Tag Archives: Aline Sandouk

Short Coat Podcast

You can buy that on Amazon?

Audio May 25, 2017 Dave Etler

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 50:04 — 68.8MB)

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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

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.

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Short Coat Podcast

Gap Years, Disguised Blessings, and Forbidden Words

Audio May 11, 2017 Dave Etler 2 Comments

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:03:03 — 86.6MB)

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Listener T’keyah sends Cole Cheney, Aline Sandouk, and John Pienta a question on gap years, which boils down to what kinds of gaps are okay according to admissions committees? Cole reveals his post-med school podcasting plans, and he and John discuss how not getting your residency match can be a GOOD thing…after one is done crying. And at T’Keyah’s suggestion, we try to offer sex education to each other without using words or concepts banned by state boards of education. Listeners, share your suggestions with us each week. Call us at 347-SHORTCT any time, and email theshortcoats@gmail.com.

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Short Coat Podcast

Consumer Genetic Testing, Marmite for Your Brain, and Counting Human Calories

Audio April 13, 2017 Dave Etler

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:06:20 — 91.1MB)

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Dave is no scientist, but he is ‘science-adjacent.’ This week, after having read of research involving the benefits to brain function conferred by Marmite consumption, he conducts his own experiment on SCP hosts John Pienta, Kaci McCleary, Aline Sandouk, and Nathan Miller. Will they be able to use their new Marmite-based powers to pass Dave’s Pop Quiz and identify actual Amazing Health Products You Can Get? Listener Hannah wants to know all about the medical science training program lifestyle, and how it differs from the MD student experience, and since Aline is an MSTP student herself, Hannah’s in luck. And 23andMe has finally received approval from the FDA to offer genetic screenings for defects that either one already knows about or that knowing about might do more harm than good. Listeners, if you like what you hear today, please leave us a review on iTunes!

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Short Coat Podcast

The Value of Coaching in Medicine.

Audio December 8, 2016 Dave Etler

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:01:59 — 85.1MB)

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Coaching is an integral part of sports, it’s often used by corporate executives, and even helps people manage ADHD. But until recently coaching wasn’t something physicians used to achieve their goals. For this show, Mark Moubarek, Aline Sandouk, and Amy Young talk with Georgetown University faculty member Maggi Cary and Georgetown student Jack Penner. Dr. Cary is a certified coach specializing in leadership coaching for healthcare professionals. But a serendipitous acquaintance with Jack lead to him becoming a client. Recognizing its value for him as a student–in dealing with the so-called hidden curriculum and impostor syndrome, among other things–they have put together a pro-bono arrangement for twelve Georgetown student with area coaches. These relationships have allowed students to address areas of concern for them without the fears they may have in reaching out to faculty or peers, such as raising red flags or competitive issues. It has also allowed them to get some of the individual attention they may be missing in education systems that are focused more on mass production of doctors. And as medicine itself moves away from the idea that the doctor is the captain of the ship and towards a more integrative model of cooperation between medical professionals, more doctors are excited about learning leadership, management, and even surgical skills that encourage and value the input of their teammates. Dr. Cary and Jack also help us consider an idea sent in by listener JW–that burnout among physicians might be addressed by adopting a less martyred approach to their work in favor of understanding that “it’s just a job.”

Listeners, share your thoughts with us on this episode and ideas for future episodes. Call us at 347-SHORTCT any time, and see our Facebook page for a question to consider every week.

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rerun, Short Coat Podcast

Recess Rehash: The Ultimate Taboo: Medicine and Suicide

Audio December 1, 2016 Dave Etler

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 44:36 — 61.3MB)

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[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.

Short Coat Podcast

Compassion Isn’t Easy

Audio November 3, 2016 Dave Etler

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 55:51 — 76.7MB)

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Compassion fatigue is a problem for many practitioners. In medicine, some of the needs are so great, and the resources are often so finite. Aline Sandouk, John Pienta, Rob Humble, and Kaci McCleary discuss what happens when caring itself becomes a limited resource, the reasons empathy can dwindle, ways to cultivate it, and the role that compassion can play in caring for oneself. We also learn what monks and nuns are teaching us about how compassion manifests positivity and even neural plasticity.
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Short Coat Podcast

The Fellowship of the Mic

Audio October 6, 2016 Dave Etler

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sean-doug-rob — Left to right, Rob Humble, Sean Astin, and Doug Russo being awesome.

This week, Dave, Aline Sandouk, John Pienta, Doug Russo, and Tony Rosenberg reflect upon the joy that podcasting brings, as we were recording the show on International Podcasting Day (Sept. 30). Something else to celebrate: Doug (and Rob Humble) got to chill with an actual hobbit. Or maybe it was Sean Astin, it isn’t entirely clear. But whoever it was, Samwise was in Iowa stumping for Hillary Clinton. Hobbitses are very liberal, what with their hairy feet and pipeweed. Meanwhile, Doug was listening to the recent show in which Mark Moubarek discussed Rhoto eye drops, and bought some for us to “do.” After the burning subsides, we discuss the advice from an attending overheard recently: should everyone really try to know everything?

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Short Coat Podcast

Reversing Pavlok, and What You Can Learn From Your Bike Wreck.

Audio September 29, 2016 Dave Etler

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 41:45 — 57.3MB)

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After listening to our recent show that featured a review of a wrist-worn device that you can shock yourself with to punish you for engaging in bad habits, listener Paulius drops us a line to ask what Amy Young, Corbin Weaver, Aline Sandouk, and John Pienta do to reward themselves when they do the right things. Like watching YouTube videos of people doing things well. Or turning your life into a video game. Next, Amy attempts to learn some sort of lesson about clinical medicine as a result of her recent nasty bike wreck, aside from, “Being in a nasty bike wreck isn’t at all a good idea.” And Dave’s fear of someday ending up on YouTube video recorded while he recovers from anesthesia leads to a discussion on online privacy.
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Short Coat Podcast

Shocking the Habits Away

Audio September 15, 2016 Dave Etler

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 50:23 — 69.2MB)

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electrocution photo — Photo by zigazou76

This week, Dave volunteers to wear a device that’s received a lot of buzz lately, Pavlok. It’s creator says that through classical conditioning it will help eliminate bad habits–nail biting, unhealthy eating, procrastination, for instance. It’s ubiquity on Dave’s social media feeds this past summer got Dave thinking about how much of human disease is based in behavior, bad habits. So Dave asked the company to send it’s crowdfunded, wrist-mounted electrical shocker for evaluation, and they inexplicably said yes. Aline Sandouk, Lisa Wehr, and Nick Sparr all had a crack at it, and share their experience. Along with Rachel Schenkel, they attempt to use it to teach Dave not to say “Uh.” Is it effective and worth the $169 price tag? Are its integrations with the Internet of Things or its Chrome plugin a help for those looking to kick their bad habits? Are there better, cheaper alternatives?

Also, the Affordable Care Act has begun withholding Medicaid reimbursements to hospitals based on patient satisfaction surveys, and giving bonuses to those which do well on those surveys. We explore medical education’s trade-offs in a game of what if. Hint: it turns out that our little group members are a bit mercenary.
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