The Short Coat: An Inside Look at Getting Into and Getting Through Medical School

A relatively new partner in medicine, the Physician Assistant has become vital to team-based healthcare TL;DR The Physician Assistant can do most things an MD can do, aside from prescribing certain kinds drugs, and they don’t usually practice independently. Iowa’s interesting because PA students train with MD students during their didactics. This close contact means that trust is estab...

The Medical Student Performance Evaluation (or dean’s letter) will be sent to all your potential employers. Let’s talk about what’s in it! TL;DR You may have heard of the dean’s letter. It’s sent to all residency programs, one of the things they’ll use to choose who to invite for an interview. But do you know what’s in it…and that it’s creation...

Applying to med school together might be easier than couples think TL;DR Married couples applying to a school together are really a bonus for schools, all other factors being equal. We discuss Niki Minaj’s cousin’s friend’s testicles. Because that’s a thing we do now. Wiki How has interesting illustrations–can we guess the article? This episode is sponsored by Enso Ri...

What to look at when shopping for schools to apply to when you aren’t like other students TL;DR We discuss with a listener how to find a school that is friendly to non-traditional students. Bringing wooly mammoths back to life? Is talking about people who engage in questionable COVID treatments just adding to the problem? This episode is sponsored by Enso Rings, makers of soft, safe, attract...

Medical students who play instruments together and with others see benefits for teamwork and learning Today’s episode is sponsored by Panacea Financial, a division of Primis, Member FDIC. Check out their PRN Personal Loans to help cover board exams or application costs, with decisions in as little as 24 hours and great interest rates! TL;DR Medical students can use their music background to...

Texas thinks it’s finally found the solution to the abortion ‘problem.’ What will it cost them? TL;DR Now that Texas has conferred on its citizens the responsibility for enforcing it’s ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, what will be the effects? The University of Iowa community protests alleged sex abuse in Greek life, but the movement is tearing itself apart. W...

Taking your time may actually be better for your career than rushing through it TL;DR Rushing to med school may be a good idea, but there is a danger of missing experiences that make you a better student and a better doctor. But if you’re going to do it…go hard. Nutrition is well covered in the med school curriculum, but there’s a lot we don’t understand. Falling off a tall...

Is there etiquette on staying in touch with admissions? TL;DR A listener asks about the etiquette of keeping the adcom up to date on their activities. We discuss Dave’s experience in the TSA line with an anti-masker. Dave tries to come up with new business ideas that YOU can use (if you’re brave). This episode is sponsored by Enso Rings, makers of soft, safe, attractive silicone rings. Listeners g...

The case for the physician-journalist The Takeaways: One important responsibility that doctors can and should take on is to educate their communities on health issues. Learning how to do this in medical school can be as easy as collaborating with your university news paper. Plus, our advice for a young mother and wife whose med student husband will be away during third year: plan, iterate and empa...

Screw these up, and you may not get in! TL;DR Our expert looks at the mistakes that can keep you from landing your spot in med school Give the admissions committee what it needs to assure them you want this more than anything, and that you’ve done your homework. When is the right time to apply? When YOU are ready. Don’t rush it, because whether you’re successful or not in finishi...

As COVID numbers tick up, we choose to drown our sorrows in French/Korean fusion baked goods. TL;DR Dave picks his co-hosts’ brains on how they interpret the latest numbers on COVIDWe eat baked goods that AJ brought us and try to guess what’s in them, and fail because they’re deliciously unlike anything we’ve had before. We play Out of the Loop. NOTE: this episode was recor...

COVID taught many employees what their employees think of them. Doctors are no different. TL;DR Most people don’t see themselves as partners in success, but as hired hands. Doctors are employees, too, and have similar issues with their employers! 30% of administrators reported losing physicians during the pandemic. Either an exit from healthcare or a mass shift of physicians from low-engagem...

Get ready for new application requirements (and to pay more money?) TL;DR CASPer seeks to help schools understand applicants’ non-academic and people skills. It’s never been validated, but more and more schools are using it. Some residency programs have begun using ‘supplemental questions’ as so-called objective measures like STEP 1 and STEP 2 CS fall away. Are these new hu...

Hint: it’s NOT a dramatic, ‘lightbulb’ moment. TL;DR Your med school application won’t be the last time you write a personal statement. They’re everywhere in medicine, so keep track of experiences you can write about when you need to. Be careful about thinking too much about strategy, sacrificing the ‘personal’ part. It’s pretty easy to spot someone...

Because med school is all-consuming, partners often take on much of the parenting tasks TL;DR Asking for and getting help from one’s med-student partner when parenting gets overwhelming is essential. Organizing with other med student parents for mutual support is crucial. The fear that med school is completely inflexible for parents may be unfounded. M4 Nick Lind and Miriam Lind are joined b...

Med school life hacks are all about maximizing efficiency, minimizing friction. TL;DR Eliminate unnecessary friction to the completion of a taskPaying others to do other life tasks can be helpfulSaying no is as important as maximizing efficiency. Today we explore the things that med students do to maximize their efficiency. These are the small steps they take to eliminate friction to completing ch...

Is it enough to deal with issues on a case-by-case basis, or do schools need to do better? TL;DR We share more stories from our med student parents. What the research says about how medical schools are supporting parents and pregnant students in medical school. How should med schools support student parents and pregnant students–can schools do better? Physician training comes smack in the middle o...

Serving Your Patients Shouldn’t Just Happen in the Office TL;DR Urologist Amy Pearlman has built her practice upon the opportunities offered by YouTube, Twitter, and Tik Tok. The one question no one asks themselves that can help you decide on your future specialty: what can’t you live without? Medical school does not teach you how to be a doctor. That’s what residency and fellows...

Save Your Resources to Fight Another Day TL;DR Medical school is all-consuming, but sometimes you need to take time to deal with the slings and arrows of life. Don’t be afraid that you’ll jeopardize your career by taking a leave during medical school. Better to do it before your situation causes harm to your test scores or grades. A Brown University study finds that schools are failing...

We were too slow, too cautious, and too “old-guard” in our responses to COVID TL;DR Guest Marty Makary condemns the old way that healthcare responds to current events. Sticking to the clinical trials process and a reluctance to use the knowledge already available from Chinese doctors slowed US responses and killed people. “We had terrible medical leadership throughout the pandemi...

Raising babies in med school is possible, with careful thought and lots of help TL;DR The choice to become pregnant in medical school is always a difficult one to make, considering the time constraints and the physical toll it can take. Raising a kids in medical school is perhaps even harder, as even if things go well in the pregnancy, now you’ve got little humans to learn about, protect, an...

Humanism isn’t just for the good days. Today’s episode is sponsored by Panacea Financial, a division of Primis, member FDIC. Hope you’ll check them out!] Rick Garner, AJ Chowdhury, Alex Belzer and Eric Boeshart are on hand to discuss our recent celebration of humanism in medicine, along with a speech by Dr. Nicholas Mohr in which he mentioned that for the first time this year his...

Doing stuff outside of your coursework is fantastic…until it isn’t. Actual photograph of Gwyneth Paltrow’s “This Smells Like My Vagina” candle in use. [Dave was suddenly called home for a family emergency, so no recording this week. Enjoy this rerun, though!] Listener Tasneem Ahmed–a fourth-year medic at London’s King’s College–joins MD/PhD stu...

The M1 Wall is Real. You’ll Probably Have to Climb It. TL;DR Taking the med ed bull by the horns in a purposeful way will get your through one of the toughest moments. Given any definition of “success,” a medical student who succeeds in medical school engages “like they paid for it.” The definition of “success” doesn’t necessarily include honors grad...

How Gaming Can Help You Learn Medicine Better TL;DR Rote memorization is part of medical education, but drawing deeper connections between concepts is what makes you a physician. Medical school emphasizes finding the correct answer, but when you begin to practice medicine you’ll find that the answers are much more complex than that. Although moving from med school to residency can be scary–as with...