Can Art, Nature, and Community Replace Pills? What if doctors prescribed a painting class instead of or alongside pills? Journalist Julia Hotz, author of The Connection Cure, joins M3 Jeff Goddard, and MD/PhD student Riley Behan-Bush to discuss social prescribing, a growing healthcare movement that treats patients with art, nature, movement, and community rather than just medication. We look at the barriers to making this idea work in the U.S., from insurance hurdles to physician overwork to healthcare’s obsession with quick fixes. But the UK’s social prescribing model reduced ER visits by up ..read more

How future doctors are navigating social media’s impact on public education. How can a well-meaning medfluencer be sure they’re actually helping? M1 Zach Grissom, M2 Fallon Jung, M3 Jeff Goddard, and M4 Matt Engelken sit down with third-year DO student Nik Bletnitsky to discuss the role of social media in medical education. Current and Future doctors are increasingly using these platforms to share medical knowledge—but, even if you’re careful to offer the best information, what are the hidden dangers? The conversation covers the sometimes blurry line between education, misinformation, and cont ..read more

Reddit’s “Am I the Asshole?” makes us question everything. It showcases 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 ..read more

They might know the citric acid cycle, but do med students know what ancient doctors used for pain relief, or the shape of wombat poop? Join us for Blechardy! the trivia game show that involves a certain amount of suffering! Contestants answer medical and pop culture questions—but with potentially disgusting jellybeans that make any actual knowledge meaningless. This week’s medical student co-hosts: M3 Jeff Goddard, and M1s Cara Arrasmith, Tyler Pollock, and Keely Carney, with quizmaster Audra King, battle through ancient medicine facts, Iowa trivia, and the weirdest animal knowledge. Who will ..read more

There are many reasons healthcare professionals write: to process trauma, build empathy, or simply because stories demand to be told. This week we've got a thought-provoking conversation with Dr. Carol Scott-Conner, a surgeon, poet, and editor of The Examined Life Journal; Katie Runde, a novelist exploring themes of love and loss; Jeff Goddard, an M3 medical student and soon-to-be-published author; and Linda Peng, a sci-fi writer and Bowman Prize-winning author. They discuss the challenges of writing about real patients while maintaining ethical boundaries, the impact of narrative medicine on ..read more

Anki? Lecture notes? Study groups? Med students spill the truth about what actually works. First semester of med school is like eating a never-ending stack of pancakes—it’s fast, overwhelming, and it doesn’t care if you’re full. Listener G asked us for some tips, and in this episode, M1s Zach Grissom, Megan Perry, Jay Miller, and Srishti Mathur take us through the rough transition from undergrad to medical school and what they wish they knew before starting. From study methods that failed (Anki obsession, passive learning) to strategies that actually worked (active recall, selective focus, stu ..read more

What happens when medical students trade books for the chaos of real patient care? They spent months and months learning medicine from books. Then suddenly, they were thrown into hospitals with real patients, real pressure, and only the barest clue what they were doing. In this episode, Dave sits down with M4s Jacob Hanson and Happy Kumar, and M3s Zay Edgren and Tony El-Sokkari to relive their first clerkship experiences—the awkward mistakes, every unexpected challenge, and the moments that made them feel like they actually belonged in medicine. From simulated patients yelling at them, to miss ..read more

In this episode, host Dave Etler has been (kidnapped? It's unclear) and replaced by his grumpy brother Dominic Etler, MD, Harvard, Class of '96. Confused M1s Megan Perry, Jay Miller, Cara Arrasmith, and M4 Matt Engelken nevertheless buckle down to address listener Giovanni's question about supporting his fiancé during her trip through med school. The group explores the challenges of medical school, including managing relationships, dealing with harsh weather, and maintaining mental health. They provide insights into staying sane during tough rotations, the importance of maintaining hobbies, an ..read more

Do Patients Have to Perform to Be Taken Seriously in Medicine? How does "respectability politics" play out in healthcare, and specifically, pain management? PA1 Chloe Kepros, M1 Zach Grissom, M1 Srishti Mathur and M3 Jeff Goddard unpack how patients often adjust their behavior and appearance to gain credibility in medical spaces. From the history of pain measurement to the biases in how pain is treated today, the cultural and social dynamics shaping the decisions healthcare providers make about their patients' pain is more than an academic exercise. When patients feel they must dress up for do ..read more

The rollercoaster of medical school transitions is hitting some peaks, from the first nerve-wracking days of clerkships to the unglamorous realities of OB-GYN rotations. M3 Elvire Nguepnang, M2 Gizzy Lundquist, M3 Jeff Goddard, and M1 Katherine Yu open up about the leap from textbooks to patient care, beginning advanced clerkships, and just staying on the path—and why it’s okay to feel a little lost. Along the way, they share their experiences with delivering placentas, unpack how seemingly minor lessons from preclinical years suddenly become crucial in the real world, and the new sensory abil ..read more