Tag Archives: covid-19

Short Coat Podcast

What med students do when they don’t know the right answer

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It feels risky to be wrong…here’s how to get used to that

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[Don’t forget to share the show with your friends and family–send a screenshot of the share to theshortcoats@gmail.com to get a free thank you gift from Dave!]

The Socratic method–teaching using questions–is a big part of medical education. It’s also often a big adjustment that medical students have to make when arriving at med school. Why is this method so important to med school profs, and how do you get comfortable speaking up in front of everyone when you know you’ve got no idea? Short Coats Emma Barr, Nick Lind, Holly Conger, and Tim Maxwell have all been there!

Also, since Dave is a news junky, he has the gang play a headline mashup game. Come along as we find out the controversial views of a professor about the function of bones!

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This Week in Medical News

In the race to re-establish supply lines in the midst of the pandemic, The White House paid the Texas company $7.3 million for test tubes which turned out to be unformed soda bottles. And fears of out-of-control coronavirus transmission due to BLM protests fizzles.

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Have a question we can answer? Call us at 347-SHORTCT anytime or email theshortcoats@gmail.com.  It’s how this show is YOUR show!

Short Coat Podcast

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

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[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.

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

Short Coat Podcast

Timing a peace-corps gap year, and Racism and Medicine

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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?

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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.  

Short Coat Podcast

the activities Admissions Committees Love to See

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Whatever will the neighbors think?! Photo by Teresa Trimm

Logan wrote in to comment on what we call ‘box-checking,’ the idea that med school admissions committees only want applicants who’ve done all the best activities and lots of them, and that applicants must participate in activities that “stand out” if they want any chance of getting in. Co-hosts Nick Lind, Aline Sandouk, Emma Barr, and Sally Haeberlin discuss what adcomms really want.

Also, we visit Yahoo! Answers for those odd questions we love so well. Shouldn’t docs carry tranquilizer guns?

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This Week in Medical News

Half of Americans don’t plan on getting vaccinated for SARS-COV2 when a vaccine becomes available to them. And many Americans are experiencing major symptoms of anxiety and depression.

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Your questions are important to us. Call us at 347-SHORTCT anytime, or email theshortcoats@gmail.com.  It’s what good listeners do!

Short Coat Podcast

More Signs that Med School Will Be Different This Fall

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[This episode is brought to you by Pattern. We hope you’ll check out their disability insurance offerings for docs at http://patternlife.com/partner/shortcoat.]

As many of us are, The Short Coats–including this week’s M1 co-hosts Nathen Spitz, Maddie Wahlen, and Caitlin Matteson–have been gazing into their cracked crystal ball to discover the new shape of medical school amid the pandemic. In a previous episode, the crew prognosticated on how interviews would change (and how you can be sure those changes won’t scuttle your chances for interview success), for instance…and it turns out we were right! Adding some certainty to that, the Association of American Medical Colleges has cancelled all its conferences until July of 2021. So yeah.

Sandgroper Largemun, an anonymous listener from Australia, wants to know some ways that he can stand out in medical school to land that choice residency. Good thing you wrote to us at theshortcoats@gmail.com, Sandgroper, because we have ideas for that!

This Week in Medical News

Dave thinks heartthrob Dr. Fauci’s sun is setting as a leading member of the President’s COVID-19 task force. What do you think?

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Has your outlook changed at all since the lockdowns began? Are you feeling optimistic? Call us at 347-SHORTCT anytime or email theshortcoats@gmail.com.  

Short Coat Podcast

Exploring Your New Med School City

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Moving to a new place can be daunting–but it’s an amazing opportunity!

This episode is brought to you by Pattern. We hope you’ll check out their disability insurance offerings for docs at http://patternlife.com/partner/shortcoat.

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Listener Noodles (not her real name) is planning to go to med school in a new state, perhaps. What’s it like, she wondered, moving to a new state for med school? And Lex Turesboreme is back to ask how MSTP student Miranda Schene and M1s Brandon Bacalzo, Maggie Jakubiak, and Kenzie McKnight deal with an inevitable part of med student life–their families’ medical questions.

Got a question we can help with? Call 347-SHORT-CT or email theshortcoats@gmail.com. We’ll talk about it on the show!

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This Week in Medical News

A Texas nursing home medical director has decided it’s a good idea to do what he’s calling an “observational study” of the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine on his elderly patients with COVID-19. And we can’t help but discuss the president’s thoughts on disinfectant and the VP’s coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx’s rather visible reaction:

Continue reading Exploring Your New Med School City →
Short Coat Podcast

Recess Rehash: Why you’re better off on day one not knowing what kind of doc you want to be.

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[Due to one thing or another, we didn’t record last week.  So here’s a re-run.  Hey, if Radiolab can do it, so can we.  Enjoy!]

Med school may be a trying experience, but it’s made so much better by the lifelong friends you meet.  That’s the case for today’s co-hosts, Kylie Miller, Olivia Pittman, Danielle Schilling, and Erin Pazaski, all M4s.  Their experience turns out to be a good thing for listener Coleman who wants to know if he should already know what his specialty will be on his first day at med school this coming fall, or if not knowing will disadvantage him in some way.

Also discussed: their upcoming Match Week (perhaps to be cancelled due to COVID-19), and the bad advice they’ve gotten on how to appear confident and competent as lady docs.

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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!

This Week in Medical News

The director of the Santa Clara County Public Health Department, offering advice on reducing the spread of COVID-19, was the source of some internet amusement this week.  And perhaps one day you’ll do your residency at Walmart!

We Want to Hear From You

What bad advice have you gotten on how to present yourself as a woman? Call us at 347-SHORTCT anytime or email theshortcoats@gmail.com.

Continue reading Recess Rehash: Why you’re better off on day one not knowing what kind of doc you want to be. →

Short Coat Podcast

the crudest patient

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Dave wants to help his co-hosts–M1s Nathan Spitz, Cody West, and newbs Chris Halbur and Eli Schmidt–in their journey to physician-hood, so he puts on his medical educator hat and visits Yahoo! Answers.  He also discovers that when discussing his complaint with the doctor, he wants to be the crudest possible kind of patient.

Senorina Espanole (not her real name) writes in to tell us what she’s doing to keep busy and help her community while being socially distant.  And Dave explains why toilet paper hoarding might not actually be what’s happening.

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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!

This Week in Medical News

In another sign that the old rules which society and even medicine function were, to some extent, arbitrary, the FDA has relaxed the blood donation guidelines for gay men.  Doctors treating patients with COVID can’t get adequate PPE, or tests, and now they can’t even get paid.  And the White House fax machine ran out of paper but because we live in THE FYOOOOTTTUURE, luckily hospitals can email their COVID testing results in!

We Want to Hear From You

Senorina Espanola sent in a question–what about you? Call us at 347-SHORTCT anytime or email theshortcoats@gmail.com.  It’s what good listeners do!

Continue reading the crudest patient →

Short Coat Podcast

What We’re Still Doing, What Brings Us Joy

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Dave asked listeners what they’re doing to help out in the time of COVID-19 and got some responses back to talk about.  These things, whether big or small, directly related or tangential to this public health crisis–even if it means staying at home–are all part of an unusual effort among the people of the world to contribute to a greater purpose.  Whether it’s making PPE, making explainer videos, picking up garbage outside, or staying home, it’s all important.

Which reminded Dave of a New Yorker article on why many people find it so difficult to believe that this massive effort of social distancing and lockdowns is a good idea.

And we talk about the things that still are able to bring us joy even when we can’t venture out of the house.

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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!

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What is bringing you joy these days? Call us at 347-SHORTCT anytime, visit our Facebook group, or email theshortcoats@gmail.com.  Do all three!

Continue reading What We’re Still Doing, What Brings Us Joy →

Short Coat Podcast

Covid-19 could change the world…forever

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There’s no doubt that the global pandemic of COVID-19 has caused much human suffering.  And for those people around the world who are the worst affected, know that you have our deepest sympathies.  No one should have to go through this.

Nevertheless, something compelled Dave to think about the ways that society might change as a result of the pandemic…in some ways, perhaps for the better; in others, perhaps things will just different than were before.  Either way, co-hosts Eric Boeshart, Kenzie McKnight, Michael Gardeau, and Nathen Spitz try to look into the crystal ball a bit.

Next up, the crew answers some listener questions.  “Lex Turesboreme”  wants some advice on using lectures wisely when attendance isn’t required.  And Soon-to-be-Dr-Ray is looking for some perspectives on which school to enroll in: the DO school or the MD school.  We’re on it, friends!

And Dave takes the opportunity to put on his fake medical educator hat to give a pop quiz on historical epidemics.

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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

What are your predictions or fears for how your education will be affected? Call us at 347-SHORTCT anytime or email theshortcoats@gmail.com.  We’d love to hear from you.

Continue reading Covid-19 could change the world…forever →