She Got Into Med School… But Now She’s Not Sure (Recess Rehash)
Turning down that med school acceptance might cost more than you think. Listener “my initials are ARM” got into medical school—cue the confetti—but now that reality’s set in, she’s not feeling great about her only acceptance. The school is small, expensive, and far from home. Should she go anyway or risk reapplying in hopes of a better fit next year? MD/PhD students Michael Arrington, Shruthi Kondaboina, Jessica Smith, and M1 Maria Schapfel weigh the real costs of walking away from an acceptance, from the red flags admissions committees look for to the gamble of getting in again. They get honest about finances, family, and the very unsexy truth about how much the campus “vibe” actually matters. Plus, what to say if you do it anyway. Bonus: the MD/PhD students dish about why they took that road, while Maria counters with why MD is better for her.
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1:08:15
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1:08:15
Sheriff of Sodium: AI Will Replace Doctors (Reality Check!)
Docs are in denial, but the economic incentives make it inevitable. Meanwhile, you’re working hard to become a doctor — and now a bot might take your place? The Sheriff of Sodium, Dr. Brian Carmody, is back on the Short Coat to say what nobody wants to hear but might need to: yes, AI in medicine is real, and the value proposition makes docs’ replacement inevitable. From primary care AI to image-heavy fields like pathology, we’re talking actual use cases. We break down physician automation, the AMA’s waning influence, and why corporations – and even patients – might be the real force behind AI-driven doctor job loss. If you thought medical school guaranteed career security, this might shake your certainty. But there are specialties and human-only qualities that you can lean into for a bright future amidst the bots.
Then the Sheriff, M3 Jeff Goddard, MD/PhD Miranda Schene, M2s Sarah Lowenberg and Taryn O’Brien pivot to a deeply personal listener question: should a pre-med student push through to med school while struggling with mental health, like her parents want her to? Or take time off to regroup?
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1:07:38
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1:07:38
How a Walk in the Park Sparked a Health Movement, ft. David Sabgir, MD
Cardiologist David Sabgir was tired of telling patients to exercise, so he did something ridiculous…and it spawned a movement. Walk With A Doc began with a simple idea: don’t just recommend lifestyle changes—live them, with your patients, in the wild. In this episode, we unpack the surprising power of walking with a community instead of talking at patients about exercise, and how a one-mile stroll has turned into an international public health initiative. Co-hosts M3 Jeff Goddard, and M1s Sydney Skuodas, Michael Arrington, and Zach Grissom are also asking: what happens when docs and med students bring their kids, their real lives, and their full humanity into community care? For some, it could be a real antidote to burnout, and the solution might be hiding in the park—with some sneakers and your neighbors. The cardiologist that stared it all shares how failing at patient motivation led to something wildly more effective.
This episode is your unofficial permission slip to stop recommending change and start doing it.
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52:37
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52:37
AI in Med School: Helpful Tool or Total Crutch?
"How are you using AI in med school?" That’s the question Dave posed to his co-hosts this week. Near-M3s Fallon Jung and Amanda Litka and almost-PA3 Julie Vuong discuss AI-fueled study sessions, and Dave points out a Google tool that turns docs into knowledge. They talk about what helps, what haunts, and what might accidentally erase their clinical instincts. Meanwhile, Fallon admits to looking to a robot to plan a bachelorette party. Amanda wants to ditch the white coat. And strong mints and clementines are the secret to surviving 3AM bowel resections. Also on the docket: what they've learned in their first few months seeing patients, OB night shift scaries, and which specialist they'd rather be stranded on an island with.
Listeners: do you use AI to get you through school? How? Sound off at https://theshortcoat.com/tellus!
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1:14:09
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1:14:09
Your Thesis Won’t Change the World (and Here’s Why)
The path to discovery is paved with bureaucracy
Einstein was a patent clerk when he first proposed his famous equation that explained our universe...something that could never happen today. This week, we’re calling out the slow, tangled mess that is academic science. Why do some of the best ideas never leave a lab notebook? Why are 20-somethings with world-changing potential still spending 8 years writing theses that probably won't be read? And why does grant funding seem allergic to risk?
MD/PhD student Riley Behan-Bush is juggling frustration, big ideas, and the reality of PhD science, and M3 Jeff Goddard, MD/PhD student Jess Smith, and M1 Sarah Lowenberg question whether Einstein would even make it today. Should the NIH institute a funding lottery? Jeff thinks Dave's ringtone means he needs to grow up. And we finish strong by turning a stack of random medical words into fake personal statements. It’s messy, it’s a little salty, and it'll make you wonder how anything changes in medicine or science.
About The Short Coat: An Inside Look at Getting Into and Getting Through Medical School
The HONEST guide to medical school, featuring real students from the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine–skip this show if you’d rather not know (and hate laughter)!
Listen to The Short Coat: An Inside Look at Getting Into and Getting Through Medical School, The Rich Roll Podcast and many other podcasts from around the world with the radio.net app
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