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

[ICYMI, here’s a rerun of a show released earlier this year. We’ll be back with new shows starting next week!] How the system pays doctors can change healthcare outcomes—sometimes in scary ways. The way docs are paid can make patients sicker…or can lead to healthier ones. The payment schemes most docs work under incentivize them to fix patients, while others motivate them to prevent illness—and geriatrician Dr. Jonathan “Nathan” Flacker is here to explain why. This episode rips the curtain off RVUs, fee-for-service traps, and the real reason your doc is rushing through your visit (hint: it’s not personal, it’s math). We dig into ChenMed’s wild idea: what if clinics got paid to keep you out of the hospital? Turns out, when money flows toward health instead of procedures, everyone wins. Except maybe the $400M proton beam facility (for the record, we love proton beams, but you might not need them if you can avoid cancer altogether). Is concierge-style medicine only for the wealthy? What happens when you build “rich person care” for low-income seniors? And how many patients can a doc see well before it all breaks? If you’re dreaming of a career where you actually help people instead of just clicking boxes—this one’s a wake-up call. Also: Love calls, RVU debt, and why pajama time should be illegal. Episode credits: Producer: Jeff Goddard Co-hosts: Riley Behan-Bush, Zach Grissom, Alex Nigg Guest: Dr. Jonathan “Nathan” Flacker, ChenMed We Want to Hear From You: YOUR VOICE MATTERS! We welcome your feedback, listener questions, and shower thoughts. Do you agree or disagree with something we said today? Did you hear something really helpful? Can we answer a question for you? Are we delivering a podcast you want to keep listening to? Let us know at https://theshortcoat.com/tellus and we’ll put your message in a future episode. Or email theshortcoats@gmail.com. We need to know more about you! https://surveys.blubrry.com/theshortcoat (email a screenshot of the confirmation screen to theshortcoats@gmail.com with your mailing address and Dave will mail you a thank you package!) The Short Coat Podcast is FeedSpot’s Top Iowa Student Podcast, and its Top Iowa Medical Podcast! Thanks for listening! We do more things on… Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theshortcoat YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/theshortcoat You deserve to be happy and healthy. If you’re struggling with racism, harassment, hate, your mental health, or some other crisis, visit http://theshortcoat.com/help, and send additions to the resources there to theshortcoats@gmail.com. We love you. Music provided by Argofox. License: bit.ly/CCAttributionDOCTOR VOX – Heatstroke: youtu.be/j1n1zlxzyRE Catmosphere – Candy-Coloured Sky: youtu.be/AZjYZ8Kjgs8Hexalyte – Wandering Hours: youtu.be/FOAo2zsYnvA

[It’s winter break, and everything has come to a halt here, including podcasting. We’ll be back soon, promise!] Reddit’s “Am I the Asshole?” makes us question everything Reddit’s “AITA?” brings out the best and worst in people—and this week, we’re analyzing some choice cases through the lens of med school. M1s Srishti Mathur, Sahana Sarin, Maria Schapfel, and Mahaasrei Ghosh debate whether people in these scenarios are truly in the wrong or just victims of someone having a very bad day. We break down the pressure on pre-meds and med students to do research, the value of publications, and the “gunner” mentality. Is bench research a necessary evil, or are pre-meds wasting their time? When is it appropriate to insist on being called ‘Doctor?’ Is it okay to go nuclear to take someone down a notch when they need it? Is a degree in design and marketing as important as an MD? It’s a chaotic mix of ethics, egos, and existential crises—so strap in. We Want to Hear From You: YOUR VOICE MATTERS! We welcome your feedback, listener questions, and shower thoughts. Do you agree or disagree with something we said today? Did you hear something really helpful? Can we answer a question for you? Are we delivering a podcast you want to keep listening to? Let us know at https://theshortcoat.com/tellus and we’ll put your message in a future episode. Or email theshortcoats@gmail.com. The Short Coat Podcast is FeedSpot’s Top Iowa Student Podcast, and its Top Iowa Medical Podcast! Thanks for listening! We do more things on… Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theshortcoat YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/theshortcoat You deserve to be happy and healthy. If you’re struggling with racism, harassment, hate, your mental health, or some other crisis, visit http://theshortcoat.com/help, and send additions to the resources there to theshortcoats@gmail.com. We love you. Music provided by Argofox. License: bit.ly/CCAttributionDOCTOR VOX – Heatstroke: youtu.be/j1n1zlxzyRE Catmosphere – Candy-Coloured Sky: youtu.be/AZjYZ8Kjgs8Hexalyte – Wandering Hours: youtu.be/FOAo2zsYnvA

An alternative to postbac programs? Postbac programs are okay, but what if there was another path to medical school? M2s Sarah Upton, Alec Marticoff, and Kevin Gubner host the program directors of the Carver College of Medicine’s Masters of Clinical Anatomy Program. Interestingly, each co-host decided to get a MCA to make up for some shortcomings in their med school applications, whether it was soft a GPA or a lack of applicable hard science education. To do that, they could have done any number of things–like an expensive post-baccalaureate program that offers no degree–but instead they chose to seek an MCA degree to pave their way to medical school. Co-directors Marc Pizzimenti and Emma Handler visited with The Short Coat to discuss the program, what it’s like for students, and the additional skills that they got, including instruction in teaching…something they wouldn’t have gotten in a postbac program. In the end, the MCA program not only taught them anatomy–something they’d definitely need as physicians someday–but also helped them fix their undergrad shortcomings, readied them for the rigors of studying medicine, and built their teaching skills–all with an incredible student-faculty ratio they wouldn’t have gotten in many other degree programs. Plus they get to tack on some sweet letters after their names! Episode credits: Producer: Sarah Upton Co-hosts: Alec Marticoff, Kevin Gubner Guests: Marc Pizzimenti, PhD, MA, BEd; Emma Handler, PhD The views and opinions expressed on this podcast belong solely to the individuals who share them. They do not represent the positions of the University of Iowa, the Carver College of Medicine, or the State of Iowa. All discussions are intended for entertainment purposes only and should not be taken as professional, legal, financial, or medical advice. Nothing said on this podcast should be used to diagnose, treat, or prevent any medical condition. Always seek qualified professional guidance for personal decisions. We Want to Hear From You: YOUR VOICE MATTERS! We welcome your feedback, listener questions, and shower thoughts. Do you agree or disagree with something we said today? Did you hear something really helpful? Can we answer a question for you? Are we delivering a podcast you want to keep listening to? Let us know at https://theshortcoat.com/tellus and we’ll put your message in a future episode. Or email theshortcoats@gmail.com. We need to know more about you! https://surveys.blubrry.com/theshortcoat (email a screenshot of the confirmation screen to theshortcoats@gmail.com with your mailing address and Dave will mail you a thank you package!) The Short Coat Podcast is FeedSpot’s Top Iowa Student Podcast, and its Top Iowa Medical Podcast! Thanks for listening! We do more things on… Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theshortcoat YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/theshortcoat You deserve to be happy and healthy. If you’re struggling with racism, harassment, hate, your mental health, or some other crisis, visit http://theshortcoat.com/help, and send additions to the resources there to theshortcoats@gmail.com. We love you.

[We weren’t available to record a new show for you this week, so enjoy this rerun instead!] Clinical students are sometimes the only ones who have time to listen In the clinic, med students can feel like bystanders, but they can make all the difference for patients. M3 Jeff Goddard, M3 Tracy Chen, M2 Alex Nigg, and M4 Matt Engelken recount stories of the patients that stuck with them—some painful, some beautiful, and some just plain awkward. From OB-GYN to peds to the ER, they share how student doctors—who can often feel like tagalongs—can often be the ones offering emotional support, catching critical miscommunications, or just being the one person with time to care. We reflect on the pressure to look competent, the sting of lukewarm evaluations, and how one med student realized a patient wasn’t constipated—just heartbroken. Also in this episode: talking to dying patients, babies are scary, and what not to say when to overwhelmed family. Episode credits: Producer: Dave Etler Co-hosts: Matt Engelken, M4; Jeff Goddard, M3; Tracy Chen, M3; Alex Nigg, M2 We Want to Hear From You: YOUR VOICE MATTERS! We welcome your feedback, listener questions, and shower thoughts. Do you agree or disagree with something we said today? Did you hear something really helpful? Can we answer a question for you? Are we delivering a podcast you want to keep listening to? Let us know at https://theshortcoat.com/tellus and we’ll put your message in a future episode. Or email theshortcoats@gmail.com. The Short Coat Podcast is FeedSpot’s Top Iowa Student Podcast, and its Top Iowa Medical Podcast! Thanks for listening! We do more things on… Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theshortcoat YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/theshortcoat You deserve to be happy and healthy. If you’re struggling with racism, harassment, hate, your mental health, or some other crisis, visit http://theshortcoat.com/help, and send additions to the resources there to theshortcoats@gmail.com. We love you. Music provided by Argofox. License: bit.ly/CCAttributionDOCTOR VOX – Heatstroke: youtu.be/j1n1zlxzyRE Catmosphere – Candy-Coloured Sky: youtu.be/AZjYZ8Kjgs8Hexalyte – Wandering Hours: youtu.be/FOAo2zsYnvA

These M1s say it wasn’t easy…but it was FUN? You know medical school is hard, but what does that mean? That idea has no emotional connection to anything until you are IN IT, and these M1s definitely were. Jonah Albrecht, Trever Maiers, Alex Johnson, and Chris Ceplecha review the M1 semester and how they survived it. You’ll hear about what habits they had to drop, and which of their experiments in learning were a waste of time. Who did they lean on? What made it possible? What did they trip over, and how did right themselves? Their stories should give hope to future students that while medical school is tough in ways that are unpredictable, by working together–whether teaching each other, admitting when they needed help, and taking advantage of the resources available to them–it’s not only possible, but “fun!” Episode credits: Producer: Jonah Albrecht Co-hosts: Trever Maiers, Alex Johnson, Chris Ceplecha The views and opinions expressed on this podcast belong solely to the individuals who share them. They do not represent the positions of the University of Iowa, the Carver College of Medicine, or the State of Iowa. All discussions are intended for entertainment purposes only and should not be taken as professional, legal, financial, or medical advice. Nothing said on this podcast should be used to diagnose, treat, or prevent any medical condition. Always seek qualified professional guidance for personal decisions. We Want to Hear From You: YOUR VOICE MATTERS! We welcome your feedback, listener questions, and shower thoughts. Do you agree or disagree with something we said today? Did you hear something really helpful? Can we answer a question for you? Are we delivering a podcast you want to keep listening to? Let us know at https://theshortcoat.com/tellus and we’ll put your message in a future episode. Or email theshortcoats@gmail.com. We need to know more about you! https://surveys.blubrry.com/theshortcoat (email a screenshot of the confirmation screen to theshortcoats@gmail.com with your mailing address and Dave will mail you a thank you package!) The Short Coat Podcast is FeedSpot’s Top Iowa Student Podcast, and its Top Iowa Medical Podcast! Thanks for listening! We do more things on… Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theshortcoat YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/theshortcoat You deserve to be happy and healthy. If you’re struggling with racism, harassment, hate, your mental health, or some other crisis, visit http://theshortcoat.com/help, and send additions to the resources there to theshortcoats@gmail.com. We love you.