Tag Archives: Levi Endelman

Md/PhD worries: Transitioning to the Lab

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Next semester Madi Wahlen will enter the PhD phase of her MD/PhD journey, and the though to that transition makes her kind of nervous. Fortunately, both she and Aline Sandouk were on this week’s episode, allowing space for Madi (and co-hosts Levi Endelman and AJ Chowdhury) to ask Aline questions about her experiences transitioning to the PhD phase. How did she handle the transition? How did she find a lab to work in? What kinds of specialties to MD/PhD students typically go into? Aline knows!

Reminder to US Listeners: Vote! Time is running out to get your absentee or mail-in vote counted. Head on over to http://ballotpedia.org to research candidates, find out how voting works in your state at http://vote.org, and know that Dave and The Short Coats love you for your engagement in the process of choosing our leaders.

And Dave gives the gang a fill-in-the-blanks quiz on weird research he found. What do mosquitos and people both hate enough to stop having sex? What do coked-up bees and people tend to do more of? And what preference do chickens and people have in common? Dave has the answers.

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!

How A Young FAmily Should Think About The Risks Of Med School

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No doubt about it, this road to becoming a physician has financial risks

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Photo by anathea

It feels risky to go to medical school, and for someone with a young family, like our listener who sent us their question to theshortcoats@gmail.com, those risks can feel existential. After all, if things don’t go as planned, the financial payoff of this calling might not be realized and the debt would be crippling. And Dave, as an inveterate catastrophizer, has sympathy for that worry. But is it the right way to be thinking about this endeavor? Brandon Bacalzo, Mariam Mansour, Levi Endelman and co-host newb Elias Kovoor are here to tell you why it can be better to go for it without fear. (We have done other episodes that focus on the concerns of parenting in medical school from a mom’s perspective and from a dad’s).

Another listener question (Dave forgot to make up names for these anonymous submissions) asks, how the heck are you supposed to “do the research” when looking for a medical school? We have some good suggestions for that, too.

And Dave, aware the his med student friends are always looking to save money at the grocery store, puts together a taste test–can the co-hosts distinguish between store vs. national brands, and which do they think is better?

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Any responses to the stuff we talked about? Call us at 347-SHORTCT anytime, or email theshortcoats@gmail.com.  Do all three!

Timing a peace-corps gap year, and Racism and Medicine

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Photo by Fibonacci Blue

A group of public professionals, infectious disease professionals and community members are pushing back on the common perception that #BLM protests will unnecessarily exacerbate the pandemic. This news leads to a discussion of racism in America. NB: The discussion should speak for itself, but this is the age of internet outrage. So we acknowledge that when it comes to talking about racism in America, there are few better ways to go wrong than by doing so with a room full of white people. And yet, a handful of white people on a podcast that’s minimally planned is what we had to work with in the moment. We hope we got it mostly right, and whatever we didn’t, we hope that your feedback will be in the spirit in which the discussion took place–heartfelt, sincere, and with an eye towards a future free of white fragility, fear, and especially marginalization.

But before all that, we were blessed with listener question from Kayla, who’s looking forward to some gap years in the Peace Corps. What should she do about the resulting timing problem that creates for her future medical school application?


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So, in our discussion on racism, what did we get wrong, and what did we get right? Express your constructive criticism at 347-SHORTCT anytime or email theshortcoats@gmail.com.  

Failure is an Option…When You Learn From It.

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So many great questions to answer

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Photo by Florence Ivy

We’re clearing out the backlog of listener questions–thank you listeners for so many fun ideas to talk about!  Cailin had her med school dreams ‘crushed’ in college when the science prereqs turned out to be too intense.  She’s now considering an MPH, but she hasn’t entirely given up on becoming an MD.  Aline Sandouk, Irisa Mahaparn, Levi Endelman, and Dr. John Pienta are on board to say it’s not really a problem, Cailin…as long as you can be realistic about the timeline.

And Melvin Piebags (not his real name) sent in a series of questions: how do we cope with failure?  Is anatomy lab a grim place to be?  How do we cope with difficult patients and colleagues?  We’re answering them all on this episode.

Buy Our Merch and Give At The Same Time

You care about others, or you wouldn’t be into this medicine thing. Our #merchforgood program lets you to give to our charity of the semester and get something for yourself at the same time!

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Do you like our answers? Call us at 347-SHORTCT anytime, or email theshortcoats@gmail.com.   Continue reading Failure is an Option…When You Learn From It.

Making Clerkships Work

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Are clerkships a grind, or a boon?  It’s up to you.

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Photo by m.a.r.c.

The second-year students are moving from the pre-clinical curriculum to the clerkships this week.  This transition is exciting–after all, seeing patients is what they’ve come to medical school to do, and now it’s finally happening.

Pat Brau, Kylie MIller, Brady Campbell, and Levi Endelman discuss some of the things they’ve learned in their Transition to Clerkships week, and Dave has some advice for them on how to get the most out of clerkships and how to get good evaluations for their ‘dean’s letter’ that will make them shine for future residency directors.

This Week in Medical News

Of course, one thing that is helpful if you’re seeing a patient is being able to tell if they’re truly sick.  That becomes second nature at some point, but even lay people can do it.  That skill will come in handy for those in California who subscribe to the idea that raw water is a good idea.

We Want to Hear From You

Transitions are exciting and tough…what makes changes easy or harder for you? Call us at 347-SHORTCT anytime, visit our Facebook group, or email theshortcoats@gmail.com.

Continue reading Making Clerkships Work

Taking Advice is Hard To Do

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Giving advice is easy.  Taking it?  Not so much.

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Photo by Maurits Verbiest

Listener Arman calls back to thank us for some good advice we gave him on continuing his hobbies and interests outside medical school!  Nevertheless, he notes how difficult it often is to take advice, even when we want it, and wonders if we know why?  Of course we do, and Levi Endelman, Tony Rosenberg, Mark Moubarek, and Rob Humble are willing to advise him.  And Samuel paints doctors with a broad brush when he writes to tell us his worries about the kinds of people who go to medical school and the sorts of things they do when they get those precious letters after their names and the prestige to go with them.

This Week in Medical News

The WHO and others are ready to add ‘gaming disorder‘ to the International Classification of Diseases, to the dismay of many experts (and little ol’ us).  And researchers in India are taking a 2014 internet hoax to its logical conclusion and trying to decide if ‘selfitis‘ (the obsessive taking of selfies) is a real concern, as well as how people use them to prop themselves up.

We Want to Hear From You

Wanna show us your best duck-lips selfie?  Need some advice that you won’t take? Call us at 347-SHORTCT anytime, visit our Facebook group, or email theshortcoats@gmail.com.  Do all three!

Continue reading Taking Advice is Hard To Do

Reaffirming points of pride, and life in rural Iowa

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We’re Iowa proud

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Photo by cwwycoff1

Dave has been noticing a certain mid-semester droopiness among some students at the College of Medicine.  Perhaps, he conjectured, we all need a bit of a pick-me-up.   So, Levi Endelman, Issac Schwantes, and new co-host Derek Bradley share things about themselves of which they are proud.  Issac isn’t much impressed by Dave’s point of pride.  And the boys reminisce about their rural Iowa upbringings, from careening over the ubiquitous gravel roads to romancing atop grain elevators.

This Week in Medical News

Vox has begun collecting data from ER visitors on the resulting bills, so the American Hospital Association issues a warning to its members.  And the US opioid epidemic is finally a national emergency, officially.  Will the president’s latest proclamation have any effect?  Will the American taxpayer get its $57,000 worth?

We Want to Hear From You

What do you do when you’re academically down in the dumps?  Do you take your cell phone to the bathroom?  Admit it! Show the world you aren’t afraid of its judgement by calling us at 347-SHORTCT anytime, visit our Facebook group, or email theshortcoats@gmail.com.

Continue reading Reaffirming points of pride, and life in rural Iowa

Alumni Visit

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A visit with those who made it through med school

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Med students’ secret weapon. Photo by Pseph

Alumni Nate Curl, MD (emergency medicine, ’07) and Cathryn Turner (pediatric psychiatry, ’10) returned to the Carver College of Medicine last week to attend The Examined Life Conference Jason and Dave put on every year.  It was a great opportunity to connect Levi Endelman and Matt Wilson with them for a discussion of their paths to med school, the kinds of experiences they’ve had since graduating, and some of the things they’d like to have done differently.  They also helped answer a listener question from Mary, who is concerned about what she’s heard: that self-care–eating healthy, exercise, etc.–in medical school and beyond is well-nigh impossible for such chronically busy people.

We Want to Hear From You

What concerns do you have about entering medical school? Call us at 347-SHORTCT anytime, visit our Facebook group, or email theshortcoats@gmail.com.  We’ll try to help.

Continue reading Alumni Visit

Rejection Happens

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“When you’re following your inner voice, doors tend to eventually open for you, even if they mostly slam at first.”
― Kelly Cutrone

reject photoEuthalia (not her actual name, though it probably should be. Feel free to take that name, anonymous caller) called us at 347-SHORTCT to express her sadness that she didn’t get a secondary interview at Iowa.  Which sucks for Iowa because…well, we might not get to meet Euthalia.  Of course, she knows rejection is not the end of the road for her dream. Brett Hanson, Tony Mai, Patrick Brau, and Levi Endelman share some things she needs to do now to deal with it, and to prepare her for the next time she applies.

Euthalia might be feeling anxious, a good bet because just about everyone we know has anxiety up the wazoo.  Luckily, Dave heard about a study in which subjects were able to decrease their anxiety by talking to themselves in the third person.  This seemed like a good idea, so we gave it a try.  Warning: you might want to turn down the volume.  Or unsubscribe.

This Week in Medical News

The Endocrine Society has new guidelines for how young transgender kids can begin hormone therapy.  And, to the surprise of no nurses at all, nurses in some places have more dangerous jobs than prison guards and police officers.  Be kind to the nurses, doctors.

We Want to Hear From You

What are your rejection stories? Call us at 347-SHORTCT anytime, visit our Facebook group, or email theshortcoats@gmail.com.  Do all three!

Continue reading Rejection Happens

Open on Applications about New-Found Sobriety?

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Should a Medical School Applicant Open Up About a Successful Journey to Sobriety?

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Our recent episode on mental illness in medical school generated some listener feedback.  K wrote to say thanks for the honest discussion (our pleasure!), and wondered how open she should be on her medical school application about her journey to sobriety and how it led her to find a love for community service.  Dave’s six (!) co-hosts this week–Kalyn Campbell, Kylie Miller, Levi Endelman, Irene Morcuende, Kaci McCleary, and Laura Quast–agree that it’s a tough question with two answers…the one we’d like to be able to give, and the perhaps more realistic one that acknowledges human nature.

Listener Erica called in wondering how students cope with the challenges of medical school and residency, especially in the context of a mental illness.  And Terel dropped us a line to ask the differences between a hospitalist and an internist.

This Week in Medical News

Groundbreaking research from the Journal of the National Cancer Institute shows that alternative medicine is a crappy option for cancer patients‘ survival rates…except for prostate cancer.  And a Chinese startup publishes a study in which CRISPR knocks out pig PERVs.  That’s Porcine Endogenous Retroviruses, silly, and it means if you need an organ transplant one day, you might have to thank a pig for that heart.

We want to hear from you.

Are you ready for your future pig heart?  Who would win in an alpha-gal fight, Kylie or Kalyn? We’d love to hear your thoughts.  Call us at 347-SHORTCT any time, and email theshortcoats@gmail.com.

Continue reading Open on Applications about New-Found Sobriety?