Tag Archives: Abby Fyfe

Recess Rehash: The Question All Future Applicants should Ask: “What Will Help Me Grow?”

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Growth requires embracing unfamiliar and even scary situations.

TL;DR

  • Listener Riley wants some suggestions on experiences that will help him grow while he pursues his path to medicine.
  • We discuss some comments from YouTube on female urologists and male patients.
  • That leads to a discussion on why hospitals default to environments for adult patients which are downright hostile.

This week we start with a listener question. Riley’s about to apply to medical school after a winding path from high school dropout to welder to biochemist. He’s wondering if we can give him advice on activities that will help him to grow. Such a great way to put that question, and M4 Emma Barr, M3 Maddie Wahlen, M4 Abby Fyfe, and new co-host Jacob Hansen are on hand to offer some ideas.

Also, we discuss some comments we got on a previous episode’s YouTube video featuring urologist and men’s health specialist Amy Pearlman on the fear and shame some men feel when they think about seeing a female urologist. For instance: why do doctors make their patients wait for them surrounded by gross anatomy models and posters???

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!

Continue reading Recess Rehash: The Question All Future Applicants should Ask: “What Will Help Me Grow?”

Recess Rehash: Med Schools Hate When Students Have Jobs. Some People Take the Risk Anyway.

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Perhaps no school would recommend working during med school, but plenty of people do it.  

[We’re on a break! But we’ll be back with a new episode on August 11, 2022. Enjoy this re-run!]

TL;DR

  • Sometimes, you just don’t want to take that extra loan money.  One option: a part time job.
  • But that is risky–the time you devote to that job could have been spent on studying, and perhaps could decrease your chances at those competitive residency programs.
  • But there are medical students who make the choice to work, and some jobs might even help your chances.
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Eliza wrote to us at theshortcoats@gmail.com because, as an older, married medical student with a young child in an expensive city, she wondered what our thoughts were on students who work during medical school.  We invited her on the show so M3 Nathen Spitz, M4s Abby Fyfe and Nick Lind, and M1 Grant Stalker could find out more about her choice to work as a therapeutic yoga teacher, and discuss some of the equity issues surrounding work during medical school.  And Nathen offers some ideas about paying jobs that can actually be a benefit to medical students in their academic lives.

We also discuss the Biden administration’s new mental health-focused initiatives, especially those focused on healthcare workers, as outlined in the president’s state of the union address. 

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!

Continue reading Recess Rehash: Med Schools Hate When Students Have Jobs. Some People Take the Risk Anyway.

Med Student Life: Evals, Boards, and Carmel Corn Bribery

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Med student’s lives are much like everyone else’s. Except for the constant critique and testing.

  • Morgan (M3), Eric (M3), Aline (MSTP), and Abby (graduate!) discuss their experiences being evaluated in medical school.
  • Abby offers her big tips for new MDs to get the best deal on internet service (apply for Medicaid and wait for them to give you candy).
  • A doc goes to jail for his COVID cure kits.
  • We practice giving sincere compliments to each other while trying to make the other person laugh.
  • Can the co-hosts reassure a freaked out Redditor who abuses Imodium?

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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”).

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Continue reading Med Student Life: Evals, Boards, and Carmel Corn Bribery

Med Schools Hate When Students Have Jobs. Some People Take the Risk Anyway.

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Perhaps no school would recommend working during med school, but plenty of people do it.  

TL;DR

  • Sometimes, you just don’t want to take that extra loan money.  One option: a part time job.
  • But that is risky–the time you devote to that job could have been spent on studying, and perhaps could decrease your chances at those competitive residency programs.
  • But there are medical students who make the choice to work, and some jobs might even help your chances.
reject photo

Eliza wrote to us at theshortcoats@gmail.com because, as an older, married medical student with a young child in an expensive city, she wondered what our thoughts were on students who work during medical school.  We invited her on the show so M3 Nathen Spitz, M4s Abby Fyfe and Nick Lind, and M1 Grant Stalker could find out more about her choice to work as a therapeutic yoga teacher, and discuss some of the equity issues surrounding work during medical school.  And Nathen offers some ideas about paying jobs that can actually be a benefit to medical students in their academic lives.

We also discuss the Biden administration’s new mental health-focused initiatives, especially those focused on healthcare workers, as outlined in the president’s state of the union address. 

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!

Continue reading Med Schools Hate When Students Have Jobs. Some People Take the Risk Anyway.

The Question All Future Applicants should Ask: “What Will Help Me Grow?”

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Growth requires embracing unfamiliar and even scary situations.

TL;DR

  • Listener Riley wants some suggestions on experiences that will help him grow while he pursues his path to medicine.
  • We discuss some comments from YouTube on female urologists and male patients.
  • That leads to a discussion on why hospitals default to environments for adult patients which are downright hostile.

This week we start with a listener question. Riley’s about to apply to medical school after a winding path from high school dropout to welder to biochemist. He’s wondering if we can give him advice on activities that will help him to grow. Such a great way to put that question, and M4 Emma Barr, M3 Maddie Wahlen, M4 Abby Fyfe, and new co-host Jacob Hansen are on hand to offer some ideas.

Also, we discuss some comments we got on a previous episode’s YouTube video featuring urologist and men’s health specialist Amy Pearlman on the fear and shame some men feel when they think about seeing a female urologist. For instance: why do doctors make their patients wait for them surrounded by gross anatomy models and posters???

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!

Continue reading The Question All Future Applicants should Ask: “What Will Help Me Grow?”

Overcoming Your Undergrad Apathy Now that You’re Applying to Medical School

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Good news: medical schools don’t just want perfect people!

TL;DR

  • If your undergraduate studies in a different field lacked a certain enthusiasm but you’ve now decided to pursue medicine, it can be difficult to know where you’ll stand with admissions committees.
  • Fortunately, adcomms don’t just look for perfect grades and unwavering and early certainty from med school candidates on their path to medicine.
  • We discuss a great way to fill a hole in what your school teaches–create a course on the subject!

Listener Abby is thinking about taking the prereqs for medical school, but worries that her trajectory thus far isn’t distinguished enough.  Is she setting herself up for the poor house and failure? Hear the words of encouragement and wisdom we have for Abby, featuring MD/PhD student Aline Sandouk, M4 Madeline Cusimano, M4 Emma Barr, and M4 Abby Fyfe.

We also discuss the course on Sexual Violence that Aline and her team of enthusiastic partners developed and delivered this past fall to medical students interested in learning the signs of sexual assault and the roles that students and residents can play in getting help for victims. 

And we compose the voicemail greeting you’ll hear if you call our SCP Listener Line at 347-SHORTCT, and we discuss Aline’s impending return to medical school as she looks forward to completing her PhD.

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!

Continue reading Overcoming Your Undergrad Apathy Now that You’re Applying to Medical School

Electronic residency Application Service Glitching…Again?

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More tales from Residency Interviews

TL;DR

  • Puzzled by the interviewer’s question? You can fumble around with the answer, or answer a question that wasn’t asked.
  • Did the Electronic Residency Application Service screw some applicants (again)?
  • We get to know this week’s cohosts using interview questions they might actually enjoy answering.

This episode is sponsored by Panacea Financial, a division of Primis, Member FDIC. See how they are helping med students and doctors with better banking built just for them at https://panaceafinancial.com/.

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We’re not going to lie: amid reports that ERAS is glitching yet again, this week’s episode is kind of a bitch fest. If you want to hear about the problems associated with medical education, this is the episode for you. And hey, if you thought that med school was hard simply because there’s a lot of studying, well, this ep will broaden your horizons a bit on that front.

To take the curse off all that crankiness, Dave decided to get to know his co-hosts with some questions that he recommends interviewers ask instead of “What are your strengths and weaknesses?”

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!

Continue reading Electronic residency Application Service Glitching…Again?

Is Medicine the Squid Game?

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Are there parallels between medicine and Squid Game?

TL;DR

  • The experience of job hunting for a residency position is unlike any other.
  • It’s way easier to donate bone marrow than many think.
  • Dave stuffs the episode with Squid Game references in the hopes that various algorithms love us.

This episode is sponsored by Enso Rings, makers of soft, safe, attractive silicone rings. Listeners get 10% off rings at EnsoRings.com using promo code SHORT!

MD/PhD student Aline Sandouk, M1 Noah Wick, and M4s Madeline Cusimano and Abby Fyfe have their souls crushed this week by Dave’s suggestion that the Netflix smash hit Squid Game has some parallels with medicine and medical education. See, Dave read a listicle by Rebecca Richardson in McSweeny’s comparing the features of the game to academic job-hunting, and it seemed a little…familiar.

But first, the crew takes a look at recent developments in Madeline’s and Abby’s own job hunt, and we learn about bone marrow donation as that’s also something Madeline’s preparing for.

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!

Continue reading Is Medicine the Squid Game?

The Right (and Wrong) Ways to Get Help with Your Application

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Photo by desbyrnephotos

[Once again, our circumstances force us to endure mild sound quality issues. Sorry, but that’s round-table podcasting in the pandemic age. You’ll be alright.]

We got some lovely responses back from listeners of last week’s show (in which we discussed racism in America and in medicine), including a most important one from Cachae on the best ways to talk to your black friends about racism (hint–it’s not asking them to educate you).

And Cam wanted to know whether he could ask an admissions office member for feedback on his primary application before he submits it instead of getting a rejection after. Wouldn’t it be more efficient?

And Dave and his co-hosts–Abby Fyfe, Nick Lind, Madeline Cusimano, and newb Holly Conger–exercise their minds with a game of Would You Rather.


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This Week in Medical News

Science made Dave mad again, with a study on how bald men are more susceptible to poor outcomes from COVID-19 because of the androgens that make them bald–except they didn’t control for one itty-bitty variable! And that study of hydroxychloroquine that found that it’s more deadly than other treatments, thus halting trials around the world? Turns out we shouldn’t trust it much.

We Want to Hear From You

So, how’s it going? Do you even read these questions down here? Call us at 347-SHORTCT anytime, or email theshortcoats@gmail.com.  

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?


We Want to Hear From You

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.