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Doctors Without Borders, and the Future of Humanitarian Intervention

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John Lawrence, MD
John Lawrence, MD

Dr. John Lawrence returns to the show to talk about MSF, or Doctors with Borders, as it’s known in the United States. Dr. Lawrence has been with the organization since 2009, and is the vice president of its USA board of directors. MSF has played a major role in delivering emergency aid during crises around the world. In 2014, the most recent year for which MSF has published statistics, the aid organization was active in more than 60 countries, most memorably in war-torn Syria and in West Africa with its Ebola outbreak.
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The Multiple Mini Interview, the Prince of Funk, and the Erosion of Childhood

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How ’bout if I come over there and shove my custom orthotics up your… Photo by Patrick Doheny

Alison Pletch, along with Cole Cheney, Aline Sandouk, and Lisa Wehr take a few moments to mourn the passing of Prince, and the fact that he died of something that wasn’t dramatic enough for his persona. Fortunately, Rayhaan of Montreal calls to ask how he can prepare for his med-school interviews, which will be in the multiple mini interviews format. Then, we discuss the idea that kids need to start preparing for medical school in high school, because children have too much childhood these days.

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Evil But Fair Scientists, Conversion Therapy, and The (Real?) Reason Docs Remove Fewer Tumors

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Mad Dr. Stroheim was widely considered a very trustworthy murderer. Photo by glen edelson

Deep Bhatt and Alison Pletch are on their way out of medical school, and reflect on what they’ve been thinking about as they prepare to leave Iowa.  And Kaci McCleary and Corbin Weaver help them answer listener Todd’s question about the better MCAT study guides and courses, how to get a discount on those courses, and whether it’s a good idea to start studying for the test even as he begins community college.

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From Oakland to Iowa City to Silicon Valley: Founding a Tech Startup in Med School

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Terrence Wong
Terrence Wong

Terrence Wong is not your average medical student.  Growing up in Oakland, California, he didn’t have opportunities or connections.  And a lack of resources meant that even as a little tyke he looked for ways to make money, like selling stuff on the Internet.   He’s since realized that there are others out there who could use some information and encouragement–mentorship–to help them achieve what he did: going from poor inner-city kid to student at a top medical school.  So he and some friends with serious coding chops founded MedMentor  to hook up pre-meds with medical students who can serve as mentors, and to bring more diversity to a profession that sorely needs it.   Terrence and Dave talked about what it’s been like to be both a medical student and a startup founder, and how listening to what ‘they’ think of your crazy idea is pretty much the last thing you should do.

Listen to more great shows for medical students on The Vocalis Podcast Network.

The opinions expressed in this feed and podcast are not those of the University of Iowa or the Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine; nor do they reflect the views of anyone other than the people who expressed them.  If you have feedback on anything you hear on the show, positive or not, let us know.

Sudden Empathy, Too Much Empathy, and A Lack of Empathy

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Photo by Sean MacEntee

Poor lister Erin. She writes to let us know she can’t find the first 44 episodes of the show, now that she’s listened to all eighty(!) of those available on iTunes. We explain how she can fill the sad hole in her life this tragedy has left. Dave’s shower thoughts lead Aline Sandouk, Amy Young, Marc Toral and Kaci McCleary to discuss the utility of giving not a single feldercarb what people think of you. On the flip side, an article in the New York Times offers a peek at what can happen if you go from not caring (or even knowing) what people think to caring all too much, when transcranial magnetic stimulation suddenly enables an autistic man to understand what others are thinking of him.
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The Twin Epidemics: Our Changing Understanding of Diabetes and Obesity

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A portrait of Dr. Dale Abel and Dr. Miguel Lopez
Dale Abel, MD, PhD (left) and Miguel Lopez, PhD.

Eric Wilson, Aline Sandouk, and Taz Khalid are here to introduce two of the people fighting world-wide epidemics: Diabetes and Obesity. Endocrinologist Dr. Dale Abel is the director of the University of Iowa Fraternal Order of Eagles Diabetes Research Center. The Diabetes Research Center recently invited Dr. Miguel Lopez to come from Spain, where he is a professor of physiology at the University of Santiago De Compostela. He coordinates the NeurObesity research group at the Center for Research in Molecular Medicine and Chronic Diseases; his field of knowledge is the hypothalamic regulation of energy balance. We got to talk to them about the current state of research in diabetes and obesity, and the prospects for a paradigm shift in how we treat them.
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Post-acceptance anxiety, Match stats, and backup plans.

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You are not an impostor. Photo by stevevoght

Listener Oscar called in to find out what should he do about his case of nerves now that he’s been accepted  to medical school, and Lisa Wehr, Aline Sandouk, Marc Toral, and Dylan Todd have plenty of calming words for him.  They also discuss the statistics of 2016’s Match, why some people don’t match (do whatever it takes, ethically, to get good exam scores, people), and what people who don’t end up matching can do with their MD.  Some schools have even begun offering built-in backup plans for those folks.

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Abolishing Step 2, Self-Electrocution to Treat Boredom, and More Answers to Internet Questions

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What is that, a mariachi band? Photo by University of Michigan MSIS

Recording on the eve of match day, Marc Toral, Amy Young, Matt Becker and new co-host Taz Khalid discuss a petition by Harvard medical students to abolish the USMLE’s Step 2 clinical skills exam as it’s too expensive, ineffective, and a waste of effort. Among our team, however, opinions vary.  And why no discussion on abolishing Step 1 (the test of basic science knowledge and concepts) on similar grounds?
Continue reading Abolishing Step 2, Self-Electrocution to Treat Boredom, and More Answers to Internet Questions

A Touching Episode

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Keep that filthy thing away from me. Photo by HeyDanielle

Listener Mitch writes in to ask what this week’s co-hosts (Tony Rosenberg, Alex Volkmar, Rob Humble, and Nicole Morrow) wish they knew before they got to medical school. What should Mitch think about debt? Seeking honors? Voluntourism? And with the news that an artificial fingertip was successfully wired to an amputee’s nerves allowing him to detect rough and smooth surfaces, Dave decides it’s time to test the amazing sense of touch. This may or may not be an excuse for Dave to get his co-hosts to wear bags on their heads. Continue reading A Touching Episode

Two-weekers: What are they good for?

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Photo by MarkWallace

Kaci McCleary, Dylan Todd, Amy Young and Corbin Weaver are on hand this time to talk about the two-week specialty rotations, like Ophthalmology and Radiology.  You see, as Kaci entered her clinical clerkships, she had four of these short rotations in a row, and found herself hating them.  They seemed like a waste of time, and weren’t offering her much in the way of hands-on experience.  While her experience isn’t universal, we thought some might question the utility of these short rotations, especially if one isn’t going into a specialty but is more focused on primary care.  Fortunately, there’s some hope on the horizon in the form of instant learning through brain stimulation.  Will future med students even need two-weekers?  This leads us into a discussion on the place of rebellion in medical school.  Does medicine need people who buck the system?   How should someone who sees herself as firmly outside the box react when they’re surrounded by it?

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Listen to more great shows for medical students on The Vocalis Podcast Network.

The opinions expressed in this feed and podcast are not those of the University of Iowa or the Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine; nor do they reflect the views of anyone other than the people who expressed them.  If you have feedback on anything you hear on the show, positive or not, let us know.