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We road-test a card game to show pre-meds what medical school actually feels like

You draw a card: “You are assigned a 28-hour call shift.” Is that plus four points or minus four? It depends entirely on who you are — and that’s kind of the point. The Short Coats (Well, Dave) has been talking about this idea for a while–can we make a card game that captures the twists and turns of medical school? Well, we’ve given it a try, and now we finally play it — the Game of Med School, a prototype card-based playthrough of the full medical school path, from premed clubs to residency match. Cyrus Barati, who helped build the game, takes on the Gunner identity and immediately gets routed to clinical years while still underwater on points. M4 Fallon Jung (pregnant, unbothered) draws the Resilient Student card and somehow converts a failed Step exam into a net positive. M3s Sarah Upton and Zach Grissom round out the cast, with Zach’s Non-Traditional Student racking up an improbable collection of degrees, nursing licenses, and EMT certifications before anyone gets to medical school proper.

The cards lead to real conversations: What’s a post-bacc worth on an application? How do you handle a professionalism flag? What actually happens when your PI moves states mid-MD-PhD? How do you tell a patient bad news — and does a med student ever actually have to? Does your identity change any of that? Sure, the game has bugs (too many negative cards, the routing logic skips too much), and the crew catches them all in real time. But there’s also laughs and insights, so that’s fine.

By the end, everyone graduated (naturally), the points got bumped to 2x, and Dave admitted the whole thing will need another iteration. Would you play this game? Listener feedback is always welcome at theshortcoat.com/tellus!

Episode credits:

• Producer: Cyrus Barati, Dave Etler
• Co-hosts: Cyrus Barati, Zach Grissom, Sarah Upton, Fallon Jung
• Production: SCP Media Lab–Anna Royer, Cyrus Barati, Isa Perez-Sandi, Zach Grissom, Sarah Upton, Srishti Mathur, David Lee, and Jacob Thompson 

The views and opinions expressed on this podcast belong solely to the individuals who share them. They do not represent the positions of the University of Iowa, the Carver College of Medicine, or the State of Iowa. All discussions are intended for entertainment purposes only and should not be taken as professional, legal, financial, or medical advice. Nothing said on this podcast should be used to diagnose, treat, or prevent any medical condition. Always seek qualified professional guidance for personal decisions.

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