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.
Listener Mitch writes in to ask what this week’s co-hosts (Tony Rosenberg, Alex Volkmar, Rob Humble, and Nicole Morrow) wish they knew before they got to medical school. What should Mitch think about debt? Seeking honors? Voluntourism? And with the news that an artificial fingertip was successfully wired to an amputee’s nerves allowing him to detect rough and smooth surfaces, Dave decides it’s time to test the amazing sense of touch. This may or may not be an excuse for Dave to get his co-hosts to wear bags on their heads. Continue reading A Touching Episode→
Kaci McCleary, Dylan Todd, Amy Young and Corbin Weaver are on hand this time to talk about the two-week specialty rotations, like Ophthalmology and Radiology. You see, as Kaci entered her clinical clerkships, she had four of these short rotations in a row, and found herself hating them. They seemed like a waste of time, and weren’t offering her much in the way of hands-on experience. While her experience isn’t universal, we thought some might question the utility of these short rotations, especially if one isn’t going into a specialty but is more focused on primary care. Fortunately, there’s some hope on the horizon in the form of instant learning through brain stimulation. Will future med students even need two-weekers? This leads us into a discussion on the place of rebellion in medical school. Does medicine need people who buck the system? How should someone who sees herself as firmly outside the box react when they’re surrounded by it?
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.
These new headphones are FANTASTIIIIICCC! Photo by gurms
Corbin Weaver visits the local grocery store to hear a presentation on pelvic floor disorders, part of the store’s health outreach efforts, and marvels at the fact that A) many people seem to have a very foggy notion of anogenital functions, and B) that some also seem to have no inhibitions about bringing up embarrassing bodily foibles in a room full of strangers. Also, Dave points out that sometimes medical research reaches into the past to ‘discover’ ancient remedies that actually work. So Corbin, Mark Moubarek, Alex Volkmar, and new host Erin Renfrew sample and evaluate some folk- and old-timey prescriptions to see if they have any merit, aside from causing very bad breath and wet, salty feet. Continue reading Searching for Cures from Old-Timey Remedies, Dopamine Headphones, and Cuban Vaccines→
Social psychologist Amy Cuddy’s well known TED talk discusses the utility of ‘power poses,’ and medical students are always looking for ways to feel more powerful. So Dave challenges Ellie Ginn, Tony Rosenberg, Marc Toral, and Mark Moubarek to give them a try. Zika remains a force for making people crazy, and Brazil has banned the use of a larvicide incorrectly linked with Monsanto as a result of a report from a group of Argentinian physicians who advocate for the ban of insecticides. Tony suggests a better option: mosquito-mesh body suits. In fact, he’s full of ideas, including replacing the traditional family-medicine feces chart, used to help patients discuss their poop with their doctors, with plastinated specimens; and he’s considering launching a company that offers fecal transplants from specimens provided by celebrities and sports figures.
Dave helps Mark Moubarek, Amy Young, Rob Humble, and Corbin Weaver to practice their clinical skills by answering random people’s “health” questions from the saddest place on the Internet. But first we discuss the AMA’s policy to support the ban on direct to consumer advertising of drugs and implantable devices, and how such advertising makes the doctor-patient relationship complicated. Will drug companies retaliate by advocating for bans on advertising doctors and hospitals to patients. Researchers in the UK may be about to get the green light to edit the genes of human embryos seeking answers to why some miscarriages happen. Are we approaching the slippery slope?
Zika has been in the news, if you haven’t noticed, as a neglected tropical disease which has been linked to a frightening surge in birth defects in Central and South America. The response to Zika is going to depend upon the science–which is very much up in the air–along with economic and cultural factors. Chief among those are huge income disparities, population complexities, and limits on access to family planning options. On today’s episode, Ellie Ginn, Marielle Meurice, Kevo Rivera, and Jessica Waters meet up with one of the researchers who is fighting this bug. Dr. Selma Jeronimo isn’t a household name in the US, but she is becoming one in her home country of Brazil. She is the director of the Institute of Tropical Medicine of Rio Grande do Norte, and a professor of biochemistry and medicine at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte in Natal. Her job is investigating Brazil’s endemic diseases. Continue reading Brazil’s Zika Crisis→
“Any serious examination of epidemic disease has always shown that microbes also make a preferential option for the poor. But medicine and its practitioners, even in public health, do so all too rarely.” -Paul Farmer, MD, PhD. From left to right: Petra Hahn, Greg Yungtum, Paul Farmer, Katie Ryken, Josh Bleicher, and Jordan Harbaugh-Williams Dr. Paul Farmer is sort of the rock god of global health. He’s an incredibly busy and influential guy, so when he flew in from Liberia to spend the entire day here with us at the Carver College of Medicine, it wasn’t easy to keep the stars from our eyes. Of course, he’s a physician, but he’s also a medical anthropologist, chief of Brigham and Women’s Division of Global Health Equity, professor of medicine at Harvard, and the UN Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Community Based Medicine and Lessons from Haiti. One of the things you notice about Dr. Farmer is that although he’s clearly a celebrity in his field, it doesn’t dampen his enthusiasm, idealism, and the pleasure he takes in meeting students who share his passion for understanding and changing how healthcare is delivered to the world’s neediest people. Continue reading Dr. Paul Farmer and Liberation Medicine→
An honest guide to the amazing and intense world of medical school.
