Q&A with Dr. James Doty, Neurosurgeon, CCARE Director

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James R. Doty M.D., is a Professor of Neurosurgery and the founder and director of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE) at Stanford University.

He is also a philanthropist serving on the board of a number of non-profits; an investor and consultant to a number of medical device and biomedical companies; a venture partner in the medical device industry; and an entrepreneur. He is the former CEO of Accuray, manufacturer of the CyberKnife, that went public in 2007 with a valuation of $1.3 billion.

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How To Manage A Cross-Country Move

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Medical Spouse

The medical journey offers many opportunities to make some big moves, whether it’s to start medical school, residency, fellowship, or for that first “real” job. A move, especially one across the country, requires a good deal of planning. You will undoubtedly have many questions. How do I move my stuff? How do I find a place to live? What about my cars? The list goes on and on.

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How to Choose the Best Income Driven Repayment Plan

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income driven repayment

If you are having difficulty making your federal student loan payments, the worst thing you can do is ignore the problem. Help is available. For many borrowers, payments may be reduced under one of the Income Driven Repayment Plans (IDR Plans) offered by the Department of Education. The lower your income, the lower your payments will be.

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Do You Recognize This Blistering Pruritic Rash?  

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A 4-year-old boy with known G6PD deficiency is brought to the pediatrician by his mother with a blistering pruritic rash. On examination, numerous tense vesicles and bullae are seen on his neck, lower abdomen, and extremities. Ulcerative lesions on his buccal mucosa are also noted. Direct immunofluorescence of a skin biopsy later reveals linear deposits of immunoglobulin A (IgA) at the dermoepidermal junction. Which of the following treatments is recommended for this patient?

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Recess Rehash: Bropocalypse 2017

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bropoalypse

[Dave had the flu on recording day, so we’re posting this awesome episode from the recent past.  Enjoy!]

Dave found himself hosting with another group of women, so what better time to talk about #MeToo and the powerful people being taken down by their sexual harassment and abuse of their less-powerful victims? Erin Pazaski, Hillary O’Brien, Laura Quast, and Liza Mann weigh in on why this seems to have staying power in the news cycle, and why it seems to destroy some powerful men and not others. Plus, since this is a group of friends who, through med school, have come to know each other well, Dave challenges each to answer questions as their friends would.

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Q&A with Dr. Priya A. Rajdev, Grey’s Anatomy Communications Fellow

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When did you first decide to become a physician? Why?

I was a little late to the game, honestly—I only made up my mind a year after I had graduated college, and, if I’m being perfectly honest, I went medicine on the gut feeling that I’d enjoy it. I always was kind of a science nerd, but had majored in government in college and spent all my extra time playing music and being a cartoonist. After college, I decided to take a couple of years to explore a career in art and entertainment. By the end of my two years off, I was a production assistant at The Onion News Network. It was incredibly fun, but I missed the world of science and academia. I’m lucky enough to have several family members who are doctors, so it felt natural that medical school could fulfill that missing piece.

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Q&A with Dr. Ahmed Hankir, Psychiatrist and Mental Health Campaigner

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ahmed hankir

Dr. Ahmed Hankir MBChB PGCert (Psychiatry) PGCert (Epidemiology) is a specialty trainee in psychiatry in the National Health Service (UK), an Associate Professor of Psychiatry with the Carrick Institute for Graduate Studies (USA), and a Senior Research Fellow for the Bedfordshire Centre for Mental Health Research in association with Cambridge University (UK).

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A Few Practical Thoughts for Dealing with Death in Medicine

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dealing with death

Death is an unfortunately common event in the field of medicine. How do you deal with it? How do you keep from dwelling on it, letting it shape your practice, making you too calloused or too emotional? These are important questions to think about as you begin your journey in patient care.

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Dealing with Subjectivity in Clinical Rotation Evaluations

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surgical specialties

One of my friends recently got back her evaluation from a rotation she had just completed. These evaluations, paired with the rotation’s shelf exam determine your score on that particular rotation. Therefore, these evaluations can be pretty important, especially if that is the field you plan to pursue. She looked down the column of various grading parameters and found that while she had received a satisfactory grade, it was not what she wanted. She called me the next week, crying into the phone about how she would never be able to fulfill her dreams because of this evaluation. Now, this may seem crazy to those who are not in medicine, but especially with mounting stress and increasing responsibility, the smallest things can tip people off. Meltdowns like hers are definitely not unheard of, and I have come close to having one myself. It’s hard to be a third year medical student, and the subjectivity of these grading systems that can exacerbate that.

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Med Student Parents, Part 2 | Plan for Debt but Don’t Worry

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This time, a mom’s point of view.

On our last show, we fielded a question from Courtney who wants to go to med school but is worried about being a mom and a med student. We got one dad’s perspective then, and now it’s time for mom. Dr. Maya Lopez (CCOM MD ’04) was another non-trad entering school with a supportive husband and a few bundles of joy. She told Eric Schnieders, Tucker Dangremond, and Sanjeeva Weerasinghe how she dove headlong into med school, how she and her husband (along with a village) made parenting and med school work for them.

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"Personal Branding" as a Premed: How Knowing Who You Are and What You Stand For Can Help You Get In

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personal branding as a premed

I began my first job when I was just 12 years old (don’t worry, I had a work permit from my school!). It was natural for me to want to start earning my own income and save money for eventually purchasing a car. I continued to work through high school and on into college. I worked two jobs to pay for my tuition, housing, and living expenses. It wasn’t always easy, but providing for myself gave me a sense of pride and encouragement that I could achieve whatever I set my mind to. Although I wasn’t fully aware of it at the time, having this sense of determination shaped my personality and defined who I was. Eventually, sharing these experiences with medical school admission committees helped to convey my most desirable qualities as an applicant: responsibility, work ethic, perseverance, and strength.

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How Med Student Parents Make It Happen

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Can you be a parent while you’re in medical school?

Listener Courtney, a 26-year-old mother of three wants to know if her med school dream is even possible.  Obviously this is a two-part question since there are both moms and dads to consider, so we’ll have a mom on a future show to help.  But first, Gabe Conley, Marissa Evers, Joyce “Spicy” Wahba, and Kaci McCleary invited 2004 CCOM grad Dr. Tom McNalley on the show to represent the dads.  Tom was 39 with three kids of his own and a wife who was working towards her PhD when he entered med school.  We’ll find out how they did it.

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What infection preceded this rash?

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An 8-year-old boy is brought to the pediatrician by his mother over concerns of a new-onset rash. He is otherwise healthy, though his mother mentions that he was unwell two weeks prior to the rash appearing. On examination, numerous small salmon-pink scaly papules are seen on his trunk and extremities. Which of the following infections most likely preceded this cutaneous eruption?

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Location, Location, Location! Should You Apply In-State or Out-of-State? 

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The AAMC Premed Team recently conducted a few twitter polls which asked premeds to share what you are looking for in a medical school. We received hundreds of responses, and while a school’s mission statement and scholarship opportunities were both important influences, the results pointed to one factor above all others: location!

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