Tag Archives: Anna Royer

Short Coat Podcast

Things You Can Do To Prepare for Med School (and One Thing You Shouldn’t!)

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Prioritize Fun!

What should you do with the time between getting accepted to medical school and orientation week? Fallon Jung, Anna Royer, Jonah Albrecht, and Charis Edwards tell their stories about finding out they got in (including one bathroom cry session and a Colorado NICU celebration), what they actually did to prepare, and why you absolutely shouldn’t pre-study. If you’re headed to medical school next year, this episode is basically your older sibling giving you the honest advice nobody else will—like why floor time in windowless study rooms is underrated, how to fill your cup before classes start, and the surprising truth about how much fun you can still have during M1 year. You’ll hear why these students think the admissions committee already believes you can do this, practical tips on setting up your study space without buying every resource known to humankind, and honest talk about mental health, sleep, and remembering why you wanted to be a doctor in the first place.

The crew plus show photographer David Lee also debuts a med school edition of “That Escalated Quickly,” a party game that somehow involves electrocuting your brain’s pleasure centers, peppermint ice cream debates, and the very specific hell of planning to study instead of actually studying.

Whether you’re pre-med, pre-PA, or just curious what actually happens before med school starts, hang out with your SCP friends who genuinely want you to succeed—and who aren’t afraid to laugh at themselves along the way.

Episode credits:

  • Producer: Anna Royer
  • Co-hosts: Charis Edwards, Jonah Albrecht, Fallon Jung, David Lee

The views and opinions expressed on this podcast belong solely to the individuals who share them. They do not represent the positions of the University of Iowa, the Carver College of Medicine, or the State of Iowa. All discussions are intended for entertainment purposes only and should not be taken as professional, legal, financial, or medical advice. Nothing said on this podcast should be used to diagnose, treat, or prevent any medical condition. Always seek qualified professional guidance for personal decisions.

We Want to Hear From You: YOUR VOICE MATTERS!

We welcome your feedback, listener questions, and shower thoughts. Do you agree or disagree with something we said today? Did you hear something really helpful? Can we answer a question for you? Are we delivering a podcast you want to keep listening to? Let us know at https://theshortcoat.com/tellus and we’ll put your message in a future episode. Or email theshortcoats@gmail.com.

We need to know more about you! https://surveys.blubrry.com/theshortcoat (email a screenshot of the confirmation screen to theshortcoats@gmail.com with your mailing address and Dave will mail you a thank you package!)

The Short Coat Podcast is FeedSpot’s Top Iowa Student Podcast, and its Top Iowa Medical Podcast!  Thanks for listening!

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Choosing a Professional Identity: Beyond Medical School Classes

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How medical schools help students figure out what kind of doctor they’ll be.

Looking at medical school and wondering what you’ll actually *do* with all that training? Like, you know you’ll doctor…but in what way? What will that look like for you?

Luckily, most schools have something like the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine’s distinction tracks—formal project-based programs that let med school students dig deeper into teaching, research, humanities, global health, service, or healthcare leadership while they’re grinding through anatomy and clinicals.

Dave visits with M2s Tyler Pollock, Maria Schapfel, Srishti Mathur, and M1 Anna Royer for an honest, wide-ranging conversation about what these tracks actually look like from the inside. You’ll hear about Maria’s six weeks in Gabon for global health, Anna’s quilting project for humanities (yes, really), Tyler’s surgery database for teaching, and why Srishti thinks everyone should do the service track. They get into the messy reality of balancing these co-curricular activities with courses, clerkships, and shelf exams; debate whether research culture in medical school is actually helping anyone; and what things get in the way of the other things. If you’re trying to figure out how to become the kind of doctor you actually want to be—not just survive med school—this conversation will show you what’s possible beyond the curriculum.

Episode credits:

  • Producer: Tyler Pollock
  • Co-hosts: Srishti Mathur, Maria Schapfel, Anna Royer

The views and opinions expressed on this podcast belong solely to the individuals who share them. They do not represent the positions of the University of Iowa, the Carver College of Medicine, or the State of Iowa. All discussions are intended for entertainment purposes only and should not be taken as professional, legal, financial, or medical advice. Nothing said on this podcast should be used to diagnose, treat, or prevent any medical condition. Always seek qualified professional guidance for personal decisions.

We Want to Hear From You: YOUR VOICE MATTERS!

We welcome your feedback, listener questions, and shower thoughts. Do you agree or disagree with something we said today? Did you hear something really helpful? Can we answer a question for you? Are we delivering a podcast you want to keep listening to? Let us know at https://theshortcoat.com/tellus and we’ll put your message in a future episode. Or email theshortcoats@gmail.com.

We need to know more about you! https://surveys.blubrry.com/theshortcoat (email a screenshot of the confirmation screen to theshortcoats@gmail.com with your mailing address and Dave will mail you a thank you package!)

The Short Coat Podcast is FeedSpot’s Top Iowa Student Podcast, and its Top Iowa Medical Podcast!  Thanks for listening!

Continue reading Choosing a Professional Identity: Beyond Medical School Classes →
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Medical Students and Love: Do Their Spouses Really Know Them?

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The Heart Wants What It Wants.

In this Valentine’s Day episode, four medical students sit down to play the ultimate compatibility game—answering questions their partners answered about them ahead of time. From whether they’re optimists or realists about med school (some hedging here), to what their dens would look like as animals (things got weird), these spouses and significant others prove they actually know their medical students pretty well. Mostly. There’s a Punsesee…Puncsa…Punxsutawney Phil appearance, some passionate love for hobby farms, and one unfortunate name mix-up to kick off the whole episode.

Whether you’re a pre-med wondering how people maintain relationships during the madness of medical school, or you just want to hear some genuinely funny banter about med school couples, M1 Anna Royer and M2s Samantha Gardner, Sarah Upton, and Alexis Baker (and spouses Nathan, Nick, Kyle, and Caleb–er, Cade) are here for you. You’ll hear how these medical students actually talk to their partners about school (spoiler: sometimes too much about bones), what they’d do with more time in their day, and why you should never ask a them to draw your portrait. It’s proof that love can absolutely survive medical education.

Episode credits:

  • Producer: Dave Etler
  • Co-hosts: Samantha Gardner, Sarah Upton, Anna Royer, Alexis Baker

The views and opinions expressed on this podcast belong solely to the individuals who share them. They do not represent the positions of the University of Iowa, the Carver College of Medicine, or the State of Iowa. All discussions are intended for entertainment purposes only and should not be taken as professional, legal, financial, or medical advice. Nothing said on this podcast should be used to diagnose, treat, or prevent any medical condition. Always seek qualified professional guidance for personal decisions.

We Want to Hear From You: YOUR VOICE MATTERS!

We welcome your feedback, listener questions, and shower thoughts. Do you agree or disagree with something we said today? Did you hear something really helpful? Can we answer a question for you? Are we delivering a podcast you want to keep listening to? Let us know at https://theshortcoat.com/tellus and we’ll put your message in a future episode. Or email theshortcoats@gmail.com.

We need to know more about you! https://surveys.blubrry.com/theshortcoat (email a screenshot of the confirmation screen to theshortcoats@gmail.com with your mailing address and Dave will mail you a thank you package!)

The Short Coat Podcast is FeedSpot’s Top Iowa Student Podcast, and its Top Iowa Medical Podcast!  Thanks for listening!

Continue reading Medical Students and Love: Do Their Spouses Really Know Them? →
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My Family Thinks I’m a Doctor Already

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What med students wish their families actually understood about medical school

Your family means well… but when you start med school, suddenly every ache, rash, and conspiracy theory in the house is your domain! In this episode, the Short Coat crew gets real about what it’s like to be seen as a doctor when you’re really drowning in flashcards.

M2s Srishti Mathur and Nick Abouassally, and M1s Anna Royer, and Drew Bolisay trade stories about how their families misread med school life — from assuming they’re “on the wards” in year one to asking them to diagnose random symptoms at family gatherings.

They unpack what kind of support actually helps (spoiler: food) and what doesn’t (“It’s just a season of life, honey”). You’ll hear heartfelt moments about parental pride, intergenerational tension, and cultural expectations — plus a final improv game that proves even fake medicine is hard work.

If you’ve ever tried to explain Step 1 to your grandma, this one’s for you.

Episode credits:

  • Producer: Dave Etler
  • Co-hosts: Srishti Mathur, Nick Abouassally, Anna Royer, Drew Bolisay

The views and opinions expressed on this podcast belong solely to the individuals who share them. They do not represent the positions of the University of Iowa, the Carver College of Medicine, or the State of Iowa. All discussions are intended for entertainment purposes only and should not be taken as professional, legal, financial, or medical advice. Nothing said on this podcast should be used to diagnose, treat, or prevent any medical condition. Always seek qualified professional guidance for personal decisions.

We Want to Hear From You: YOUR VOICE MATTERS!

We welcome your feedback, listener questions, and shower thoughts. Do you agree or disagree with something we said today? Did you hear something really helpful? Can we answer a question for you? Are we delivering a podcast you want to keep listening to? Let us know at https://theshortcoat.com/tellus and we’ll put your message in a future episode. Or email theshortcoats@gmail.com.

We need to know more about you! https://surveys.blubrry.com/theshortcoat (email a screenshot of the confirmation screen to theshortcoats@gmail.com with your mailing address and Dave will mail you a thank you package!)

The Short Coat Podcast is FeedSpot’s Top Iowa Student Podcast, and its Top Iowa Medical Podcast!  Thanks for listening!

Continue reading My Family Thinks I’m a Doctor Already →
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Federal Loan Caps & Medical School Debt: What Future Doctors Need to Know

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:16:55 — 105.6MB)

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Medical School is Now More of a Gamble

Medical school just became a lot more expensive for some students and potentially impossible for others, thanks to the “Big Beautiful Bill.” We sit down with Chris Roling, University of Iowa’s financial aid guru, alongside M1 students Anna Royer and Isa Perez-Sandi, and M2 Maria Schapfel, to break down the most significant changes to medical student financial aid in decades. The new federal loan cap of $200,000 sounds generous until you realize the average four-year cost at public schools exceeds $280,000 and private schools hit $390,000. We talk through what happens when roughly a third of the student body already borrow more than the new limit would allow.

Chris explains how private loans work, why your credit score suddenly matters as much as your board scores, and what interest rates actually look like when federal options disappear. We examine the new Repayment Assistance Plan that replaces income-driven repayment, run the numbers on what unexpected life events could cost you, and discuss whether Public Service Loan Forgiveness is worth banking on (spoiler: Chris says don’t count on it).

Anna, Isa, and Maria share how these changes would’ve altered their medical school decisions, particularly for out-of-state students facing tuition bills that federal loans won’t touch. We also explore three-year MD programs as a potential cost-saving measure, debate whether institutions will actually lower tuition or just pass costs to students, and consider how these changes might further stratify who gets to become a doctor.

Plus, we tackle the week’s news: the Trump administration’s acetaminophen-autism claims, why AI still isn’t replacing radiologists despite 700 FDA-approved models, and the American College of Physicians calling for RFK Jr.’s removal from HHS.

Episode credits:

  • Producer: Dave Etler
  • Co-hosts: Maria Schapfel, Anna Royer, Isa Perez-Sandi
  • Guest: Chris Roling, CCOM Assistant Director of Financial Services

We Want to Hear From You: YOUR VOICE MATTERS!

We welcome your feedback, listener questions, and shower thoughts. Do you agree or disagree with something we said today? Did you hear something really helpful? Can we answer a question for you? Are we delivering a podcast you want to keep listening to? Let us know at https://theshortcoat.com/tellus and we’ll put your message in a future episode. Or email theshortcoats@gmail.com.

We need to know more about you! https://theshortcoat.com/survey (email a screenshot of the confirmation screen to theshortcoats@gmail.com with your mailing address and Dave will mail you a thank you package!)

The Short Coat Podcast is FeedSpot’s Top Iowa Student Podcast, and its Top Iowa Medical Podcast!  Thanks for listening!

Continue reading Federal Loan Caps & Medical School Debt: What Future Doctors Need to Know →
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