Do You Recognize This Triad?

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25-year-old male presents to the emergency department with headache, retro-orbital pain, and diplopia when gazing to the right. He had visited an urgent care clinic with right ear pain two weeks earlier and had received a short course of antibiotics. After some initial improvement, he became increasingly unwell before presenting today. Otoscopy reveals purulent discharge in the right ear canal and a CT scan demonstrates the findings seen here. Which organism is most commonly responsible for this patient’s likely diagnosis?

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Parenting Fails, Pro-Life Wins, Free Laser Gifts

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It’s time for a change, whether we want it or not.

Oh, gosh. It’s Kaci McCleary and Amy Young’s last show as co-hosts. Irisa Mahaparn and Teneme Konne join them to discuss their impending moves to Colorado and Minnesota. Also, they lament Iowa’s new Fetal Heartbeat Bill and what some observers believe will be an associated collapse of OB/Gyn in Iowa should the law go into effect. But life goes on, and Amy–a relatively new parent–talks parenting fails. Luckily for her little Sammy, and sadly for his own children, Dave has her beat. And listener Corey reaches out on Facebook to tell Dave he’s wrong. Shocker.

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Ignore the National Rankings and Make Your Own School List

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school list

Yes, we said it, ignore those national rankings! You’ve probably already heard this, and you know deep down it’s good advice. But let’s be honest, it’s easier said than done.

We try to remind students not to put too much emphasis on a school’s average GPA or MCAT scores and instead to look at their mission statements and focus on what matters most to them. Medical schools each have different values and goals, and it’s important to ensure your own interests align with the medical school. Remember, you’ll be spending at least four years there! Whether it’s the school’s commitment to primary care, the research opportunities available, programs or clubs related to your interests, or a particular class size or format that is a good fit for your learning style, it’s always a smart idea to consider a broad range of factors. This worksheet can help you assess different factors for each school you’re considering applying to.

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Should I Reapply to Medical School?

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should I reapply to medical school

Each year after the medical school application cycle is complete, thousands of medical school hopefuls are left without an acceptance to an MD or DO program. The number of students who didn’t receive an acceptance is large enough that the AAMC keeps data, broken down by various criteria, on how many people made or didn’t make the cut each year.

If you are in the unfortunate position of having received a rejection notice from every school to which you applied, you may be asking yourself if reapplication to medical school in an upcoming admissions cycle is worth the effort. Do you have a reasonable chance of getting into medical school? Are the less attractive aspects of your application ones you can fix? While the decision about whether to reapply to medical school is a personal one, considering the following criteria may help you gauge whether you are likely to be successful in subsequent admissions cycles.

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Emily Silverman, MD, and The Nocturnists

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Emily silverman

A live stage show featuring the stories of healthcare providers is now a podcast.

The day-to-day of internship, residency, and an MD career doesn’t allow much time to process the effect it’s having on the practitioner.  Rushing from one patient to the next, putting out the fires even while drinking from the firehose, and being selfless in service to the patients’ needs means that one’s own stories are buried, neglected.  More and more, however, medicine is acknowledging the need for practitioners to examine and tell their stories so that they can learn from them, teach their lessons to others, and show colleagues that they are not alone.  In 2015, Dr. Emily Silverman was in her second year of her internal medicine residency at UCSF.  She found herself with a little more time following her frenetic intern year, and with her own stories that had gone untold and unexamined.  She started to write, first in a blog she called The Nocturnists.  Then, in 2016 she organized the first live storytelling session with her colleagues.

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You, The Doctor’s Spouse

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Medical Spouse

Welcome to the new you—“The Doctor’s Spouse.” Yes, you have had your own identity up until this point, but now you are not only a Mrs. or Mr., you’re a Doctor’s Mrs. or Mr. Once people discover this about you, whether it’s intentional or not, their perspective and assumptions of you will change.

Some spouses won’t mind this change and will embrace it. Other spouses may initially feel uncomfortable and judged. Wherever you fall on the spectrum, I invite you to acknowledge this new role you have (whether it’s welcome or not!) and prepare yourself to navigate the world under this umbrella. You can use this situation to discover more about what you really want for yourself and your family and then create an authentic life based on your values, priorities, and desires, not on society’s expectations of a doctor’s family. How? Let’s dive in!

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Q&A with Dave Etler, Administrative Services Coordinator

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Chris Diem

By Jacob Adney, MD Candidate, Saint Louis University School of Medicine

Mr. Dave Etler is an Administrative Services Coordinator at University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine. He is also co-host of the Short Coat Podcast, which discusses the current events, social aspects, and people in the thrilling and exciting torrent that is the medical field. He was born in Massachusetts, raised in Falmouth on Cape Cod, and is the intensely proud father of two and husband of one.

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Medical Practice Settings: A Quick Guide for Young Physicians

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practice settings

For a physician about to finish residency or fellowship, the differences in practice types may seem unclear. Each type of practice has its own positives and negatives, and some may be a better fit for your career needs.

If you are starting your job search, or at least thinking about your future practice options, you should be weighing the pros and cons of each practice type. Keep reading to see the upsides and downsides of each and how they differ from a residency or fellowship training environment.

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Reactions, Reagents, and Repose

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lab science

How much is lab medicine a part of medical school?

Remembering a recent episode in which we spoke briefly of colored test tubes, Adee writes in with a question for Hilary O’Brien, Erik Kneller, Mackenzie Walhof, and Rob Humble—what, if anything, do medical students learn about laboratory science? And we got a lot of feedback on our recent discussion of unwanted sexual attention from patients, all of it pretty good!  Which is nice…thank you, listeners!

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Developmental Delay and Hypocalcemia—What’s the Cause?

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Case Details

A 9-year-old girl is brought to a new pediatrician by her mother over concerns regarding her weight. She has a history of developmental delay, and her mother mentions that she is noticeably shorter than her peers. She is noted to have a round face and bilaterally shortened fourth metacarpals on examination. She is in the 96th percentile for weight and below the 3rd percentile for height for her age. Laboratory testing reveals hypocalcemia. Which additional laboratory findings are associated with this patient’s most likely diagnosis?

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Where To Start: A Non-Traditional Student Guide to Beginning Your Pursuit of Medicine

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start

Whether you are changing careers or deciding late in your college career that medicine is your path, there is no doubt that making that decision can be anxiety-provoking and life changing. The truth is that medical students come in all forms and from every imaginable background—something I didn’t fully realize until beginning medical school myself. Regardless of where you are starting from, it can be a daunting task to ready yourself for the application process when you feel behind from the very beginning.

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Q&A with Rajiv Sethi, Medical Student, Clinical Entrepreneur Fellow

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rajiv sethi

Rajiv Sethi is currently a student doctor in London, Clinical Entrepreneur Fellow at NHS England, and the founder of Sethi Health, an organization that collaborates with students, patients, professionals, and the public to improve healthcare and health education globally.

He has taken time out during medical school to undertake postgraduate studies in Public Health at the University of Manchester. He completed his MBA at Anglia Ruskin University, where he worked with the Global Health department at Health Education England. Following this, Rajiv has continued this work as Honorary Research Fellow.

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Writing Your Most Meaningful Experiences

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most meaningful experiences

If you haven’t started already, now is the time to begin writing your AMCAS activities section and your personal statement. Your AMCAS application—or the primary application submitted to allopathic (MD) schools—serves a significant role in the path of applying to medical school. This is where admissions committees will gain an understanding of your academic abilities, extra-curricular activities, and personal strengths. It cannot be stressed enough that the primary application should be taken seriously and ample time should be spent preparing it.

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Fourth Year: A Chance To Explore

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surgical specialties

By Adelle, Medical Student

The process of applying to residency can surely be daunting. I’ve compiled a list of programs that I am interested in (as a quick refresher, I’m applying to OB/GYN programs), whether that be in terms of geography, the size of the program, proximity to family, etc. Many, many factors go into just deciding on a list of programs, and then there’s the process of actually completing and submitting applications. I feel like my life thus far has been a series of applications: college, medical school, residency . . . when will it end? Apparently not yet, because there is yet another application process: one for “away” rotations, or those away from your home institution that (usually) take place during the fourth year of medical school. They are a unique opportunity to explore medical specialties and settings in a way you will never have again.

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