Tag Archives: Aditi Patel

Recess Rehash: What Med Schools Miss Out On Because of “Technical Standards”

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Diversity includes disability

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Photo by b_lumenkraft

[We took a break last week, so here’s a rerun in case you missed it!]

Dr. Marley Doyle is a reproductive psychiatrist at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.  She’s also “legally blind”, with 20/400 vision.  She struggled through medical school just like all med students, but with that additional complication.  She made it, however, and her discussion with Aditi Patel and Irisa Mahaparn gives some clues as to why.  First, her disability was invisible which made it easy for people to assume that she wasn’t disabled.  And second, she was naive to the fact that she could ask for help.  In other words, she stumbled through it all and came out the other side without having been a “burden” for her school. Years later, she acknowledges that she could have asked for more help.

We also discuss the technical standards that most schools have in place to define what a student physician should be able to do physically, intellectually, and emotionally to succeed in school.  These standards, however, often seem to be written with a stereotypical disabled person in mind, one who cannot possible succeed because of their disability, and thus should not be in medical school.  We discuss the concept of “assumed competence” which, as  recent CCOM guest lecturer Dr. Oluwaferanmi Okanlami pointed out, allows people with disabilities to show they are able to fulfill their duties as opposed to assuming they cannot.  And we discuss the AAMC’s recent first-of-its-kind report “Accessibility, Inclusion, and Action in Medical Education Lived Experiences of Learners and Physicians With Disabilities,” which brought to light the inconsistent policies and procedures for, lack of support of, and lack of awareness many schools have of their legal obligations under the law towards students with disabilities.  And we talk about why med schools that don’t encourage disabled people to apply are missing out on a piece of the diversity puzzle.

Plus, Dr. Doyle helps answer a listener who is lucky enough to have several med school acceptances, and wants to know how to decide among them!  Lucky you, ‘Anxious Premed!’  Don’t worry, we can help.


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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!

We Want to Hear From You

Are you living with a disability and discouraged about your med school plans?  Are you in medical school, disabled, and have some advice to offer? Tell us about it by calling 347-SHORTCT anytime, visit our Facebook group, or email theshortcoats@gmail.com.

Continue reading Recess Rehash: What Med Schools Miss Out On Because of “Technical Standards”

What Med Schools Miss Out On Because of “Technical Standards”

Share

Diversity includes disability

halt photo
Photo by b_lumenkraft

Dr. Marley Doyle is a reproductive psychiatrist at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.  She’s also “legally blind”, with 20/400 vision.  She struggled through medical school just like all med students, but with that additional complication.  She made it, however, and her discussion with Aditi Patel and Irisa Mahaparn gives some clues as to why.  First, her disability was invisible which made it easy for people to assume that she wasn’t disabled.  And second, she was naive to the fact that she could ask for help.  In other words, she stumbled through it all and came out the other side without having been a “burden” for her school. Years later, she acknowledges that she could have asked for more help.

We also discuss the technical standards that most schools have in place to define what a student physician should be able to do physically, intellectually, and emotionally to succeed in school.  These standards, however, often seem to be written with a stereotypical disabled person in mind, one who cannot possible succeed because of their disability, and thus should not be in medical school.  We discuss the concept of “assumed competence” which, as  recent CCOM guest lecturer Dr. Oluwaferanmi Okanlami pointed out, allows people with disabilities to show they are able to fulfill their duties as opposed to assuming they cannot.  And we discuss the AAMC’s recent first-of-its-kind report “Accessibility, Inclusion, and Action in Medical Education Lived Experiences of Learners and Physicians With Disabilities,” which brought to light the inconsistent policies and procedures for, lack of support of, and lack of awareness many schools have of their legal obligations under the law towards students with disabilities.  And we talk about why med schools that don’t encourage disabled people to apply are missing out on a piece of the diversity puzzle.

Plus, Dr. Doyle helps answer a listener who is lucky enough to have several med school acceptances, and wants to know how to decide among them!  Lucky you, ‘Anxious Premed!’  Don’t worry, we can help.


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!

We Want to Hear From You

Are you living with a disability and discouraged about your med school plans?  Are you in medical school, disabled, and have some advice to offer? Tell us about it by calling 347-SHORTCT anytime, visit our Facebook group, or email theshortcoats@gmail.com.

Continue reading What Med Schools Miss Out On Because of “Technical Standards”

MD/PhD admissions and Shadowing Strategies

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[Purchase an SCP T-shirt to contribute to our Charity of the Semester, the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Thank you!]

Listener Renee writes in to ask Aditi Patel, Maddie Mix, Nick Lind, and guest Dr. John Pienta whether she can legitimately hope for admission to an MD/PhD program without a strong science background.  Luckily, Maddie rolls MSTP style, so she helps us answer.  Another listener, Sarah, wrote to us hoping for some suggestions on how to prepare and strategize for her physician shadowing experiences.  And Ellen writes to give us some feedback on a recent episode.

Plus, Dave’s Pop Quiz on undeniably dangerous drinking games–inspired by a case study involving Dutch men, booze, MDMA, and a drinking game of fish swallowing which no one should ever play–is suspiciously easy for his co-hosts.

This Week in Medical News

Want to skip med school and go straight to treating patients in your very own pre-fab hospital room?  Well you mustn’t do that…but with this product on Amazon, you could.

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 MD/PhD admissions and Shadowing Strategies

Doctor down under, or Medicine in ‘Merica?

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This week, we’re winging it on SCP–life was a bit more complicated for Dave than usual–but we have some great questions to address from some non-US listeners.  Nice to have confirmation that we have more than a couple of those!  Luke from Australia wants to come to America, either to study medicine or after his Australian medical education is complete.  Which should he choose, and what will he think of our Australian accents after he listens?  And Justin, listening in the Philippines, wants to know what story our co-hosts tell themselves when they think about why they’re studying medicine.  Justin Hababag, Aditi Patel, and Kylie Miller are on hand to discuss.

We Want to Hear From You

What story do you tell yourself about your interest in medicine? Call us at 347-SHORTCT anytime, visit our Facebook group, or email theshortcoats@gmail.com.  Do all three!

Continue reading Doctor down under, or Medicine in ‘Merica?

Hit By A Bus

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Our newest co-host has already had a taste of fame.

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“And that’s when I new I wanted to be a doctor.” Photo by ThoseGuys119

Abby Fyfe joins the crew this time, along with Aline Sandouk, Jayden Bowen, and Aditi Patel.  Turns out, Abby is an old hand at being internet famous, because she was (trigger warning) once run over by a bus. True story.  She has since regained her 3-dimensional shape, but did she mine that experience for her med school applications?

But first, listener Tyler wants to know: is your undergrad institution’s reputation an important factor for med school admissions committees? And we got some feedback from Alex, an actual registered dietician, and Blake responds to a recent question from Courtney about raising kids during med school.

Later, Jayden quizzes us: can we guess what these genes do based on their very geeky names?

This Week in Medical News

In light of recent scandals in research and retractions of studies, an article in Molecular Cell proposes a Hippocratic Oath for scientists.  And there’s a new opioid possibly coming to market that is 500 times more powerful than morphine.

We Want to Hear From You

What experiences did you mine for your med school application? Call us at 347-SHORTCT anytime, visit our Facebook group, or email theshortcoats@gmail.com.  Do all three!

Continue reading Hit By A Bus

Nebraska has questions.

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Jennifer Andersen, a sociology PhD student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, teaches a course called Sociology of Health and Health Care.  She reached out to us to propose that her students would send in questions for us as an extra credit assignment, which was a great idea we jumped on because it meant Dave would barely have to prepare for this show…I mean, it’d be a great education opportunity for her students’ young, fertile minds.

Ahem. Aaanyhow, her students really stepped up with some great topics for Aline Sandouk, Aditi Patel, and new co-hosts Kelsey Anderson and Jacob Chrestenson.  So come along with us as we dive into questions like, have you ever had to do something in med school that wasn’t ethical,  is it better to come to medical school with an open mind about your eventual career, and what’s it like working with different attendings all the time? They’ve got answers to all these queries and a lot more.

We Want to Hear From You

What do you want us to talk about on a future show?   Call us at 347-SHORTCT anytime, visit our Facebook group, or email theshortcoats@gmail.com.  Do all three!

Continue reading Nebraska has questions.

Is AOA racially biased?

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Residency applicants get boosted by AOA, but it could be racially biased

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Photo by jurvetson

Aline Sandouk, Jayden Bowen, Aditi Patel, and newbie Madeline Slater are on hand to answer listener questions, such as J’s query about the utility of post-bacc programs for med school applicants, and Chelsea’s question about the use of primary literature in medical school curricula.  We also discuss how membership in Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society boosts residency applicants’ competitiveness, and what some schools are doing to ensure they don’t leave out minorities underrepresented in medicine.

Plus, have you considered acquiring a medicine bag of polished stones from everyone’s favorite MD, Gwyneth Paltrow?  With the news that her company GOOP has settled a lawsuit in several states alleging some of their products make questionable health claims, we explore some of the items promoted at their recent convention.

This Week in Medical News

Hospitals are tired of shortages of vital medicines, so some are banding together to make them by forming their own non-profit drug company.

We Want to Hear From You

Do you know anyone who uses GOOP products? Call us at 347-SHORTCT anytime, visit our Facebook group, or email theshortcoats@gmail.com.  Do all three!

Continue reading Is AOA racially biased?

Recess Rehash: You can buy that on Amazon?

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[Dave’s on vacation, so enjoy this re-run while he eats seafood and catches some rays on the beach]

All work and no play…is not what we do.

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If you’re buying this on the internet, you have a job planning for disasters, or there is something wrong with you. There are no in-betweens. Photo by CocteauBoy

Sometimes you’re having so much fun that the time flies by and you forget that you have other important things to do.  That’s what happened on this week’s show, in which Dave brings Aditi Patel, Aline Sandouk, Kylie Miller and Irene Morcuende along for a trip through the medical supplies section of Amazon.  Can they guess what the medical device is based on the reviews alone?

This week in science and medicine news

We did get to talk about one bit of medical news, pointed out to us on twitter by AJtha808Scientist: the fact that Iowa made national news by forcing the closure of 1/4 of its Planned Parenthood clinics.  Thanks for the tip!

We want to hear from you

We also heard from Hannah of Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  She wrote in to let us know why, according to the study we discussed in our last show about longevity in US counties, her beautiful corner of the country is so damn healthy.  Spoiler: it doesn’t involve sitting on the couch and eating chips like Dave was hoping.  Listeners, share your suggestions with us each week.  Call us at 347-SHORTCT any time, and email theshortcoats@gmail.com.

Continue reading Recess Rehash: You can buy that on Amazon?

You can buy that on Amazon?

Share

All work and no play…is not what we do.

bodybag photo
If you’re buying this on the internet, you have a job planning for disasters, or there is something wrong with you. There are no in-betweens. Photo by CocteauBoy

Sometimes you’re having so much fun that the time flies by and you forget that you have other important things to do.  That’s what happened on this week’s show, in which Dave brings Aditi Patel, Aline Sandouk, Kylie Miller and Irene Morcuende along for a trip through the medical supplies section of Amazon.  Can they guess what the medical device is based on the reviews alone?

This week in science and medicine news

We did get to talk about one bit of medical news, pointed out to us on twitter by AJtha808Scientist: the fact that Iowa made national news by forcing the closure of 1/4 of its Planned Parenthood clinics.  Thanks for the tip!

We want to hear from you

We also heard from Hannah of Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  She wrote in to let us know why, according to the study we discussed in our last show about longevity in US counties, her beautiful corner of the country is so damn healthy.  Spoiler: it doesn’t involve sitting on the couch and eating chips like Dave was hoping.  Listeners, share your suggestions with us each week.  Call us at 347-SHORTCT any time, and email theshortcoats@gmail.com.

Continue reading You can buy that on Amazon?

Keeping Up With Your Interests and Relationships

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Photo by Cooperweb

Stress is a part of medical school.  Worrying about tests, studying until you drop, late nights, early mornings, and drinking from the firehose all seem to promote the idea that med students should do nothing else but study.  Dave, Aditi Patel, Marc Toral, Levi Endelman, and Kylie Miller agree, which is one reason Aditi and Dave put on a monthly Art Club.  Students get together over lunch and have fun with paints, ceramics, drawing, whatever!  No pressure, just an hour away from medicine.

And speaking of being away from medicine, a listener calls into 347-SHORTCT with a question about how best to keep in touch with family and friends who might not understand the demands of medical school.  And we discuss Aditi’s family (who just happen to be the subject of a documentary available on Netflix) and the methods they’re using to select her future husband.  And we play Superfight!

Continue reading Keeping Up With Your Interests and Relationships