Tag Archives: residency

A Podcast for Iatroblasts: Ian Drummond’s “The Undifferentiated Medical Student”

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choices photoIan Drummond is a fourth-year student at Case Western.  When it came time to consider what specialty to go into, Ian realized he didn’t have the knowledge needed to make an informed choice. So he did what anyone would do: started a podcast in which he will interview physicians from all 120 medical specialties listed on the AAMC’s Careers in Medicine site.  Okay, not everyone would do that, but he did, and iatroblasts everywhere owe him a huge thank you.  Because while it is a massive undertaking for him, it is also super helpful to you!  Cole Cheney, Tarun Kadaru, Liza Mann, and Hillary O’Brien spoke with Ian to find out what he’s learning from his guests on The Undifferentiated Medical Student.  We also discuss the challenges and benefits of podcasting for busy med students.   Listeners, share your thoughts with us each week.  Call us at 347-SHORTCT any time, and see our Facebook page for a question to consider every Monday.

Continue reading A Podcast for Iatroblasts: Ian Drummond’s “The Undifferentiated Medical Student”

Recess Rehash: The Ultimate Taboo: Medicine and Suicide

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Photo by JoePenna

[With Thanksgiving late week, we didn’t record a new episode.  Enjoy this rerun, instead!]

Just hours before a new crop of medical students are to be welcomed into the world of medicine, Kaci McCleary, John Pienta, Aline Sandouk, Mark Moubarek, and Lisa Wehr confront one of the most uncomfortable topics in medical education: resident and student suicide.  Among doctors, suicide rates are much higher than among the general population.  The long hours, high pressure (from both one’s internal monologue and from outside sources) to succeed, fear of public humiliation regarding one’s shortcomings, isolation, inadequate supervision, the stigma against mental illness, the career penalties faced by those who admit to unwellness, and more, all contribute to the problem.  Institutions also have a difficult time addressing incidents of physician suicide effectively, as they try to walk a tightrope strung between respect for the privacy of the deceased, the needs of colleague survivors to talk about it, the desire to avoid adverse publicity.  Meanwhile, the work does not stop. The only breaks are a moment of silence, a visit with a grief counselor, or an “open forum” to discuss one’s feelings.

Fortunately, the culture may be changing to allow for more discussion, prevention, transparency. Institutions like the University of Iowa and Harvard University are adding counseling capacity, student groups to support struggling peers, and a greater openness to acknowledging without shaming the fact of mental illness among physicians.

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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; nor do they reflect the views of anyone other than the people who expressed them.  If you have feedback on anything you hear on the show, positive or not, let us know.

The Ultimate Taboo: Medicine and Suicide

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sad photo
Photo by JoePenna

Just hours before a new crop of medical students are to be welcomed into the world of medicine, Kaci McCleary, John Pienta, Aline Sandouk, Mark Moubarek, and Lisa Wehr confront one of the most uncomfortable topics in medical education: resident and student suicide.  Among doctors, suicide rates are much higher than among the general population.  The long hours, high pressure (from both one’s internal monologue and from outside sources) to succeed, fear of public humiliation regarding one’s shortcomings, isolation, inadequate supervision, the stigma against mental illness, the career penalties faced by those who admit to unwellness, and more, all contribute to the problem.  Institutions also have a difficult time addressing incidents of physician suicide effectively, as they try to walk a tightrope strung between respect for the privacy of the deceased, the needs of colleague survivors to talk about it, the desire to avoid adverse publicity.  Meanwhile, the work does not stop. The only breaks are a moment of silence, a visit with a grief counselor, or an “open forum” to discuss one’s feelings.

Fortunately, the culture may be changing to allow for more discussion, prevention, transparency. Institutions like the University of Iowa and Harvard University are adding counseling capacity, student groups to support struggling peers, and a greater openness to acknowledging without shaming the fact of mental illness among physicians.

We need validation. Leave a review: iTunes

 

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; nor do they reflect the views of anyone other than the people who expressed them.  If you have feedback on anything you hear on the show, positive or not, let us know.

Post-acceptance anxiety, Match stats, and backup plans.

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You are not an impostor. Photo by stevevoght

Listener Oscar called in to find out what should he do about his case of nerves now that he’s been accepted  to medical school, and Lisa Wehr, Aline Sandouk, Marc Toral, and Dylan Todd have plenty of calming words for him.  They also discuss the statistics of 2016’s Match, why some people don’t match (do whatever it takes, ethically, to get good exam scores, people), and what people who don’t end up matching can do with their MD.  Some schools have even begun offering built-in backup plans for those folks.

Continue reading Post-acceptance anxiety, Match stats, and backup plans.

The Dean Speaks

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Dean Debra A. Schwinn, MD

It’s a long road, and a lot of deliberate work to get to the top spot in academic medicine; and there’s not that many top spots available.  Fortune 500 CEOs are a dime a dozen, but there are only a relative handful of dean positions out there.  For this episode, Cole Cheney talked with our own Dean Debra Schwinn to find out more about her and her journey, and Zhi Xiong, Greg Woods, and Corey Christensen pitched in with their reactions to questions like…

Continue reading The Dean Speaks

Match Day 2015!

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photo of smiling, matched medical students
What relief looks like. Photo by Dave Etler
The excitement was palpable as we waited for the clock to strike 11 a.m. CST. Or maybe it was fear, hope, dread…whatever it was, we were waiting for the results of Match Day 2015, when med students throughout the country found out where they’d be going as newly minted residents to finish their training for the next few years. After the drama had played out, and everyone else had left the building to start celebrating, Damien Ihrig–he’s the registrar here at the College of Medicine–sat down with Nathan Miller, Melissa Palma, and Jordan Harbaugh-Williams to talk about Match Day and everything that lead up to it. Continue reading Match Day 2015!

Terrence Holt interview audio only

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smjHaving a little trouble with iTunes, so I’m posting this to (try to) make sure listeners get our discussion with Dr. Holt delivered to their iDevices properly. See the previously posted episode description here. I hope this works!

A Doctor’s Story with Terrence Holt

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Terrence Holt, MD
Terrence Holt, MD

On this week’s show, Dr. Terrence Holt, author of Internal Medicine: A Doctor’s Stories visits with Writing and Humanities Program Director Jason Lewis, and students Cole Cheney, Ethan Forsgren, Aline Sandouk, and a studio audience. Dr. Holt is a geriatrician at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.  His book is about residency, and is an exploration of how doctors find the compassion and strength to care about their work and patients.  The first chapter,  “A Sign of Weakness,” takes us through an inexperienced doctor’s confrontation of his own helplessness against the impending death of his patient.  You may want to read it before you listen. (Look for the link below the audio player.)

 Dr. Holt has a lot to offer med students in terms of wisdom.  How having a deep and thoughtful appreciation of your own humanity helps If you’re going to practice medicine humanely.  The role doubt plays in the life of a doc, and the fact that If you’re not having doubt multiple times in the course of a day, you’re not paying close enough attention.  The things that keep him going as a doctor and as a writer. How the connection between writer and reader gives writers advantages that other kinds of artists may not have. And using literature as a way of getting the kinds of experience that you wouldn’t otherwise have access to.

Episode 048: A Doctor’s Story with Terrence Holt

Excerpt: Internal Medicine: A Doctor’s Stories, “A Sign of Weakness”

Excerpted from Internal Medicine: A Doctor’s Stories by Terrence Holt. Copyright © 2014 by Terrence Holt. With permission of the publisher, Liveright Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved

Listen to more great shows for medical students on The Vocalis Podcast Network.

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.

Match Day!

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The Haugsdals compare their match results.

This week, we talk about Match Day, the big day when medical students find out what they’ll be doing for the next few years after graduation.  It’s a big deal, and to help us make sense of it, CCOM Registrar Damien Ihrig and fourth-years Jaclyn and Michael Haugsdal and Natalie Ramirez sit down to hash it out.  It’s both magical and stressful, but at the end you have a job that you love…hopefully.

Listen now to Episode 021: Match Day!

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.