Tag Archives: Holly Hemann

AITA? Probably!

Audio July 18, 2024 Dave Etler

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:09:38 — 63.8MB)

But sometimes everyone’s a jerk.

Self-evaluation is important, especially in medicine, but sometimes you just gotta ask–was I a jerk? Dave Etler, MD/PhD student Miranda Schene, M4 Happy Kumar, and M2 Holly Hemann use Reddit’s ‘Am I the Asshole?’ submissions to exploring feelings of impostor syndrome, the ethics of classroom behavior, fair recognition of achievements, and cases of medical malpractice. Along the way, they provide practical advice for medical school admissions, dissect the delicate balance of maintaining professionalism in the medical field, and what to think when even mom craps on your dreams. Shut up, mom!

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If you’re asking, you might be the a**hole

Audio June 13, 2024 Dave Etler

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:09:10 — 63.3MB)

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Life’s grey areas, offered up for internet discussion

Sometimes, you need someone to tell you if you’ve crossed the line. That’s why Reddit’s Am I The A**hole subreddit exists. M2 Holly Hemann brought some med-school themed samples for MD/PhD students Miranda Schene, Faith Prochaska, and PA2 Julie Vuong to react to. How compatible is MMA fighting and med school? Is it okay to get a secret horse? And isn’t an Eagle Scout the same as a doctor when you get right down to it? Let’s talk about all that!

From the discussion:

Admissions: https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/comments/10sjyd2/aita_for_almost_ruining_a_friends_med_school/
Scope of Practice: https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/comments/emu7yf/aita_i_said_my_husband_shouldnt_try_to_help_sick/
The clinical years: https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/comments/gf82i0/aita_for_letting_medical_students_observe_when_im/
Financial aid: https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/comments/ofmggp/aita_for_not_telling_my_bf_i_took_out_student/
Career uncertainty: https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/comments/clj8p5/aita_for_accepting_a_1_year_medical_school/

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Against the Odds: First-Generation in Medicine

Audio May 23, 2024 Dave Etler

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:17:32 — 71.0MB)

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It’s hard to become a doctor when you’ve never met one.

It’s sometimes easy to forget from the ivory tower that relatively few American’s have, or take, the opportunity to advance beyond high school. This, of course, means that their children are also less likely to do so. Those kids that do decide to make that leap are at a distinct disadvantage to their peers whose parents did go to college. And those who advance further to attend medical school are even more rare, and are still disadvantaged compared to their peers. We call those students “first-generation in medicine,” and they’re an important group. They represent an opportunity to have a medical workforce that can serve their patients better because they understand a wider range of patient experiences and determinants of health at a gut level.

PA1 Julie Vuong, M1 Amanda Litka, MD/PhD student Faith Prochaska are all first-generation students in college or medicine, and M1 Holly Hemann is engaged in outreach activities focused on first-generation students. They sat down to talk with Dave about their battles to overcome the barriers to enter a medical career, what it means for their future practice of medicine, and how learning about medicine is often a gut-wrenching experience that highlights the struggles their families back home have in maintaining their own health.

Meanwhile, some medical schools have gone tuition free, which should have been good news…but so far it has actually *decreased* the number of low-income students that matriculate at those schools, as well as lowering the number of students from those schools who enter primary care.

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Disability in Medicine: The Every Day Struggle

Audio April 25, 2024 Dave Etler

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:19:27 — 110.2MB)

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Medicine isn’t always kind to its disabled practitioners, but let’s change that.

In 2023, a group of Iowa med students founded our chapter of the Medical Students With Disabilities and Chronic Illness, a group “working to remove barriers for students and professionals with disabilities, increasing representation of diverse perspectives in medicine.” M1 Holly Hemann, MD/PhD student Faith Prochaska and PA1s Olivia Quinby and Julie Vuong discuss their lived experiences as students navigating disability and chronic illness. They illuminate the essential support systems, the process of securing necessary accommodations, and the powerful sense of community among students facing similar challenges. And they look critically at how these personal experiences enrich the medical profession and underscore the urgent need for inclusivity in medical training. Their personal stories of coping with PTSD, ADHD, daily vestibular migraines, and celiac disease show how these experiences are shaping their medical journey. They also discuss what colleagues present and future can do (or must do better) to understand and support those who face barriers due to their physical and mental conditions.