Tag Archives: LJ Agostinelli

Happy Holidays!

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Photo by Lisa Zins

This episode comes out the day after Christmas, and is recorded the week before, so we’re exploring what some describe as “the most wonderful time of the year,” and what others describe as Thursday.  Given that recording date, in a bit of time travel Hillary O’Brien, Laura Quast, Jenna Johnson, and LJ Agostinelli share what they want to will have gotten (because time travel is confusing for grammarians) for Christmas.  LJ shares her recent experience defending her thesis, Kylie Miller stops by with her cat Mowgli, the gang tries Turkish treats, and Dave forces them to take a pop quiz on Christmas according to unreliable internet sources.


Buy Our Merch and Give At The Same Time

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

American patients turn to internet black markets to trade, barter, and sell their medicines and medical supplies because that’s how great our system of healthcare is.  And get ready for home epigenetic testing.

We Want to Hear From You

We give free advice!  Call us with your question at 347-SHORTCT,  or email theshortcoats@gmail.com.  We’re here to help!

Continue reading Happy Holidays!

Too Idealistic for Medicine?

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Fourth-year students David Rudolph and Chandini Reddi join co-hosts Brendan George and LJ Agistonelli to answer listener Krista’s question–a self-confessed “loud mouth” with radical thoughts about how she’d like to practice medicine one day.  Can she bring those ideals to life, or will she be drummed out of medicine.  Are there other, related careers that might allow her to achieve her goals even better?  We’ve got you, Krista!

Plus, Dave asks David and Chandini what they learned from watching their Medical Student Performance Evaluation take shape before it gets sent off to residency programs they’re applying to.


Buy Our Merch and Give At The Same Time

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

Weill Cornell joins the list of schools offering med school for free (to some).  Napping is good for you,  up to a point.  And skeletons aren’t just scary during Halloween–they seem to be part of the fight-or-flight response in a rather big way.

We Want to Hear From You

So, how are you? Tell us at 347-SHORTCT anytime, visit our Facebook group, or email theshortcoats@gmail.com.

Continue reading Too Idealistic for Medicine?

Recess Rehash: Advice for your first clinicals: slow your roll.

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[Dave’s vacation continues, so here’s a rerun to keep you occupied.  New show next week!]

Can you trust MSAR?

When listener Caven wrote in asking why CCOM graduates don’t include hardly any specialists and why they all seemed to be going into primary care, Dave was puzzled.  While it’s true that a state school like ours, serving a rural part of the country, emphasizes primary care, he knew that not ‘everyone’ goes into primary care.  On further questioning, it turns out Caven’s info came from the Medical School Application Requirements (MSAR) tool on the AAMC website!  What was going on?  Dave sought help from his friends in Admissions, and it turns out that MSAR doesn’t tell the whole story…and aspiring med students have to dig deeper.

Also, Dave asks his co-hosts Matt Wilson and Tony Mai, both rising M4s, to give their advice for those starting clinical rotations.  And they help Aline Sandouk and LJ Agostinelli answer some of Yahoo! Answers most probing health questions.


Buy Our Merch and Give At The Same Time

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

There’s good news in med school diversity–the number of students underrepresented in medicine is on the rise.  A paper in Nature Microbiology says the authors have found an easy and economic way to convert A and B red blood cells to type O cells, the universal donor type.  And a study in JAMA notes that patients of surgeons who behave unprofessionally around their colleagues have more complications.  Plus, cell phone horns are probably not a thing.

We Want to Hear From You

What’s questions can we answer for you? Call us at 347-SHORTCT anytime, or email theshortcoats@gmail.com.

Continue reading Recess Rehash: Advice for your first clinicals: slow your roll.

Recess Rehash: Here’s Vomit In Your Eyes

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[Dave’s out of town this week, so enjoy this rerun!]

Admissions counselor Megan Kosovski joins the fun to help LJ Agostinelli, Aline Sandouk, and new co-host Armin Avdic answer some listener questions.  Claire, for instance, wants to know if she needs to quit her job as a radiation tech to fulfill pre-med requirements like shadowing and volunteering.  And Elizabeth wants to know what colleges typically do when personal difficulties arise between one’s peers and mentors.

Plus, Dave satisfies his pretensions to be a medical educator by giving the crew a pop quiz.  Can they discern which strange research project is the actual strange research project and not one Dave made up?


Buy Our Merch and Give At The Same Time

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 AAMC offers insight into a ‘new’ trend in medical education: the three-year fast-track MD degree program. It’s been tried before in times of shortages…is the time right to roll it out again to address physician shortages and high student debt?

We Want to Hear From You

The Short Coats offer free advice! Call us at 347-SHORTCT anytime, visit our Facebook group, or email theshortcoats@gmail.com!  We’ll try to help!

Continue reading Recess Rehash: Here’s Vomit In Your Eyes

Advice for your first clinicals: slow your roll.

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Can you trust MSAR?

When listener Caven wrote in asking why CCOM graduates don’t include hardly any specialists and why they all seemed to be going into primary care, Dave was puzzled.  While it’s true that a state school like ours, serving a rural part of the country, emphasizes primary care, he knew that not ‘everyone’ goes into primary care.  On further questioning, it turns out Caven’s info came from the Medical School Application Requirements (MSAR) tool on the AAMC website!  What was going on?  Dave sought help from his friends in Admissions, and it turns out that MSAR doesn’t tell the whole story…and aspiring med students have to dig deeper.

Also, Dave asks his co-hosts Matt Wilson and Tony Mai, both rising M4s, to give their advice for those starting clinical rotations.  And they help Aline Sandouk and LJ Agostinelli answer some of Yahoo! Answers most probing health questions.


Buy Our Merch and Give At The Same Time

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

There’s good news in med school diversity–the number of students underrepresented in medicine is on the rise.  A paper in Nature Microbiology says the authors have found an easy and economic way to convert A and B red blood cells to type O cells, the universal donor type.  And a study in JAMA notes that patients of surgeons who behave unprofessionally around their colleagues have more complications.  Plus, cell phone horns are probably not a thing.

We Want to Hear From You

What’s questions can we answer for you? Call us at 347-SHORTCT anytime, or email theshortcoats@gmail.com.

Continue reading Advice for your first clinicals: slow your roll.

Here’s Vomit In Your Eyes

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Photo by glen edelson

Our charitable mission is supported in this episode by CommonBond.  Be sure to pay them a visit to learn more about their new medical school loan, and tell ’em we sent you!

Admissions counselor Megan Kosovski joins the fun to help LJ Agostinelli, Aline Sandouk, and new co-host Armin Avdic answer some listener questions.  Claire, for instance, wants to know if she needs to quit her job as a radiation tech to fulfill pre-med requirements like shadowing and volunteering.  And Elizabeth wants to know what colleges typically do when personal difficulties arise between one’s peers and mentors.

Plus, Dave satisfies his pretensions to be a medical educator by giving the crew a pop quiz.  Can they discern which strange research project is the actual strange research project and not one Dave made up?


Buy Our Merch and Give At The Same Time

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 AAMC offers insight into a ‘new’ trend in medical education: the three-year fast-track MD degree program. It’s been tried before in times of shortages…is the time right to roll it out again to address physician shortages and high student debt?

We Want to Hear From You

The Short Coats offer free advice! Call us at 347-SHORTCT anytime, visit our Facebook group, or email theshortcoats@gmail.com!  We’ll try to help!

Continue reading Here’s Vomit In Your Eyes

A Tinkle In Our Pants and A Song In Our Hearts

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pants photoThis week, with help from LJ Agostinelli, Irisa Mahaparn, and new co-host Fili Bogdanic, Dave offers listener Karstan some advice for med students (and others) who want to start a podcast.  It’s a worthwhile activity, without question, for discovering and understanding the field you’re growing into, provided you can find the time!

Listener Coleman writes in to find out what kind of plan we’d suggest having for visiting medical schools.  Dave has ideas…but to his surprise his co-hosts weren’t even sure pre-interview visits were necessary!  Vive la difference!

And we once again plumb the depths of Yahoo! Answers for some real-life medical questions, the excuse Dave always gives for doing this to his co-hosts.


Buy Our Merch and Give At The Same Time

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

To Dave’s relief, scientists have found that declines in working memory can be temporarily reversed using transcranial alternating-current stimulation, but to his eternal dismay, his co-hosts always…uh, the always…wait, what was I writing about?

We Want to Hear From You

What would you do to increase your working memory? Let us know that, or anything else by calling 347-SHORTCT anytime, or email theshortcoats@gmail.com.

Continue reading A Tinkle In Our Pants and A Song In Our Hearts

Second Looks and Fantasy Gap Years

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As CCOM’s second-look day (which we call Get Acquainted Day) approaches,  Aline Sandouk, LJ Agostinelli, Miranda Schene, and Danial Syed discuss the benefits–to both the student and the school–of taking a second look at the schools they’ve been admitted to.  And listener Caven wants us to talk about our fantasy gap years.  Can our co-hosts articulate the benefits of gap year jobs that Dave made up for them?  Spoiler–they sure can.


Buy Our Merch and Give At The Same Time

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

UC Berkeley biologists have found a way to genetically engineer brewers yeast so that they pump out dank medicines.  Texas Republican state representative Bill Zedler has some pointless thoughts about why vaccines aren’t needed in the US.  And we discuss what Click and Clack, The Tappet Brothers have to offer med students.

We Want to Hear From You

If you could do anything you want–and you can–what would you do during your gap year? Call us at 347-SHORTCT anytime, visit our Facebook group, or email theshortcoats@gmail.com.  Do all three!

Continue reading Second Looks and Fantasy Gap Years

Med School Hidden Costs, and Extracurricular Activities

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Med School is Expensive…More Than You Know

But what’s this? Podcast merch?  Dave has a special announcement, what we’re going to use the money for (it’s not for the show), and how you can get a special offer and help do some good at the same time.

Everybody knows about med school tuition.  And then there’s the cost of student loans.  But there’s so much more, and listener Richard wrote in to theshortcoats@gmail.com ask: what are the hidden costs of attending medical school?  Luckily Dave has a crew of people on hand who’ve figured that out: Aline Sandouk, Nick Lind, Maddie Mix, and LJ Agostinelli.  Get prepared with their list of things you need to spend money on, and a couple things you shouldn’t spend on.  Another listener, Sarah, would like some idea of what kinds of extracurricular activities med students can get into, and how to find them. We got you, Sarah!

And after pondering what the point is of the case study in medical literature (aside from amusing Dave to no end), the crew takes a pop quiz on weird cases found on the internet.

This Week in Medical News

The Gates Foundation may be throwing it’s considerable weight and funding behind reducing maternal deaths in the US.

We Want to Hear From You

What hidden costs of medical school did we miss?  Call us at 347-SHORTCT anytime, visit our Facebook group, or email theshortcoats@gmail.com.  Do all three!

Continue reading Med School Hidden Costs, and Extracurricular Activities

The Harsh Truths and Pleasant Realities of Med School

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What? No sleep mask? No weighted blanket? No blackout shades? She’s a witch! Photo by C_Scott (Pixabay)

Happy New Year!  With the holidays slowing down the pace of listener questions, Dave asks new co-host LJ Agostinelli and old hands Rob Humble and Hillary O’Brien to discuss the harsh truths and pleasant realities of studying medicine.  Plus, Yahoo! Answers gets another visit, and manages to live up to Dave’s characterization of it as the saddest place on the internet.

This Week in Medical News

Scientists make themselves chuckle while proving a point about the gold standard of research, the randomized controlled trial, by elaborately studying whether parachutes save lives.  Expensive drugs eek out a win over cheap exercise in treating high blood pressure, causing doctors and patients everywhere to cry, “Meh.”  And in the battle to curb the ever-increasing national sleep debt, Dave gets a weighted blanket for Christmas.

We Want to Hear From You

We crave your questions! Leave a message at 347-SHORTCT,  hit us up on the socials, or email theshortcoats@gmail.com.  Do all three!

Continue reading The Harsh Truths and Pleasant Realities of Med School