Tag Archives: cancer

Does a Career in Medicine Make Financial Sense?

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COVID changed how much docs are paid.

  • Chirayu (M2), Maddie (M2), Tracy (M2) and new co-host Levi (MSTP) discuss the financial changes that doctors experienced after COVID, and whether a career in medicine makes as much financial sense as it once did.
  • MIT scientists use locust cyborgs to find cancer cells.  
  • We visit with two premeds–Deeraj and Daniel–who are proving that competing with classmates is a losing strategy for studying medicine.

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Dr. Bruce Campbell, and a Fullness of Uncertain Significance

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A cancer surgeon’s stories offer lessons of humility and grace

TL;DR

  • Medicine is filled with both the momentous and the prosaic.  Yet every interaction is a chance to process and understand the impact one person can both have and be subject to.
  • Dr. Campbell suggests students start journaling their experiences early.  Not only might this lead to a lovely book of essays near the end of a career, but it’s also a great tool to track the fleeting experiences that will much sooner make a great personal statement!
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In this episode, M2s Nicole Hines, AJ Chowdhury, Sarah Costello and M1 Zach Shepard visit with the author of a new book, A Fullness of Uncertain Significance: Stories of Surgery, Clarity, & Grace.  Dr. Bruce Campbell is also a head and neck cancer surgeon at the Medical College of Wisconsin.  The book is a series of short vignettes from Dr. Campbell’s life in medicine from as far back as his first experiences as a nursing assistant in 1973.  A blend of the momentous and prosaic, they offer the medical learner a glimpse of what a veteran doctor has seen, and the conclusions he’s drawn from his privileged window into the lives of the people he’s met over nearly 50 years.

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!

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What Research Means for Residency Applications

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Does research mean a whole lot when applying to residency?

research photoListener Nathan called in to the SCP Hotline at 347-SHORTCT to ask how research works for medical students.  Is it necessary? Is it recommended?  How do you find research to do?  Irisa Mahaparn, Miranda Schene, Emma Barr, and newcomer Nadiah Wabba are on hand to discuss the roles of research in med school, how  it can help a residency applications, for which residency applications research is a recommended component, and how it all works.

Also, can the crew figure out what has been censored from medical stock photos?  To play along, here’s the gallery:

[huge_it_gallery id=”133″]


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This Week in Medical News

Cancer Dogs is a Canadian organization looking to make cancer-smelling dogs a valid screening tool; we discuss whether physicians and med schools discourage med students from pursuing primary care; and as a generation of vaccine deniers’ children comes of age, are they going to defy their antivaxxer parents?

We Want to Hear From You

Is research important to you?  Do you plan to do research in med school or residency? Let us know at 347-SHORTCT anytime, visit our Facebook group, or email theshortcoats@gmail.com.

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The MD path or the PA path

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When thinking about  a career in medicine, those who are leaning towards getting an MD often consider the Physician Assistant path; and if they’re leaning towards a PA career they often consider the Medical Doctor path.  On this show, PA students Steffanie Robertus and Terry Hayes join MD students Emma Barr and Katie Christel explore the similarities between their educational journeys, the exams they’ll take, the career paths, and the lifestyles they’ll enjoy.  Then, Dave pits the two teams against each other in a fight to the death.  Or was it a trivia contest?

This Week in Medical News

Have you ever wondered if “defecation postural modification devices” (i.e., those potty stools recommended by unicorns to help you poop) really work?  So do gastroenterologists and their friends.  Cancer rates have dropped a whole bunch in the last few decades.  And a Chinese researcher who edited the genomes of twin baby girls is either in danger of being put to death or is doing just fine thank you.

We Want to Hear From You

Love or hate the Squatty Potty? Need advice? Have questions? Call us at 347-SHORTCT anytime, visit our Facebook group, or email theshortcoats@gmail.com.  Tell us all about it.

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Evil But Fair Scientists, Conversion Therapy, and The (Real?) Reason Docs Remove Fewer Tumors

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Mad Dr. Stroheim was widely considered a very trustworthy murderer. Photo by glen edelson

Deep Bhatt and Alison Pletch are on their way out of medical school, and reflect on what they’ve been thinking about as they prepare to leave Iowa.  And Kaci McCleary and Corbin Weaver help them answer listener Todd’s question about the better MCAT study guides and courses, how to get a discount on those courses, and whether it’s a good idea to start studying for the test even as he begins community college.

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Moonshots and Worldviews

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Don’t worry, everyone, he’s got this. Photo by DonkeyHotey

Dave and Emily White, fresh from the University of Iowa Center for Teaching, Learning and Technology’s yearly 4Cast conference,  talk about their presentation on the podcast, which was fun.  And they, along with Rob Humble and Doug Russo, talk about the President’s recent State of the Union address, including the so-called “moonshot” to cure cancer.  Can that even work?  Rob takes issue with the whole moonshot comparison.

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From a Galaxy Far, Far Away…

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Photo by creativedc

Tony Rosenberg, Alex Volkmar, and Doug Russo indulge their Star Wars geekery with Dave, entertaining the various Internet theories of Luke’s and Jar Jar’s importance, while Ellie Ginn sits in the corner wondering what they’re talking about.

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“The Cheese Slid Off My Cracker”

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Photo by @davestone

It’s our 50th episode, and students Lisa Wehr, Matt Maves, Greg Woods, Cole Cheney, and Deep Bhat are on hand, and admissions recruiter Amy A’hearn stops by to address a listener’s Moment of Truth: are overseas medical mission trips still a good idea when you’re looking to add a little something to your CV as you prepare to apply to med school? She says, sure, but there are some gotchas you need to know about. Also, Facebook and Apple cover the costs for female employees to freeze their eggs. The first baby born from a transplanted uterus is doing fine. Withdrawal symptoms due to a Google Glass addiction are mistaken for alcohol withdrawal. Breast cancer awareness campaigns—are they trivializing with humor a serious disease? A woman’s “cheese slid off her cracker,” resulting in a fugue state that lasts 2400 miles, but shows that people are still looking out for each other. A berry’s juice, applied to some cancers, make them disappear, but (because Mother Nature hates us) it’s a pretty rare berry. Long Islanders’ are becoming allergic to red meat due to tick bites. We succumb to the Ebola coverage epidemic raging through America.

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The opinions expressed in this feed and podcast are not those of the University of Iowa or the Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine.