Scrubbed In, Checked Out

Match Day is supposed to be one of the happiest days of medical school. But the truth? It’s often far more complicated than that. In this episode, I talk honestly about the emotional rollercoaster that comes with CaRMS Match Day — the excitement, the relief, the disappointment, and everything in between. Some students open that email and feel pure joy. Others feel confused, conflicted, or quietly...

In this episode of Scrubbed In, Checked Out , Penelope gets real about friendships that fade, family members who try (but don’t quite get it), med school trauma-bonding, and the chaos of dating while chronically exhausted. From drifting from old friends to building intense new ones, navigating long-distance relationships, breakups, guilt, and the constant feeling of letting someone down — this is...

In this episode, I’m talking about my two-week placement in palliative care — a rotation I went into expecting to be heavy, emotionally draining, and quietly devastating… and instead found to be one of the most meaningful experiences of medical school. We talk about what palliative care is actually like, the incredible staff who make it such a special environment, and why a place so closely associ...

In this episode, we’re ripping the glittery, productivity-core bandaid off and talking about what actually works when studying in medical school — and what TikTok lied to you about. Spoiler: you don’t need ten pastel notebooks, a stack of overpriced highlighters, and a 47-step morning routine. You need a functioning brain, a system you stick to, and a reality check. We dive into active recall (AKA...

A chaotic, caffeine-soaked deep dive into the fever dream that is first year of medical school. In this episode, I break down everything I wish someone had told me before I walked into med school with my shiny new stethoscope and completely misplaced optimism. From whether you need to pre-study (you don’t), to buying gear you’ll never use (looking at you, reflex hammer), to surviving anatomy’s per...

Every med student has that one moment — the first time you hold a stethoscope and realize you have absolutely no idea what you’re doing. This episode kicks off Scrubbed In, Checked Out with a caffeine-fuelled reality check: what we thought medicine would be versus the circus it actually is. Host Penelope Plessas takes you from the naive excitement of first-year to the existential dread of final-ye...