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

Reddit Health Questions, Answered It’s the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States, so M4 Katie Higham-Kessler, PA2 Julie Vuong, and MD/PhD students Miranda Schene and Riley Behan-Bush give thanks to their future patients’ for their surprising questions (as suggested by Reddit’s r/AskDoctors and similar subs). Should one be concerned about foamy pee? How can one get white again? What can one do about a head dent? The crew also express thanks by giving and receiving compliments, something Dave thnks doesn’t happen enough (although that’s probably just him). Happy Thanksgiving! We Want to Hear From You: YOUR VOICE MATTERS! We welcome your feedback, listener questions, and shower thoughts. Do you agree or disagree with something we said today? Did you hear something really helpful? Can we answer a question for you? Are we delivering a podcast you want to keep listening to? Let us know at https://theshortcoat.com/tellus and we’ll put your message in a future episode. Or email theshortcoats@gmail.com. We want to know more about you: Take the Listener Survey We do more things on… Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theshortcoat YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/theshortcoat 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/AZjYZ8Kjgs8Hexalyte – Wandering Hours: youtu.be/FOAo2zsYnvA

[Content warning: this episode contains frank discussions of the study of anatomy that some listeners will find disturbing.] The First Patient Students Learn From M1 students Emily Baniewicz, Zach Grissom, Srishti Mathur, and Sydney Skuodas share their experiences and insights on the gross anatomy lab experience–what many call “the first patient.” Special guest Dr. Darren Hoffmann, Associate Professor of Anatomy and Cell Biology joins us to discuss the significance of donated bodies for medical education, and the people and their families, who make the study of anatomy possible with their donations. The group explores the emotional and physical challenges of anatomy lab, the limitations of the language used to teach anatomy, teamwork dynamics, and the roles the donors take on through their gifts. We take a look at the potential future of anatomy education with virtual and augmented reality technologies, including their benefits and, importantly, their limitations. It’s an inside look at a part of medical school that most know about, but that necessarily remains respectfully hidden from view. More about our guest: University of Iowa Deeded Body Program We Want to Hear From You: YOUR VOICE MATTERS! We welcome your feedback, listener questions, and shower thoughts. Do you agree or disagree with something we said today? Did you hear something really helpful? Can we answer a question for you? Are we delivering a podcast you want to keep listening to? Let us know at https://theshortcoat.com/tellus and we’ll put your message in a future episode. Or email theshortcoats@gmail.com. We want to know more about you: Take the Listener Survey We do more things on… Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theshortcoat YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/theshortcoat 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/AZjYZ8Kjgs8Hexalyte – Wandering Hours: youtu.be/FOAo2zsYnvA

[This episode is sponsored by Beginly Health. Whether you’re actively searching or casually exploring job opportunities, the Beginly platform matches you with complete anonymity until you’re ready for the next step.] Our monthly roundup of news from the margins of medicine! M1s Fallon Jung and Taryn O’Brien, M2 Jeff Goddard, and MD/PhD studnet Riley Behan Bush are on hand for our monthly news roundup. Including news that presidential candidate and anti-vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy’s brain was ‘eaten’ by a worm and his love of tuna sandwiches. Virtually all healthcare providers globally suffer from a clinical psychiatric disorder. Beethoven really liked lead-sweetened wine, which is probably why he was so sick and deaf. And a Tesla Cybertruck owner smashed his own finger with his vehicle’s frunk to prove that his vehicle’s frunk couldn’t smash his own finger. And can we guess what the shitty life pro tip from Reddit is? Plus lots more observations and revelations from the margins of medicine! We Want to Hear From You: YOUR VOICE MATTERS! We welcome your feedback, listener questions, and shower thoughts. Do you agree or disagree with something we said today? Did you hear something really helpful? Can we answer a question for you? Are we delivering a podcast you want to keep listening to? Let us know at https://theshortcoat.com/tellus and we’ll put your message in a future episode. Or email theshortcoats@gmail.com. We want to know more about you: Take the Listener Survey We do more things on… Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theshortcoat YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/theshortcoat 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/AZjYZ8Kjgs8Hexalyte – Wandering Hours: youtu.be/FOAo2zsYnvA

Why are the AMA and the AAPA Fighting? PA2 Olivia Quinby, PA2 Raginya Handoo, PA2 Julie Vuong, and M4 Katie Higham-Kessler dig into the intense debate between the American Medical Association (“Scope creep will destroy everything!”) and the American Association of Physician Assistants (“WTF we’re just trying to fill the gaps, bro!”) regarding ‘scope creep.’ They discuss arguments from both sides about non-physician practice rights and the impacts on healthcare quality and access. And then there’s this question: should this rivalry break out into the patients’ view, what will it mean for their trust in a system many already find untrustworthy? AMA on “Scope Creep”: https://www.ama-assn.org/practice-management/scope-practice/advocacy-action-fighting-scope-creep AAPA Response to the AMA: https://www.aapa.org/download/135695/ Meanwhile, listener Olivia, a hopeful PA student herself and fearing that she missed the mark this year, seeks advice on strengthening her application while she waits to hear back from her schools. The hosts provide personal insights and practical tips on standing out in PA school applications, focusing on experiences, recommendation letters, and writing skills. We’ve all been there, Olivia–hang tight! We Want to Hear From You: YOUR VOICE MATTERS! We welcome your feedback, listener questions, and shower thoughts. Do you agree or disagree with something we said today? Did you hear something really helpful? Can we answer a question for you? Are we delivering a podcast you want to keep listening to? Let us know at https://theshortcoat.com/tellus and we’ll put your message in a future episode. Or email theshortcoats@gmail.com. We want to know more about you: Take the Listener Survey We do more things on… Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theshortcoat YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/theshortcoat 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/AZjYZ8Kjgs8Hexalyte – Wandering Hours: youtu.be/FOAo2zsYnvA

[We tried to put together a Halloween episode, but everyone was doing med school stuff. Rude. So enjoy this re-run!] As another physician shortage looms, M2s Jeff and Olivia and M1 Fallon look at the reasons–the market forces, political issues, and the missing incentives. There is some good news–a shortage of physicians means that residents get a ton of solicitations for post-training jobs. Elon Musk’s Neuralink might be bad for monkeys, but the FDA has cleared the way for human trials to begin. What place do techbros–who have a rep for “moving fast and breaking things”– have in medicine where lives are at stake? And Dave gives a pop quiz on this year’s Ig Nobel Prize winners. We Want to Hear From You: YOUR VOICE MATTERS! No matter where you fall on any spectrum, we want your thoughts on our show.  Do you agree or disagree with something we said today?  Did you hear something really helpful?  Are we delivering a podcast you want to keep listening to?  We’ll be sure your ideas are heard by all–leave a message at 347-SHORTCT (347-746-7828) and we’ll put your message in a future episode (use *67 to be an “Unknown caller”). We want to know more about you: Take the Listener Survey We do more things on… Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theshortcoat YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeEveX3YBKBwVd9P4xDjvGA 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/AZjYZ8Kjgs8Hexalyte – Wandering Hours: youtu.be/FOAo2zsYnvA

Humans just aren’t great at thinking Dave is joined by MD/PhD student Miranda Schene, M1 Chase Larsson, M2 Radha Velamuri, M2 Fallon Jung, and M2 Holly Hemann for our monthly dip into relatable Reddit’s ‘Am I the Asshole’ stories: Is it okay for my husband to combine his MD career with a new passion for working at McDonalds? Is it okay to clarify to everyone I meet that my boyfriend is in fact not a doctor of essential oil therapy? Why do all my former pre-med friends hate me very much, it’s a total mystery, I’m just dropping my doctor truth bombs? How should I not engage with my childhood friend about vaccine fears? Also, the co-host’s stories of hospital code blues, Fallon overcomes her elevator anxiety, and Dave’s theory that humans are just garbage large language models floating on a lizard brain. Finally: please make a plan to VOTE in this year’s elections! Find out how to vote and what’s at stake for your area at vote.org. We Want to Hear From You: YOUR VOICE MATTERS! We welcome your feedback, listener questions, and shower thoughts. Do you agree or disagree with something we said today? Did you hear something really helpful? Can we answer a question for you? Are we delivering a podcast you want to keep listening to? Let us know at https://theshortcoat.com/tellus and we’ll put your message in a future episode. Or email theshortcoats@gmail.com. We want to know more about you: Take the Listener Survey We do more things on… Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theshortcoat YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/theshortcoat 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/AZjYZ8Kjgs8Hexalyte – Wandering Hours: youtu.be/FOAo2zsYnvA

Self-reflection is key to choosing what med schools to apply to Listener Virginia dropped us a line to ask us how she might go about selecting from the 195 med schools in the US to build her list of schools to send her application to. M1s Chase Larsson, Sarah Lowenberg, Luke Geis, and M4 Katie Higham-Kessler look back on how they made their decisions, taking into account family proximity, costs, personal interests, geography, and vibes! Also, an unsurprising JAMA Surgery review of the risks associated with professional slap fighting (slow-mo video referenced in the discussion is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xefAFB1NRNU&t=1268s). And the group practices a necessary medical school skill: confidence in the face of uncertainty (AKA speaking on things about which they know nothing). We Want to Hear From You: YOUR VOICE MATTERS! We welcome your feedback, listener questions, and shower thoughts. Do you agree or disagree with something we said today? Did you hear something really helpful? Can we answer a question for you? Are we delivering a podcast you want to keep listening to? Let us know at https://theshortcoat.com/tellus and we’ll put your message in a future episode. Or email theshortcoats@gmail.com. We want to know more about you: Take the Listener Survey We do more things on… Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theshortcoat YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/theshortcoat 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/AZjYZ8Kjgs8Hexalyte – Wandering Hours: youtu.be/FOAo2zsYnvA

[With Dave taking a vacation, here is your opportunity to enjoy this rerun. We’ll be back with a new episode next week!] Do everything you can to avoid the misery trap On this episode we welcome guest Dr. Joshua Trebach, an emergency medicine physician here at Iowa. This past spring he posted on X that medicine must “lose the mentality of thinking its okay to be miserable for years (or decades) to justify it being ‘finally worth it’ in the end.” We couldn’t agree more–live now, not later! Which is why PA2 Julie Vuong, M2 Fallon Jung, and MD/PhD student Madi Wahlen are each finding ways to reject that mentality. Indeed, medical education is changing, perhaps slowly, to reinforce the idea that just because medicine can be a difficult life doesn’t mean that you should obsessively look forward to the day it gets better. That day is a long way away, so do what you can (what you must) to be who you want to be even as you’re drinking from the firehose. Also, we answer one of listener Mohamed’s questions on how he can jump right into his first year this fall with his eyes on patient advocacy. my two cents: lose the mentality of thinking its okay to be miserable for years (or decades) to justify it being "finally worth it" in the end i know too many people that graduated from med school only to be like "wait…this sucks"find ways to have fulfillment each day https://t.co/9OPZ2VsLyd— Josh Trebach, MD (@jtrebach) February 10, 2024 We Want to Hear From You: YOUR VOICE MATTERS! We welcome your feedback, listener questions, and shower thoughts. Do you agree or disagree with something we said today? Did you hear something really helpful? Can we answer a question for you? Are we delivering a podcast you want to keep listening to? Let us know at https://theshortcoat.com/tellus and we’ll put your message in a future episode. Or email theshortcoats@gmail.com. We want to know more about you: Take the Listener Survey We do more things on… Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theshortcoat YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/theshortcoat 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/AZjYZ8Kjgs8Hexalyte – Wandering Hours: youtu.be/FOAo2zsYnvA

[Content warning: this episode contains frank discussions of mental health and mentions suicide.] Getting your support systems in order is key to success in med school with a mental health diagnosis In this episode listener Haley, who is considering medical school while managing a bipolar diagnosis has been told by her psychiatrist that med school probably isn’t for her. PA2 Julie Vuong, M3 Shana Liu, M1 Riley Dean, and MD/PhD student Sebastian Gomez, join host Dave Etler share their personal experiences with mental health challenges, including anxiety, PTSD, and ADHD. The crew candidly discusses the importance of seeking support, the stigma around mental health, and the accommodations available in medical school. Advice is offered on forming a strong support network, being open about personal struggles, and leveraging mental health diagnoses as a unique strength in the medical field. The episode concludes with insights into the support systems to look for in a school, the balance of life and medical education, and the significance of mental health awareness. We Want to Hear From You: YOUR VOICE MATTERS! We welcome your feedback, listener questions, and shower thoughts. Do you agree or disagree with something we said today? Did you hear something really helpful? Can we answer a question for you? Are we delivering a podcast you want to keep listening to? Let us know at https://theshortcoat.com/tellus and we’ll put your message in a future episode. Or email theshortcoats@gmail.com. We want to know more about you: Take the Listener Survey We do more things on… Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theshortcoat YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/theshortcoat 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/AZjYZ8Kjgs8Hexalyte – Wandering Hours: youtu.be/FOAo2zsYnvA

Sign up for the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine Professional and Graduate School Virtual Conference! Compared to MDs, the PA profession offers flexible employment and a (relatively) relaxed path to a healthcare career. Dave teams up with PA2s Noah Vasquez, Olivia Quinby, and Anna Cole, and PA1 Chloe Kepros to celebrate PA Week 2024! The crew looks at the unique challenges and experiences of being a physician assistant student, like why they chose the profession, the contrasts between themselves and their MD-student colleagues, the value of diverse educational backgrounds, the clinical experiences they’ve gathered along the way, the lessons they’re learning watching people in other healthcare roles, and how their different pre-PA work experiences shape their perspectives and skills. Plus, without the additional hoops physicians must jump through (eg., their match process, residency education, and state licensing), PAs enjoy a flexibility of employment that’s unmatched in the MD world. We Want to Hear From You: YOUR VOICE MATTERS! We welcome your feedback, listener questions, and shower thoughts. Do you agree or disagree with something we said today? Did you hear something really helpful? Can we answer a question for you? Are we delivering a podcast you want to keep listening to? Let us know at https://theshortcoat.com/tellus and we’ll put your message in a future episode. Or email theshortcoats@gmail.com. We want to know more about you: Take the Listener Survey We do more things on… Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theshortcoat YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/theshortcoat 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/AZjYZ8Kjgs8Hexalyte – Wandering Hours: youtu.be/FOAo2zsYnvA