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

Welcome New MD/PA students! M2s Leticia Franciso and Gizzy Keeler, who served as orientation leaders for this year’s new crop of medical and PA students, were in a good position to talk about the experience of transitioning from Orientation Week to the first year of medical school, highlighting the changes in attitudes and relationships they saw. They, along with PA2 Julie Vuong and M4 Katie Higha...

Med School is a non-trivial endeavor, but against the backdrop of a new class of MD and PA students arriving at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Dave and the co-hosts–including M3 Hend Al-Kaylani, PA2 Julie Vuong, M2 Gizzy Keeler, and M3 Trent Gilbert–share their humorous and sometimes ‘smelly’ experiences from their first semester, play a trivia game Dave made up called ‘Blechar...

It’s another trip through Reddit, arbiter of A-holishness. What lessons does medical school teach? Aside from the foundations of cellular life, mechanisms of health and disease, and clinical and professional skills? As M2 Holly Hemann, MD/PhD student Miranda Schene, PA Professor Jeremy Nelson, and PA1 Julie Vuong discover, it can teach you where it’s not appropriate to study external reproductive...

Listener Noah wrote to us from the UK asking–among other things–how he could flourish when he starts medical school. One statement caught our eye, however: that he was determined to do everything right the first time. M4s Matt Engelken, Chirayu Shukla, Happy Kumar, and Jacob Lam discuss their perspective on how that’s not necessarily the right goal to aim for. Then listener Tiffany, a med student...

This week, M3 Jeff Goddard, M2 Taryn O’Brien, and MD/PhD student Riley Behan Bush are on hand to discuss July’s news. First, it’s hard to ignore Johns Hopkins joining the tuition free bandwagon thanks to Michael Bloomberg…but this gift goes further…maybe it could actually have a desired effect! Meanwhile, the New York Times offered an expose on a practice that might prey on the emotions of anxious...

Sometimes everyone’s a jerk. Self-evaluation is important, especially in medicine, but sometimes you just gotta ask–was I a jerk? Dave Etler, MD/PhD student Miranda Schene, M4 Happy Kumar, and M2 Holly Hemann use Reddit’s ‘Am I the Asshole?’ submissions to exploring feelings of impostor syndrome, the ethics of classroom behavior, fair recognition of achievements, and cases of medical malpractice....

It’s all about the plan! Listener Neurotic Premed dropped us a message at https://theshortcoat.com/tellus to ask what medical students in long-distance relationships, both platonic and romantic, do to keep them alive and healthy. MD/PhD student Madi Wahlen, M2 Fallon Jung, M3 Jeff Goddard, an PA2 Julie Vuong have a lot of experience in that area. From long-distance parenting to making sure friends...

Unique experiences and challenges of practicing medicine where everyone knows your name. M1 Fallon Jung, PA1 Olivia Quinby, MD/PhD student Faith Prochaska, M2 Jeff Goddard, and special guest Dr. Peter Kaboli dive deep into the heart of rural medicine. We kick off with a candid discussion about growing up in small towns and how these experiences shape our understanding of community and healthcare....

The Sheriff of Sodium investigates the state and future of medical training. If you’ve wondered how well the system that trains future doctors works, or about what factors really determine which medical students get into the most competitive residency programs, this episode is for you. M1 Fallon Jung, M2 Jeff Goddard, and M4 AJ Chowdhury get deep into these issues with a very special guest – Dr. B...

[This episode has visual content you might find more enjoyable using YouTube Music, where you can listen with your phone in your pocket as usual, but then watch for the more visual content] Paying for Medical School is Scary…but it’s totally doable! Listener Eden is looking ahead to how she’ll finance medical school as someone who is in the disadvantaged category of applicants. One option she aske...

Life’s grey areas, offered up for internet discussion! Sometimes, you need someone to tell you if you’ve crossed the line. That’s why Reddit’s Am I The A**hole subreddit exists. M2 Holly Hemann brought some med-school themed samples for MD/PhD students Miranda Schene, Faith Prochaska, and PA2 Julie Vuong to react to. How compatible is MMA fighting and med school? Is it okay to get a secret horse?...

Project 2025 is the name of a project that hopes to serve as a blueprint for a future conservative administration that would promote natural family planning methods and reduce insurance coverage for certain contraceptives. M1s* Fallon Jung, Taryn O’Brien, and Gizzy Keeler (who are–boop boop boop–leveling up to M2s), with help from Curriculum Manager Billie Ruden, discuss what that might mean for t...

[This episode is sponsored by Beginly Health https://beginlyhealth.com/shortcoat. The Beginly platform matches physicians and APPs with employers with complete anonymity until you’re ready for the next step. Later in this episode, founder Kristi Olsen chats with Dave about what residents should be asking employers about when planning for their post-residency gigs and beyond.] Do everything you can...

It’s hard to become a doctor when you’ve never met one. It’s sometimes easy to forget from the ivory tower that relatively few American’s have, or take, the opportunity to advance beyond high school. This, of course, means that their children are also less likely to do so. Those kids that do decide to make that leap are at a distinct disadvantage to their peers whose parents did go to college. And...

[This episode is sponsored by Beginly Health, at http://beginlyhealth.com/shortcoat. Whether you're actively searching or casually exploring job opportunities, the Beginly platform matches you with complete anonymity until you're ready for the next step.] Its Our monthly roundup of news from the margins of medicine! M1s Fallon Jung and Taryn O’Brien, M2 Jeff Goddard, and MD/PhD studnet Riley Behan...

“I honestly have had the most relaxing time I’ve had in forever, and for anybody who’s like, that’s ridiculous, just wait.” The most charitable definition of a hot take is a position taken in order to generate conversation. The more usual definition is a position taken to create controversy (and clicks). Dave asked his co-hosts to come with some hot takes, and it’s up to you to decide which defini...

From classroom to exam room, what you need to know. [This episode is sponsored by Beginly Health. https://www.beginlyhealth.com/shortcoat Whether you’re actively searching or casually exploring job opportunities, the Beginly platform matches you with complete anonymity until you’re ready for the next step.] M1s Fallon Jung and Alex Nigg, M2 Jeff Goddard, and MD/PhD student Riley Behan Bush hear li...

Medicine isn’t always kind to its disabled practitioners, but let’s change that. In 2023, a group of Iowa med students founded our chapter of the Medical Students With Disabilities and Chronic Illness, a group “working to remove barriers for students and professionals with disabilities, increasing representation of diverse perspectives in medicine.” M1 Holly Hemann, MD/PhD student Faith Prochaska...

It’s a freestyle episode…can’t we just have a rambling conversation? Sometimes it’s nice to just sit down and have a rambling conversation. That’s this episode, with MD/PhD students Madi Wahlen and Sahaana Arumugam and M3s Jacob Hansen and Jacob Lam. We discuss the non-weighty topics of why people don’t know they shouldn’t stare at a ball of fusion in the sky, niche online community drama, a Texas...

A great lifestyle, scope mix, and early-career satisfaction. Matthew Kiok, MD, MPH tells us he’s found the perfect specialty. Occupational Medicine is one of those careers we’re exploring in our sleeper specialty series–those which you might not immediately think of when you’re considering a career as a physician. Dr. Kiok tells M1 Fallon Jung, PA1 Julie Vuong, and M2 Jeff Goddard that he has grea...

Tailoring your medical career to fit your personality? Are you better off as a surgeon or in palliative care? MD/PhD student Jacqueline Nielsen, M2 Hend Al-Kaylani, and M1 Fallon Jung play with personality to see if their path toward choosing the right medical specialty should be dependent on their personality traits. From the introspective nature of psychiatry to the rapid decision-making require...

Unique experiences and challenges of practicing medicine where everyone knows your name. M1 Fallon Jung, PA1 Olivia Quinby, MD/PhD student Faith Prochaska, M2 Jeff Goddard, and special guest Dr. Peter Kaboli dive deep into the heart of rural medicine. We kick off with a candid discussion about growing up in small towns and how these experiences shape our understanding of community and healthcare....

Speaking up for your patients will have profound impacts. Short Coat Savannah’s previous work in mental health settings exposed her to situations where she had to report abuse. She left us a message at 347-SHORTCT asking us to talk about patient advocacy. MD/PhD student Riley, PA1 Faith, M1 Jeff, and M3 Happy–along with some of our faculty–look at what doctors actually do to advocate for their pat...

Dave hosts a weird cocktail party for his co-hosts, M1s Fallon Jung and Taryn O'Brian, MD/PhD student Jacqueline Nielson, and M3 Chirayu Shukla. The group dives into a variety of topics: surreal dreams, spring break plans, which celebrity they would replace one of their organs with, book recommendations, personal stories, and AI-generated songs about Menards and Chirayu's curtailed tennis career....

Dave hosts a weird cocktail party for his co-hosts, M1s Fallon Jung and Taryn O'Brian, MD/PhD student Jacqueline Nielson, and M3 Chirayu Shukla. The group dives into a variety of topics: surreal dreams, spring break plans, which celebrity they would replace one of their organs with, book recommendations, personal stories, and AI-generated songs about Menards and Chirayu's curtailed tennis career....