Tag Archives: bad news

Actually Useful Premed Activies

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Not all activities turn out to be useful, although that doesn’t mean they’re not worth it.

  • M2s Matt, Chirayu, and Jacob, and PA2 Ariel discuss the premed activities they found most helpful (as opposed to required) now that they’re in medical school.
  • A Yale study claims to bring pigs back to (some semblance) of life.
  • The gang practice their patient interaction skills by delivering some fake bad news, then following that with fake breakthrough treatments.

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Finding Meaningful Research Opportunities

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You can ‘do’ research in med school or undergrad, but no one’s going to just give you the opportunity

research photo

TL;DR

  • If you want to be an author on a publication, you’ve got to be open with your lab about your goals.
  • Go into research with the aim of improving your skills, and know exactly what skills you want to work on.
  • Some kinds of research are easier to do and get published in medical school.

“Friederick” (not his real name) wanted to know more about how to get good research positions in undergrad and medical school. But what does ‘good’ mean in that context? MD/PhD students Miranda Schene and Riley Behan, M1 Grant Stalker, and M4 Emma Barr have thoughts on how to look for an opportunity to publish, how best to understand the job of being an research assistant, and how to approach the principle investigator with your goals.

Riley discusses her impending nuptuals, and how she’s been thinking about a COVID wedding in late 2021, and the gang practices delivering bad news–diseases that Dave generated on some website–with Emma as the instructor.

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!

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Recess Rehash: Liver Bits, Cold Glocks, and Cancer of the Cancer

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[Last week’s show encountered some technical difficulties. So enjoy this rerun instead. We promise it’s cool.]

“He who laughs has not yet heard the bad news.”

Photo by firepile

Co-hosts Nathen Spitz, Brandon Bacalzo, Mariam Mansour, and Greta Becker rehash their recent microbiology exam which they say kicked their butts, and how they deal with that nasty feeling. Dave discusses what Naegleria Fowleri means to him. Nathen and Mariam reminisce on their experiences with patient instructors and standardized patients.

And the gang practices giving bad news to their patients, using made-up diseases with names created by neural networks and assisted by their attending “Dr. Etler.”

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!

Liver Bits, Cold Glocks, and Cancer of the Cancer

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“He who laughs has not yet heard the bad news.”

Photo by firepile

Co-hosts Nathen Spitz, Brandon Bacalzo, Mariam Mansour, and Greta Becker rehash their recent microbiology exam which they say kicked their butts, and how they deal with that nasty feeling. Dave discusses what Naegleria Fowleri means to him. Nathen and Mariam reminisce on their experiences with patient instructors and standardized patients.

And the gang practices giving bad news to their patients, using made-up diseases with names created by neural networks and assisted by their attending “Dr. Etler.”

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!

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.

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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!

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“I’ve Got Some Bad News”

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Delivering bad news is an art.

uh oh photo
Photo by Powerhouse Museum Collection

When  many people think about becoming a physician, they focus on the positive side of the practice of medicine. Things like diagnosing and successfully treating patients, forming therapeutic relationships, and even income and prestige get most attention.  But there is one thing that receives less attention: sometimes, doctors deliver very bad news to their patients.  Learning how to do that gracefully in a way that supports patients rather than devastating them is an important skill.  And in a team-based environment, it can be tricky. So, M3 Mark Moubarek shows M1s Joyce Wahba, Gabe Conley, and new co-host Claire Casteneda the ropes.  Of course, Dave devises an educational exercise to “help.”

This Week in Medical News

In other bad news, it’s not getting any easier to get into medical school…in fact, it’s getting harder.  In the last decade, applications have doubled for top 10 schools focusing on primary care, and others (like Iowa) have increased 1.5 times.  Time to be interesting, applicants!

We Want to Hear From You

Are you doing something more interesting than checking off the boxes on your medical school application? We definitely want to know about it.  Call us at 347-SHORTCT anytime, visit our Facebook group, or email theshortcoats@gmail.com.  If you’re doing something really interesting, maybe we’ll interview you on the show!

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