapchat. So I will immediately be adding you Zain Mehdi: [00:48:35] stories. Carl Skoog: [00:48:36] Impeccable. Do you think it’s feasible to be an Instagram influencer? That’s never posted Martin Goree: [00:48:42] to Carl Skoog: [00:48:43] be up at night. That’s Martin Goree: [00:48:44] actually my SRF project possible. Dave Etler: [00:48:50] Alright. What’d you write there have aphasia. Uh, and if you don’t know what that is inability to understand or express using language have and knows me and knows me and nausea, loss of ability to smell or have prosopagnosia the inability to recognize familiar faces. Carl Skoog: [00:49:07] Can you smell the person and recognize them? Oh Dave Etler: [00:49:10] God, Whoa. Ooh. I don’t know. You don’t like it. If that was, I don’t want to know as the, as the smelly person in this scenario, I don’t want to know if that’s how you recognize me. just so you Martin Goree: [00:49:23] know. Yeah. Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:49:24] That’s yeah. I agree with that Dave Etler: [00:49:26] even though that’s entirely plausible. Zain Mehdi: [00:49:30] I feel like I, I don’t know, cause I really liked my sense of smell. I dunno. I like like good smelling things. It’s like something like, I, I dunno, I Dave Etler: [00:49:39] haven’t, well, people have really, I mean, especially in 2020, they’ve really discovered how important the sense of smell is. Zain Mehdi: [00:49:45] But also like a Fe, like, I don’t know, the other two options also suck incredibly too. Um, but I feel like you can, easiest to live without a sense of smell. I feel like compared to the other two options, like unable to recognize people’s faces, I feel like would be problematic and unable to communicate very problematic. So Dave Etler: [00:50:05] probably professionally and interpersonally survive without taste, even though you might be kind of miserable. Yeah. Zain Mehdi: [00:50:12] It gets the least. Probably like the least bad. Dave Etler: [00:50:16] Fair enough. Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:50:17] If we say which one we’re okay with losing or which one we would want, Dave Etler: [00:50:20] which one would you rather aren’t they both wait Zain Mehdi: [00:50:28] it’s which loss of function? Loss of, yeah. Which loss of function. And would you want? Dave Etler: [00:50:33] No. Would you rather have, I mean, you don’t want any of these things, but you have to pick. Zain Mehdi: [00:50:40] Okay. So what’s your answer stuff is like, Well, Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:50:45] I’m just thinking about like, I can’t smell. So like, I don’t care about losing that. Um, Zain Mehdi: [00:50:50] you Dave Etler: [00:50:50] can’t hang on. You can’t smell, you can’t smell. You have enough nose, Mia and nausea. I have an Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:50:56] Osmium undiagnosed. Zain Mehdi: [00:50:59] How Dave Etler: [00:50:59] did you say you don’t know how this came about? You’re just a, not a smeller. Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:51:03] I just can’t smell, you know, candles. They look pretty. I like the light, but I just can’t smell anything. I’m just like, Dave Etler: [00:51:09] okay. What about food? What about tasting food? No, Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:51:13] that’s why I love to like taste it because I can smell it. Dave Etler: [00:51:17] Taste and smell. Go together. Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:51:18] Yeah. Yeah. They kind of do go together, but yeah, I can’t smell Zain Mehdi: [00:51:22] them. You can’t smell like anything or is it just like not, well, it’s Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:51:26] not, well, Dave Etler: [00:51:29] it’s like, you’ve got a permanent cold basically. Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:51:31] Yeah. Look, I have a permanent coal. That’s what it is. That’s what my life is like. Hey, that sucks. Yeah. Yeah. Being able to recognize faces. I think that’d be cool. You know, you get to meet a new person every time. You’re like, Hey, what’s up? How are you doing? I already do that. Not Dave Etler: [00:51:50] at all awkward spoken, like, we’ve all another thing we’ve sort of gotten used to in 2020 is we’ve all kind of got face blindness because we’re all wearing masks. I’ve actually gotten pretty good at recognizing people with it. Well, I’m so Zain Mehdi: [00:52:03] bad at it to this day. It’s like somebody has spent like literally like hours with, and like I see them walking around like Donald, that person. Martin Goree: [00:52:11] I have a hard hat. Dave Etler: [00:52:15] Yeah. Those are the worst I have always, I think I’ve always because I don’t have great vision. I think I’ve always sort of relied upon my ability to recognize shapes and walks , um, in identifying people at a distance anyway. All right. For the same annual salary, would you rather. Be a TV doctor or be a real doctor. Zain Mehdi: [00:52:33] Oh, real bad. I, I just, I don’t like TV doctor. I feel like it’s not. Dave Etler: [00:52:39] I know, but the point is like, you are the TV, do you don’t have to like, Oh, okay. You are the TV doctor. personally, I would rather be a TV doctor, first of all, let’s go on to school. Uh, and all you got to remember is your lines. Zain Mehdi: [00:52:52] You’re good. I feel like I’d be a fraud. I don’t know. A lot of the times the ones that I’ve seen, I’m not an expert expert on this field of TV doctors, but from what I’ve seen, some things aren’t not right. A lot of the time. And so because of that, I’m like, I feel like this is just like a friend. Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:53:13] I feel like all these TV doctors are going to call out saying, now they’re going to add saying like, I am valid. Um, I have a purpose. Carl Skoog: [00:53:20] Yeah, doctor, Dave Etler: [00:53:21] we just have an ongoing beef. We, for sure. We for sure have a lot of listeners and followers who are TV doctors. So Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:53:29] tag Dr. Phil, I want to see this. It’s like Carl Skoog: [00:53:31] the other 15% of the population you got clowns and you’ve gotten to be doctors. And then the other 70%, it’s just like everything else. I guess Dave Etler: [00:53:40] you should be. I feel like you should be a census census. Absolutely. Really got your finger on the pulse of America. So Carl Skoog: [00:53:47] at 96% of the populations under the age of five, that’s a Dave Etler: [00:53:50] fun fact. Hey bull, where community, just like one of my photos on Instagram, Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:53:54] I wonder who that was. Carl Skoog: [00:53:58] All right. Assuming you would still Dave Etler: [00:54:01] emit. The same volume of gas, would you rather fart all your farts on for the year on December 31st? What Zain Mehdi: [00:54:09] a win and the year Dave Etler: [00:54:10] or fart once per day, the moment you see somebody attractive. Zain Mehdi: [00:54:15] Well, definitely the first time. Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:54:19] Well, why would you choose a second? One Martin Goree: [00:54:21] sounds Zain Mehdi: [00:54:22] painful. It does a little pain. Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:54:25] I feel like when you though, when you fight with somebody, you do become closer with them. Zain Mehdi: [00:54:30] They just think you’re weird. Hell, because you’re fucking, you don’t know them. Dave Etler: [00:54:35] Yeah. There’s a, I think what Steph is talking about is when you like move in with somebody or you become their boyfriend or girlfriend, then you know, it’s okay to fight with people and they’ve been, then you become closer. I don’t think that fighting with somebody that you’ve only recently met automatically. Zain Mehdi: [00:54:54] if someone comes up to you, don’t fight. They’re like, Oh wow. You don’t think I’m attractive. You’re not partying. You’ll be offended by. Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:55:04] So at what point is it okay to fart with somebody until you move in with them? Like, I mean, as relationship wise, like at what point are you okay with it? And don’t tell me, no, you don’t fart because I hate it when people tell me that I hate that Dave Etler: [00:55:16] third time. I would say third time. Uh, you’ve spent the night. Martin Goree: [00:55:18] Okay. It’s been a long time since I’ve had to worry about this. Thank God. Zain Mehdi: [00:55:23] I feel like it depends on each, like, if like the vibe that you like you have with another person, just kind of depends on that. Right. Just kind of chill together. Dave Etler: [00:55:32] Yeah. A controversial thought. Maybe you should just, you know, let your farts out. Why is it that on the show? I always talk about farts. I gotta, Zain Mehdi: [00:55:42] I have Dave Etler: [00:55:43] to examine my life. Um, uh, maybe if you’re just letting it all out on a day-to-day basis whenever, and you find somebody who likes you that you’re like, you’re like, Oh, well this is definitely the person. This is definitely the one. Cause they don’t mind that I am. A gaseous individual. Martin Goree: [00:56:01] I’m still just really intrigued by like all at once for the entire year. Zain Mehdi: [00:56:04] Yeah. Yeah. Dave Etler: [00:56:05] How long is that going on all day? Yeah. All day. Somebody look up Stephanie, you might be in the best position to look this up. How much people fart in a year? Somebody is somebody is definitely looked into this in a volume. How much, what volume of gas does the average human produce? Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:56:26] Okay. Well they say the average person for it’s 14 times every day, and there are 365 days in a year. Right. Or sort Carl Skoog: [00:56:37] of like 5,000. Martin Goree: [00:56:39] And what’s the average volume per farm. Dave Etler: [00:56:41] What is the Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:56:49] then normal flat volume is. 476 to 1,491 milliliters per 24 hours. Wow. Carl Skoog: [00:57:00] That’s oddly specific. Zain Mehdi: [00:57:02] You talked about like the rest of the staff Martin Goree: [00:57:05] was this FEV one where you breathe into the contract part easy one volume. Carl Skoog: [00:57:20] If you’ve got like IBD, it goes up exponentially. Dave Etler: [00:57:23] Uh, well that’s, I mean, you know, you don’t, we don’t have to do the calculation. I think we can pretty much go with the idea that it’s, that’s, that’s a large volume. Um, but yeah, you’d have to let it out on one day. So I think you’d be pretty much partying continuous. Like it would just be one long, like you would lose weight. Like he did Carl Skoog: [00:57:44] lose a lot, would fly that one day or Zain Mehdi: [00:57:47] just so full of gas at your. And when you release it, like you’re you way more because the gas was keeping you up. Oh, Carl Skoog: [00:57:54] medical consequences to being filled with that much. Dave Etler: [00:57:56] Oh, for sure. Nope, not a one. Okay. It’s all good. I’ll go with that one. Yeah. Well , uh, that’s our show. Uh, Martin Steph, Carl Zane. Thanks for being here. Thanks for being here. Thanks for being on the show with me today. Thank you, Dave. Zain Mehdi: [00:58:13] Thank you for that podcast. Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:58:15] When do I log off? Do I Martin Goree: [00:58:16] just Dave Etler: [00:58:23] things to do. When do I get out of here Stephanie Rodriguez: [00:58:25] management right there? Dave Etler: [00:58:28] Google would I be, if I didn’t thank you shortcuts for making us a part of your week. If you’re new here and you like what you heard today, subscribe to our show. Wherever fine podcasts are available. Our editors are AIG Chowdhury and Eric Bozart and Alex Belzer is our marketing coordinator that shows me possible by a generous donation by Carver college attendance and student government and ongoing support from the writing and humanities program chairs provided by your communities. Our music is by Dr. Box and captain sphere. I’m Dave, Etler saying don’t let the bastards get you down. Talk to you in one week.