Tag Archives: md/phd

Short Coat Podcast

The Power of Discomfort in Learning Medicine

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If you don’t like what you’re learning, look even closer.

TL;DR

  • Dave asks his co-hosts to think about the role of discomfort in learning. It’s a signal that you need to pay very close attention, both to the topic and to why you feel that way.
  • Listener Michelina, an undergrad mom with a full-time job, asks if her COVID-affected grades mean she should extend her time in college to seek a toxicology degree or just stick with biology.
  • The discussion on working during medical school continues, as Michelina wonders if she can work full time while she balances motherhood and med school.

We Want to Hear From You: YOUR VOICE MATTERS!

No matter where you fall on any spectrum, we want your thoughts on our show.  Do you agree or disagree with something we said today?  Did you hear something really helpful?  Are we delivering a podcast you want to keep listening to?  We’ll be sure your ideas are heard by all–leave a message at 347-SHORTCT (347-746-7828) and we’ll put your message in a future episode (use *67 to be an “Unknown caller”).

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Continue reading The Power of Discomfort in Learning Medicine →
Short Coat Podcast

Adding a PHD: Choosing the Right Option for YOu

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Should you do a combined MD/PhD, an Medical Scientist Training Program, or get them one-at-a-time?

TL;DR

  • There are at least three ways an aspiring MD/PhD can add those last three letter to their name, but why choose one way over another?
  • To celebrate our CCOM Art Show, the crew makes some art for Dave to admire (See them for yourselves on our Instagram.
  • The co-hosts answer Dave’s probing questions as he tries to get to know them even better.

We Want to Hear From You: YOUR VOICE MATTERS!

No matter where you fall on any spectrum, we want your thoughts on our show.  Do you agree or disagree with something we said today?  Did you hear something really helpful?  Are we delivering a podcast you want to keep listening to?  We’ll be sure your ideas are heard by all–leave a message at 347-SHORTCT (347-746-7828) and we’ll put your message in a future episode (use *67 to be an “Unknown caller”).

We want to know more about you: Take the Listener Survey

Continue reading Adding a PHD: Choosing the Right Option for YOu →
Short Coat Podcast

Overcoming Your Undergrad Apathy Now that You’re Applying to Medical School

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Good news: medical schools don’t just want perfect people!

TL;DR

  • If your undergraduate studies in a different field lacked a certain enthusiasm but you’ve now decided to pursue medicine, it can be difficult to know where you’ll stand with admissions committees.
  • Fortunately, adcomms don’t just look for perfect grades and unwavering and early certainty from med school candidates on their path to medicine.
  • We discuss a great way to fill a hole in what your school teaches–create a course on the subject!

Listener Abby is thinking about taking the prereqs for medical school, but worries that her trajectory thus far isn’t distinguished enough.  Is she setting herself up for the poor house and failure? Hear the words of encouragement and wisdom we have for Abby, featuring MD/PhD student Aline Sandouk, M4 Madeline Cusimano, M4 Emma Barr, and M4 Abby Fyfe.

We also discuss the course on Sexual Violence that Aline and her team of enthusiastic partners developed and delivered this past fall to medical students interested in learning the signs of sexual assault and the roles that students and residents can play in getting help for victims. 

And we compose the voicemail greeting you’ll hear if you call our SCP Listener Line at 347-SHORTCT, and we discuss Aline’s impending return to medical school as she looks forward to completing her PhD.

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!

Continue reading Overcoming Your Undergrad Apathy Now that You’re Applying to Medical School →
Short Coat Podcast

BEST JOBS FOR A FUTURE MD/PHD STUDENT, and Turkey Day Shenannigans

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Any job can be a good premed job, but what about for the future physician scientist?

TL;DR

  • Happy Thanksgiving!
  • We discuss the MD/PhD life, and the jobs that will prepare a hopeful MD/PhD student while also giving the admissions committees something to love.
  • We diss Thanksgiving while still loving it, including a special Turkey Day pop quiz.

Happy Thanksgiving! Now, settle down, we don’t mean to poop on anyone’s holiday traditions, but we are going to make fun of Thanksgiving and acknowledge it’s teensy little problems. Also, MD/PhD student Riley Behan, M1s Noah Wick and Matt Engelken, and PA1 Ethan Ksiazek are also going to help listener Stephanie with her questions about the MD/PhD life, and what kinds of pre-med jobs will be helpful to prepare her. And Dave delivers a pop quiz on Thanksgiving history. Then we’re going to do what Americans do and fill ourselves with carbs and then wish we hadn’t to celebrate.

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!

Continue reading BEST JOBS FOR A FUTURE MD/PHD STUDENT, and Turkey Day Shenannigans →
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Md/PhD worries: Transitioning to the Lab

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nut milk photo

Next semester Madi Wahlen will enter the PhD phase of her MD/PhD journey, and the though to that transition makes her kind of nervous. Fortunately, both she and Aline Sandouk were on this week’s episode, allowing space for Madi (and co-hosts Levi Endelman and AJ Chowdhury) to ask Aline questions about her experiences transitioning to the PhD phase. How did she handle the transition? How did she find a lab to work in? What kinds of specialties to MD/PhD students typically go into? Aline knows!

Reminder to US Listeners: Vote! Time is running out to get your absentee or mail-in vote counted. Head on over to http://ballotpedia.org to research candidates, find out how voting works in your state at http://vote.org, and know that Dave and The Short Coats love you for your engagement in the process of choosing our leaders.

And Dave gives the gang a fill-in-the-blanks quiz on weird research he found. What do mosquitos and people both hate enough to stop having sex? What do coked-up bees and people tend to do more of? And what preference do chickens and people have in common? Dave has the answers.

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!

Short Coat Podcast

MD/PhD admissions and Shadowing Strategies

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[Purchase an SCP T-shirt to contribute to our Charity of the Semester, the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Thank you!]

Listener Renee writes in to ask Aditi Patel, Maddie Mix, Nick Lind, and guest Dr. John Pienta whether she can legitimately hope for admission to an MD/PhD program without a strong science background.  Luckily, Maddie rolls MSTP style, so she helps us answer.  Another listener, Sarah, wrote to us hoping for some suggestions on how to prepare and strategize for her physician shadowing experiences.  And Ellen writes to give us some feedback on a recent episode.

Plus, Dave’s Pop Quiz on undeniably dangerous drinking games–inspired by a case study involving Dutch men, booze, MDMA, and a drinking game of fish swallowing which no one should ever play–is suspiciously easy for his co-hosts.

This Week in Medical News

Want to skip med school and go straight to treating patients in your very own pre-fab hospital room?  Well you mustn’t do that…but with this product on Amazon, you could.

We Want to Hear From You

What are your rejection stories? Call us at 347-SHORTCT anytime, visit our Facebook group, or email theshortcoats@gmail.com.  Do all three!

Continue reading MD/PhD admissions and Shadowing Strategies →

rerun, Short Coat Podcast

Recess Rehash: Bonus Episode! Why You Might Want an MD/PhD

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All about Medical Scientist Training Programs

[Happy Thanksgiving, US listeners!  We’re taking a break for turkey and trimmings, but we’ll be back on the mics real soon.  For now, reheat this delicious leftover episode.]

The MD isn’t the only degree offered by many medical schools.  For those who get excited about data, research, and advancing medical knowledge, you can add a Doctor of Philosophy degree.  Of course, there are those who get their PhD separately from their Medicinae Doctor.  Others get their PhDs from combined degree programs, including Medical Scientist Training Programs (MSTP).

Aline Sandouk and Jayden Bowen took on the topic with a number of first-year MSTP students–why is an MD/PhD something you should consider?  Join them and Ossama Abu-Halawa, Hassan Ahamed, Akansha Jain, Madi Mix, Nate Mullin, Miranda Schene, Hannah Van Ert, and Qi Wang as they reveal reasons you might want to consider this sort of combined degree and the types of programs to choose from.

We Want to Hear From You

What questions do you have about MSTP or MD/PhD programs? Call us at 347-SHORTCT anytime, visit our Facebook group, or email theshortcoats@gmail.com.  Do all three!

Continue reading Recess Rehash: Bonus Episode! Why You Might Want an MD/PhD →

Short Coat Podcast

Bonus Episode! Why You Might Want an MD/PhD

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:24:19 — 115.8MB)

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All about Medical Scientist Training Programs

The MD isn’t the only degree offered by many medical schools.  For those who get excited about data, research, and advancing medical knowledge, you can add a Doctor of Philosophy degree.  Of course, there are those who get their PhD separately from their Medicinae Doctor.  Others get their PhDs from combined degree programs, including Medical Scientist Training Programs (MSTP).

Aline Sandouk and Jayden Bowen took on the topic with a number of first-year MSTP students–why is an MD/PhD something you should consider?  Join them and Ossama Abu-Halawa, Hassan Ahamed, Akansha Jain, Madi Mix, Nate Mullin, Miranda Schene, Hannah Van Ert, and Qi Wang as they reveal reasons you might want to consider this sort of combined degree and the types of programs to choose from.

We Want to Hear From You

What questions do you have about MSTP or MD/PhD programs? Call us at 347-SHORTCT anytime, visit our Facebook group, or email theshortcoats@gmail.com.  Do all three!

Continue reading Bonus Episode! Why You Might Want an MD/PhD →

Short Coat Podcast

Follow your Dreams–Get Fired!

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follow your dreams photo
Well, so much for that. Photo by jiva.

Lisa Wehr teaches Kaci McCleary and Dylan Todd about the invention of the shipping container. We look forward to the day when humans are replaced by robots in the workplace so people can pursue their real dreams. On the other hand, we rage at the work-world gurus who suggest that we behave in a way that our bosses would fire us for (he’s looking at you, four-hour-work-week, follow-your-dreams spewers).
Continue reading Follow your Dreams–Get Fired! →