The Sheriff of Sodium investigates the current state and future of medical training [We’re taking a vacation for a couple weeks, so while we rest and recharge enjoy this rerun!] 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 residen…

[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 disadva…

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 a…

Our new monthly legislation and policy roundup 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!–level…

[This episode is sponsored by Beginly Health. The Beginly platform matches physicians and APPs with employers with complete anonymity until you’re ready for the next step. Dave and Beginly founder Kristi Olsen chat about what residents should be asking employers about when planning for their post-residency gigs and beyond.] Do everything you can to…

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 t…

[This episode is sponsored by Beginly Health. 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.] Our monthly roundup of news from the margins of medicine! M1s Fallon Jung and Taryn O’Brien, M2 Jeff Goddard, and MD/PhD studnet Rile…

“I honestly have had the most relaxing time I’ve had in forever, and for anybody who’s like, that’s ridiculous, just wait.” [Dave’s co-hosts were all doing medical student things on our usual recording day, so enjoy this previously released episode!] The most charitable definition of a hot take is a position taken in order to generate conversation.…

From classroom to exam room, what you need to know [This episode is sponsored by Beginly Health. 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 Bus…

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.…

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…

Occupational Medicine offers 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. …

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 required in …

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. Dr. Kaboli, an expert in rural health w…

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 …

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 abo…

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 abo…

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 i…

An alumni of CCOM and SCP returns to prove: you can do it! MD/PhD student Miranda Schene, M2 Jeff Goddard, and M1 Fallon Jung visit with alumni Teneme Konne, MD, now a second-year resident. They start by smacking their foreheads over AI-generated images in a recent medical journal, unpacking the rigorous demands of peer review and its pivotal role …

Understanding others begins with asking questions. M3 Jacob Hansen, and M1s Taryn O’Brien, Alex Nigg, and Fallon Jung consider recent studies highlighting the ineffectiveness of traditional implicit bias training and the disparities in medical care for children of color. Jacob successfully finished Step 1 and the co-hosts tap him for some of his in…

Happy Valentines Day! MD/PhD student Faith Prochaska, and M1s Taryn O'Brien and Fallon Jung share how they navigate relationships amidst their hectic schedules. With quizmaster Jeff Emrich from student financial services, they play The Just Married Game and discuss their personal plans, the balance between work and personal life, and their insights…

“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 ho…

“A nice re-imagining of how healthcare could be delivered.” It’s another sleeper specialty episode! This time we’re visiting with Andrea Weber, MD, MME. Herself a graduate of the Carver College of Medicine, she is now assistant director of Addiction Medicine and associate program director of the Internal Medicine and Psychiatry residency program. M…

Preventing disease and injury in life, the skies, and at work. It's another sleeper specialty episode! This time we're talking about a *really* low-key one: Preventive Medicine. M2 Jeff Goddard asked Dr. Silvia Caswell of Loma Linda University to join us to talk about her work in one aspect of prev med: lifestyle medicine. There are others under th…

In another in our series on "sleeper specialties," we visit with Internal Medicine-Pediatrics (Med-Peds) doc Brittany Bettendorf. M1 Alex Nigg and M2 Madeline Ungs learn about this lesser known specialty that combines the detective work of internal medicine with a focus on kids with childhood diseases, including managing their transition to adult c…

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. Als…

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…

M1 Hend invited David Kozishek, a chaplain at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, to talk with M3 AJ, M1 Jeff and new co-host M1 Ervina to talk about the role of chaplains on the healthcare team. David also helps the co-hosts discuss the role that religion may play in their lives as future physicians, the tensions and compatibilities betw…

Short Coat co-hosts Brian Young (M1), Jeff Goddard (M2), and Fallon Jung (M1) discussed the challenges and experiences of medical school, including personal anecdotes about coping with stress, the demands of the curriculum, maintaining emotional well-being, the significance of peer support, and the importance of learning from both academic and pers…

Bringing the healthcare pieces together Dr. Ilana Yurkiewicz, co-director of Stanford University’s Primary Care for Cancer Survivorship Program, author, and science journalist, returns to continue our discussion from November 9 about our fragmented health system and what can be done about it. M2 Jeff Goddard, M1s Fallon Jung and Alex Nigg, and MD/P…

What you get away with as an undergrad won’t serve you in med school. M2s Jacob and Maddie, M4 Mason and new co-host PA2 Mark take us through how they changed their study habits from undergrad through the clinical years. Dave reads an old German folktale about how to become a doctor. Hint: it’s harder today, and involves much less mansplaining, but…

Dave declared this recording day to be “Effort Free Friday,” as it was officially Thanksgiving Break! That didn’t stop M1 Jeff Goddard from describing a recent meeting of the AMA Students Section that offered an object lesson on how policy is (or in this case, isn’t) made. Among many other topics, some students wanted the AMA to declare a position …

A recent MedPage Today editorial shines a light on four traits that are crucial for every resident. These elements aren’t traditionally taught, but are key for future doctors. They encompass selflessness, optimism, personal responsibility, and a hunger for personal meaning. M4 Alex Belzer, who’s currently interviewing, and M2s Hend Al-Kaylani and E…

Dr. Michael Graham, a seasoned Nuclear Medicine practitioner and professor at the University of Iowa, reached out to us recently because at a national level his specialty is experiencing a shortage of new residents. The reasons for this include a less-than-perfect fit with the way it’s traditionally been lumped into radiology, a field with some par…

We have GOT to get it together. What’s the best way to navigate a fragmented healthcare system? How are patients both the victims and unwitting custodians of their own medical stories? And can primary care address gaps in long-term cancer treatment? We had a fun conversation with Dr. Ilana Yurkiewicz, the author of ‘Fragmented, A Doctor’s Quest to …

Dave’s been seeing a lot of videos on social media that suggest “You might have if you [trait or behavior that most people have or do to some degree]. Which is great–it’s always nice to know that you are not alone, that your experience is not unique. But how should physicians work with a social media self-diagnosis? There may some day be a vaccine …

Do docs and patients mean the same thing when they talk about ‘health?’ Fallon, Sri, Radha, and Kait discuss the concept of ‘health.’ What does healthy mean to our patients? What does it mean to physicians? The definition has changed over time–from freedom from disease to a more self-actualizing concept of thriving in one’s circumstances. Even the …

As tuberculosis is on the rise once again in this country, it remains *the* cause of death around the world. But thanks to fans of the famous vlogbrothers, John and Hank Green, the world has some additional tools to fight a disease which we've been able to cure for decades, lacking only the will to do it. And Dave tells what he learned this week ab…

As another physician shortage looms, M2s Jeff and Olivia and M1 Fallon look at the reasons–the market forces, political issues, and the missing incentives. There is some good news–a shortage of physicians means that residents get a ton of solicitations for post-training jobs. Elon Musk’s Neuralink might be bad for monkeys, but the FDA has cleared t…

Physician Associate (formerly Physician Assistant) students learn the preclinical curriculum right along side their Doctor of Medicine colleagues here at Iowa. Of course, that means they learn the same things, but also the level of trust and mutual understanding between the two professions is that much more explicit. October 6 to 12 is Physician As…

The beginning of the 20th century brought huge changes to medicine; we’re still trying to cope with them. Special guest Dr. Adam Rodman, visits with M1s Jeff, Faith, and Linda and PA1 Kelsey, to talk about “path dependency,” the idea that a complex system (like medical education) is almost impossible to change without starting over. The path we hav…

Motherhood is a revered institution in many cultures, but in the good old US of A there's one area where mothers are being failed: medicine. Maternal mortality continues to increase to alarming levels, especially among people of color. We explore our thoughts on why, and what doctors can do in an environment in which financial profit is a prime mot…

How should Thomas choose between his great career options? We’ve all been there: faced with some good options, which one do we choose? Listener Thomas wrote in with his dilemma: he studied and loves engineering, but what about medicine? M1s Jacqueline Nielson, Fallon Jung, and Sri Nandakumar discuss what they studied as undergrads, what made them r…

Why docs don’t like the word “provider,” and the surprise dealt to the AAMC by OB residency programsa Delaware-based health system, is taking a stand against the use of the term “provider” to describe physicians. The AMA agrees, saying they oppose the term “provider” as inadequate and urging MDs to insist on being identified as "physicians." Co-hos…

Why do we struggle to change when our world changes around us? Philadelphia’s Mütter Museum is beloved by its visitors. Styled as an homage to Victorian displays of medical and biological curiosities, its exhibits include human remains with extreme pathologies…and sometimes dubious provenance. Once such items were joyfully collected by rich men to …

AI chatbots can help brainstorm ways to communicate more compassionately. We’ve talked about the study that found patients rated responses by the recent generation of AI chatbots significantly better in both quality and empathy than physicians. We decided to test ourselves on our efforts to bring up awkward topics with patients and others by compar…

Meet one doctor working to counter once-fringe anti-vax conspiracy theorists. M2 Jeff Goddard invited internationally-renowned virology and immunology expert Dr. Paul Offit on the show to talk about his lifelong struggle to fight vaccine misinformation. MD/PhD Students Riley Behan-Bush, and Madi Wahlen join Jeff to talk with Dr. Offit about his wor…

How do you choose between jumping in with both feet vs. watching and learning? Listener Jordan DM’d to say that she’s having trouble finding the right balance of initiative and observation in her clerkships. To stand out, should she jump into situations and try to contribute? Or is it better to step back and observe? M2s Trent, Bridget, Maddie, and…

[A Note to Listeners: this episode features discussions of sex abuse, rape, and other crimes that many listeners will find disturbing.] Insights From the Bench on How Doctors Can Work With The Law To Protect Victims of Sexual Assault. The Honorable Rosemarie Aquilina–the judge in the Larry Nassar USA Gymnastics Sex Abuse trial–talks with us about h…

Recognizing good advice and discarding the bad is part of the admissions process. Aline has finished her PhD! She walks Jeff, Riley, and AJ through what defending a dissertation is like, and looks back on some of the things she’s learned about herself and about science. And, bad advice is like a leaky umbrella that lets you down when you need it mo…