Tag Archives: Riley Behan-Bush

You Should NOT Go to Med School (Recess Rehash)

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At least, not until you understand these IMPORTANT downsides

[We took a break for Thanksgiving, so here’s a rerun to enjoy! Happy Holidays!]

  • Co-hosts Aline, Riley, Jacob, and Tracy discuss why they’d have reconsidered their desire to go to medical school…if only they’d known!
  • Things like medical ‘hazing,’ the opportunity costs, and the heirarchical nature of medicine are all infuriating at times, and cause a sort of stress that can make students miserable. Forewarned is forearmed!
  • Plus, listener John and his fiancé will be applying to medical school together. Is that even a good idea, and should they tell their schools about it?

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 You Should NOT Go to Med School (Recess Rehash)

Hot Takes: Med School Edition (Part 1?)

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These might be very bad ideas…but we’ll talk about them anyway.

  • Riley leads a discussion with Jeff, Levi, and Katie of unpopular opinions about medicine and medical education.
  • Anki sucks! Gap years should be mandatory! All clerkships should be optional! 8th graders should review scientific papers!
  • We don’t know about you, listeners, but the co-hosts enjoyed this discussion so much you can look for a part 2 in December!

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 Hot Takes: Med School Edition (Part 1?)

Is A Research Year Right for You?

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Many medical students decide to take a year “off” to do research. But is it necessary?

  • M2s Zach and Elvire, PA2 Ethan, and Md/PhD students Miranda and Riley talk about why a student would want to take a whole year out of med school to do research.
  • Some reasons discussed include ambitions for a research-heavy specialty program; to make up for deficiencies in other areas; and just to increase one’s skills in the event that their future careers might benefit.
  • The gang pimp each other on important ‘medical’ knowledge, and Dave fires up the SCP Test Kitchen to create more efficient snacks for busy students.

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 Is A Research Year Right for You?

How We’re Preparing for Residency Interviews

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What do residency programs really want to hear about?

  • M4s Nathen and Zack, M3 Rick, and MD/PhD student Riley offer their ideas on prepping for residency interviews and the questions they’ll probably be asked.
  • Dave offers up an ‘educational’ improv exercise to help them prepare.
  • Premed listener Emily was told that Family Medicine is a dead end…by her mom who is a Family Medicine doc! That’s not really the case, is it?

[URL template for episode https://media.blubrry.com/theshortcoat/podcast.uiowa.edu/com/osa/CHANGETHIS.mp3]

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 How We’re Preparing for Residency Interviews

You Should NOT Go to Med School

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At least, not until you understand these IMPORTANT downsides

  • Co-hosts Aline, Riley, Jacob, and Tracy discuss why they’d have reconsidered their desire to go to medical school…if only they’d known!
  • Things like medical ‘hazing,’ the opportunity costs, and the heirarchical nature of medicine are all infuriating at times, and cause a sort of stress that can make students miserable. Forewarned is forearmed!
  • Plus, listener John and his fiancé will be applying to medical school together. Is that even a good idea, and should they tell their schools about it?

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 You Should NOT Go to Med School

Why Having a Pet in Med School is a Good Idea

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They may not help us pass our exams…but they definitely have upsides

  • A common question new medical students have is whether they should get a pet. Will they feel neglected when I have to be at the hospital or the library? Will they be too expensive for a poor med student? Will they be too much work?
  • The answer to those questions can be answered by realizing that PLENTY of us do own pets, and we all do just fine.
  • Also, Dave cornered some frightened-looking M1s during orientation for some people-on-the-street interviews. Riley, Mao, Madi and Matt discuss their answers.

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 Why Having a Pet in Med School is a Good Idea

Race Is Everywhere In Medicine–Meet A Student Trying To Change That

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Is race, a social construct, appropriately used to make medical decisions?

  • Race is commonly spoken of in medicine as a risk factor for diseases. It has even found its way into the equations that help doctors assess biological function.
  • But is race–commonly acknowledged these days as a social construct and not a biological one–really a valid way to factor in the differences between one patient and another? M3 Vijay and other students are helping lead the charge to re-assess these ideas.
  • Also, MD/PHD students Aline, Levi, and Riley help listener Michelina decide what to do about her hair during interviews…and debate whether aspiring docs should even be worried about their physical look when applying.

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 Race Is Everywhere In Medicine–Meet A Student Trying To Change That

Recess Rehash: Why Med Learners are Asked to “Reflect,” And What Does It Even Mean?

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How students should think about reflection when the word isn’t always well-defined.

[We’re on a break! But we’ll be back with a new episode on August 11, 2022. Enjoy this re-run!]

TL;DR

  • Whether it’s a class assignment, a personal statement, or a scholarship essay, students are often commanded to reflect on their experiences.
  • Reflection is can be a useful part of understanding what you are becoming. But what that means and how to do it are frequently not well defined.
  • Our M4 co-hosts discuss whether their fears about the residency application process were well-founded or just wheel spinning.
reject photo

Listener Empirica Soberface (not her real name) called in to ask us about reflection–something medical learners are often asked to do during their education–saying that it doesn’t come naturally to her. So Dave invited Cate Dicharry, the director of the Writing and Humanities Program here at the Carver College of Medicine, to come on and give us her thoughts on this common assignment. M4s Emma Barr and Madeline Cusimano, M3 Ananya Munjal, and MD/PhD student Riley Behan-Bush are on hand to supply some of their ideas on how best to process what it is they’ve been becoming.

Emma and Madeline also discuss the fears they had about interviewing for their future residency jobs, the anxiety that many senior medical students are feeling right now, and whether their fears were realized or proven to be wheel-spinning.

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 Recess Rehash: Why Med Learners are Asked to “Reflect,” And What Does It Even Mean?

Advice For Incoming Medical Students–Friends, Studying, Specialties, And More!

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Some things all students should know when entering medical school

  • Riley, Sahaana, Nicole, and newbie Mao discuss their answers to questions that incoming students often ask about medical school
  • How do you find friends? Should you date classmates? How do you find your specialty? What kind of living situation works best?
  • In the news: a medical student is suspended for allegedly retaliating against a patient with an extra needlestick; and we try to replicate the latest science from Tik Tok. Yes, it’s the Hanger Reflex.

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 Advice For Incoming Medical Students–Friends, Studying, Specialties, And More!

Hacks to Build Patient Rapport In An Instant

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How medical students learn to start off patient interactions on the right foot

  • Short Coat Listener Josh wrote in to share some hacks he uses to get grumpy patients on his side the moment he walks into the exam room.
  • Co-hosts Jessica, Aline, Hannah, and Riley share their own techniques on managing those first few seconds of the patient visit.
  • Plus, many tangents along those lines, such as when not to use ‘quips’ and humor with patients and bosses.

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 Hacks to Build Patient Rapport In An Instant