The Short Coat

Dr. Sharon Larson is Iowa's first female cardiothoracic surgeon. You might be forgiven for thinking that Iowa's been a bit backwards for not having had this glass ceiling broken sooner, but there aren't exactly a surplus of women who've sought out this demanding career. In the United States, only 5% of CT surgeons are women in this already-tiny specialty. When Dave read about her in the local paper, he figured she'd be a great guest for Kylie Miller, Philip Huang, Hadeal Ayoub, and Erin Pazaski to talk with about things like glass ceilings and how women succeed in a man's world. Turns out, Dave was right--she's a great guest to talk to about the long road to becoming an attending in her field, what male surgeons should know about female surgeons and vice versa, and how a woman might find she and her friends taking golf lessons to prove a point. Listeners, we freaking love hearing from you. Call us at 347-SHORTCT any time, and email theshortcoats@gmail.com.

We recorded this week's show while doing a Facebook LiveThis week we start with some feedback from listener Paulius, who has a suggestion for a future show on the unsung heroes of primary care. Thank you! Dave bats the idea around with John Pienta, Kylie Miller, Tarek Karam and Elizabeth Shirazi. Meanwhile, as biomedical science grapples with a study-replication crisis perhaps caused by structural problems that discourage repetition in favor of novel findings and breakthroughs, we consider the advice of Ioannis Yannas, one of the inventors of artificial skin. Are cat lovers really at risk for schizophrenia? A large UK study says piffle, although cat-lover Kylie points out that there are some caveats. And though Tarek and Kylie are well-behaved on the mic, their individual approaches to weather-related flight delays reveal some points of contention. Listeners, share your thoughts with us each week. Call us at 347-SHORTCT any time, and see our Facebook page for a question to consider every Monday.

Love is on the air this week, as Cole Cheney hears a declaration of listener Naomi's feelings...and then gets a Valentine's week surprise. Also, Dave, Matt Wilson, Levi Endelman, and newbie Tarek Karam confront the perils of old age (apparently, Dave is emitting 2-Nonenal as we speak). An article on the lower cost of body donation (as compared to funeral costs) has the group thinking about the contributions their own donors have had on both their education and their understanding of how important it is to do one's best to honor them. As Match Week creeps up on us, the potential for confusion is high for hospitals and residents from from countries marked for travel bans/extreme vetting/whatever by the US president. To the extent the US healthcare system depends on foreign medical graduates and international medical graduates, there may be trouble ahead. Listeners, share your thoughts with us each week. Call us at 347-SHORTCT any time, and see our Facebook page for a question to consider every Monday.

The efficacy of any biomedical researcher is based on his or her foundation of scientific knowledge. Few would have any problem grasping that idea. What's less well understood, by both researchers and laypeople alike, are the stories of the biological materials they work with. Often these materials are cell cultures, tissue samples, human DNA. Unlike the chemicals, reagents, test tubes, and machinery used in research, these materials often come from people. That's easily forgotten when they can be ordered from catalogs and websites in the way of other commodities. But those people, who may no longer live among us, have stories. In the case of Henrietta Lacks, an African American woman who passed away in the early 1950s of cervical cancer, the cells taken from her without her or her families' knowledge touched off a revolution in biomedical science. They've contributed to the vaccine for polio, were the first cells to be cloned, and have been used in a number of cancer, virus, and pharmacological studies all over the world. Rebecca Skloot's 2009 book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks noted that Mrs. Lacks' cells have been used in more than 60,000 studies, and 300 more are being added each month. They are of huge importance to science because they were the first so-called immortal cell line--unlike most cells, they divide and reproduce essentially without limit. But though no-one in Henrietta Lacks' family knew of their existence at first, the cells ultimately became of huge importance to her descendants. In this episode, Alison Pletch, Eboni Jones, Greg Pelc, and I were honored to be able to welcome two members of the Lacks family to the show. David Lacks is Mrs. Lacks' grandson, and Victoria Baptiste is her great granddaughter, and they spoke with us about their ancestor, informed consent, and their work with the National Institutes of Health on HeLa cell research guidelines.

Ian Drummond is a fourth-year student at Case Western. When it came time to consider what specialty to go into, Ian realized he didn't have the knowledge needed to make an informed choice. So he did what anyone would do: started a podcast in which he will interview physicians from all 120 medical specialties listed on the AAMC's Careers in Medicine site. Okay, not everyone would do that, but he did, and iatroblasts everywhere owe him a huge thank you. Because while it is a massive undertaking it is also super helpful! Cole Cheney, Tarun Kadaru, Liza Mann, and Hillary O'Brien spoke with Ian to find out what he's learning from his guests on The Undifferentiated Medical Student. We also discuss the challenges and benefits of podcasting for busy med students. Listeners, share your thoughts with us each week. Call us at 347-SHORTCT any time, and see our Facebook page for a question to consider every Monday.

Is labeling people during a med school interview a good idea? Is such labeling always an example of ad hominem? Are doctors who write newspaper articles espousing antivaccination ideas deserving of sanction by their employers, or are they simply expressing valid concerns? Are their employers guilty of the same sins as administrators at NASA who didn't listen to engineers before the space shuttle Challenger disaster? Our first tweetstorm critique brought Dave to consider all these thoughts with Matt Wilson, newbies Laura Quast and Kendra Frey, and Adam Erwood. Also, radiologists face the extinction of diagnostic radiology by AI and pigeons, 3D printers capable of producing functionally complete human skin are here, and hybrid pig-human embryos all found their way into the news this week. And Dave tests his co-hosts' knowledge of medical history in a Pop Quiz. Listeners, share your thoughts with us each week. Call us at 347-SHORTCT any time, and see our Facebook page for a question to consider every Monday.

On Inauguration Day, listener Tekia (and we hope that's spelled right) called to let us know that we were helping her stay frosty. Another listener, Liza, wrote wondering if her peers with MD family members are at an advantage in medical school. Co-hosts John Pienta and Adam Erwood (who have physicians in their immediate families) and Kylie Miller and Rob Humble (who don't) are happy to discuss the blessings supposedly showered upon those for whom medicine is a family business, and how those who aren't so fortunate can soldier on without those advantages. Also, birds don't break wind. Thanks for letting us know, Twitter. Listeners, share your thoughts with us each week. Call us at 347-SHORTCT any time, and see our Facebook page for a question to consider every week.

Medical school admissions committees look for clinical experiences on applications, so it behooves premeds to seek out ways to get into the clinic as a way of learning about the practice of medicine and to show they are serious about becoming a physician. But there are clinical experiences that can hurt your application, and the Association of American Medical Colleges want to warn premeds that participation might signal a lack of judgement. Corbin Weaver, Kylie Miller, Teneme Konne, and Levi Endelman give some advice on the ones to avoid. Meanwhile our president-elect is thinking about creating a 'commission on autism,' and may be looking to a well-known anti-vaxxer to head it up. And a cybersecurity flaw leaves pacemakers and defibrillators wide open to hackers, allowing them to shock patients or drain batteries. And we find out whether our co-hosts can really understand their patients, even if they speak sdrawkcab. Listeners, share your thoughts with us each week. Call us at 347-SHORTCT any time, and see our Facebook page for a question to consider every Monday.

Fresh from winter break, Kaci McCleary, Tony Rosenberg, Mark Moubarek, and new co-host Teneme Konne bring us up to date on their activities during their time off. We hear from co-host Amy Young as she sends in her (surprising?) thoughts on the Grand Canyon. Meanwhile, the good old mesentery might get a well deserved promotion, from fatty membrane that gets in the way during abdominal surgery but conveniently holds your spleen to full blown organ...so long as you're an Irish researcher. Sadly, recent extra-legal efforts to replace fatally flawed mitochondria in human ova with healthy ones might prove to be worthless (and worse). France declares everyone an organ donor, unless you opt out (you jerk). And Dave takes everyone on a tour of the murky world of autonomous sensory meridian response on YouTube. Will we jump on the bandwagon, or wipe the condensed hot breath off our ears and sit this one out? Listeners, share your thoughts with us each week. Call us at 347-SHORTCT any time, and see our Facebook page for a question to consider every Monday.

Dave and the gang (Kaci McCleary, Rob Humble, Elizabeth Shirazi, and later in the show Anthony Hunt (an Iowa pharmacy student to whom Rob is affianced) say goodbye to what many acknowledge was an itchy, prurient rash of a year. Fortunately, medical students around the country are working to make medical school a better place, including some Michigan students who have formed a consult service for those who need help not being terrible oral presenters. NASA technology is doing its part, taking Mars lander technology and using it to detect bed sores, which is a far bigger deal than you might expect. Another group of researchers has created a cool bit of nanotech that can effectively diagnose 17 different disorders just by 'smelling' your breath. Can today's co-hosts smell any better than a bunch of high tech nano-whatis? We do a little experiment to find out. Listeners, share your thoughts and ideas with us each week: call us at 347-SHORTCT any time, send us emails at theshortcoats@gmail.com, and follow us on Facebook.

Dave once again forces the group to play a game of questionable relevance to medicine in which his co-hosts ask each other anatomy questions while wearing speech jammer headphones. Corbin Weaver, Matt Wilson, and Issac Schwantes are good sports, however, which is easy for them seeing as how Dave is the absolute worst at talking while wearing the mind-scrambling headset. We also discuss a couple recent examples of bias in medicine, including flight attendants' response to a young, black doctor's offer to help a distressed passenger in flight, and Delta's follow up admission that its policies weren't helpful. Another example: a recent study that seemed to conclude women were better doctors than men, without addressing other, perhaps systemic reasons for the results. And what can hairdressers do about domestic violence? Illinois lawmakers think they can help quite a bit. Listeners, share your thoughts with us each week. Call us at 347-SHORTCT any time, and see our Facebook page for a question to consider every Monday.

We tried Roto Z eye drops in the past, and were unimpressed. But thanks to Doug Russo, who secured the real deal--Roto Z Pro eye drops--Kaci McCleary and newbies Matt Wilson, Jenna Schade and Elizabeth Shirazi felt the burn. Now that they're suitably refreshed, Dave decides that he must do his part to help med students keep their wits about them by playing a game of MegaClash! Listener and ortho resident Emily calls in to say hello and express concern that med students are forced to choose specialties based on shallow exposures. We address a worrying sentiment Dave noticed popping up a lot this week: that "if you can see yourself doing anything else besides being a doctor, do that instead." But it's cool, because the National Academy of Medicine has formed a coalition of organizations to address burnout and suicide in medicine and medical education. And a UK surgeon offers his students a way to observe surgery without all the boring bits, leveraging Snapchat Spectacles. Listeners, share your thoughts with us each week. Call us at 347-SHORTCT any time, and see our Facebook page for a question to consider every Monday.

Dave and the crew--Mark Moubarek, Levi Endelman, Julie Gudenkauf, and Erin Pazaski--look back on things they experienced as the semester draws to a close. As first years, Levi and Erin share their thoughts on entering medical school. Mark is getting ready for his clerkships to begin. And Julie has finished up her primary-care clerkships and is moving into exploring some of the more specialized areas of medicine. We also discuss the not surprising fact that baby-boomers are more into cannabis than their children and grandchildren are. Meanwhile, some other podcasters who couldn't join us this week send in their Short Thoughts on American consumerism, a woman that was truly a pioneer in medicine, and cats. Listeners, share your thoughts with us each week. Call us at 347-SHORTCT any time, and see our Facebook page for a question to consider every Monday.

Coaching is an integral part of sports, it's often used by corporate executives, and even helps people manage ADHD. But until recently coaching wasn't something physicians used to achieve their goals. For this show, Mark Moubarek, Aline Sandouk, and Amy Young talk with Georgetown University faculty member Maggi Cary and Georgetown student Jack Penner. Dr. Cary is a certified coach specializing in leadership coaching for healthcare professionals. But a serendipitous acquaintance with Jack lead to him becoming a client. Recognizing its value for him as a student--in dealing with the so-called hidden curriculum and impostor syndrome, among other things--they have put together a pro-bono arrangement for twelve Georgetown student with area coaches. These relationships have allowed students to address areas of concern for them without the fears they may have in reaching out to faculty or peers, such as raising red flags or competitive issues. It has also allowed them to get some of the individual attention they may be missing in education systems that are focused more on mass production of doctors. And as medicine itself moves away from the idea that the doctor is the captain of the ship and towards a more integrative model of cooperation between medical professionals, more doctors are excited about learning leadership, management, and even surgical skills that encourage and value the input of their teammates. Dr. Cary and Jack also help us consider an idea sent in by listener JW--that burnout among physicians might be addressed by adopting a less martyred approach to their work in favor of understanding that "it's just a job." Share your thoughts with us on this episode and ideas for future episodes. Call us at 347-SHORTCT any time, and see our Facebook page for a question to consider every week.

Just hours before a new crop of medical students are to be welcomed into the world of medicine, Kaci McCleary, John Pienta, Aline Sandouk, Mark Moubarek, and Lisa Wehr confront one of the most uncomfortable topics in medical education: physician and student suicide.  Among doctors, suicide rates are much higher than among the general population.  The long hours, high pressure (from both one's internal monologue and from outside sources) to succeed, fear of public humiliation regarding one's shortcomings, isolation, inadequate supervision, the stigma against mental illness, the career penalties faced by those who admit to unwellness, and more, all contribute to the problem.  Institutions also have a difficult time addressing incidents of physician suicide effectively, as they try to walk a tightrope strung between respect for the privacy of the deceased, the needs of colleague survivors to talk about it, the desire to avoid adverse publicity.  Meanwhile, the work does not stop. The only breaks are a moment of silence, a visit with a grief counselor, or an "open forum" to discuss one's feelings.