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The Undifferentiated Medical Student

The TUMS podcast is about helping medical students to choose a medical specialty and plan a career in medicine. The list of career options available to medical students is long, but the time to explore them all is short. Moreover, mentorship in medical school is lacking, and many medical students tackle the task of career planning alone, most struggling and almost all clutching to the hope that 3rd year clinical rotations will definitively resolve their remaining uncertainties about how they want to specialize. However, having been distracted by the relentless pace of their pre-clinical curricula and the specter of Step 1, 3rd year medical students are eventually confronted with the reality that there are simply too many specialties to explore in one year and that they may not even get to finish their clinical rotations before important decisions about their careers need to be made (e.g., the planning of acting internships) if they are to be competitive applicants. Thus, mentorless and clinically unexposed, many medical students are forced to make wholly uninformed decisions about their futures. By interviewing at least one physician from each of the 120+ specialties listed on the AAMC's Careers in Medicine website 1) about their specialty, 2) how they decided this specialty was right for them, and 3) for advice about long-term career planning irrespective of the specialty they went into, this podcast aims to enumerate the details of every specialty and provide virtual mentorship on how best to go about moving past being an undifferentiated medical student.
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Now displaying: March, 2017
Mar 31, 2017

Go to audibletrial.com/TUMS for a free 30-day trial membership and free audiobook!

Are you a physician? Consider volunteering for an interview about your specialty to help Ian reach 120+ interviews!

Show notes page!

Dr. Vasudha Bhavaraju

Dr. Bhavaraju is the Program Director of the Phoenix Children’s Hospital/Maricopa Medical Center Pediatrics Residency in Phoenix, Arizona.

Dr. Bhavaraju completed her undergraduate degree at Franklin and Marshall College in 1995; completed her medical degree at Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine in 1999; and completed a pediatrics residency as well as a chief resident year at Phoenix Children’s Hospital by 2002, where she remains today as faculty.

Dr. Bhavaraju is heavily involved in the personal, professional and educational development of residents. In addition to the stewardship of her own residency program in Phoenix, she is part of a national task force sponsored by the Association of Pediatric Program Directors to improve assessment tools for residents. For her efforts, Dr. Bhavaraju has received numerous faculty mentorship and teaching awards.

In addition to her educational duties, Dr. Bhavaraju works as a pediatric hospitalist and spearheaded the founding of the Weekend Newborn Clinic at Maricopa Medical Center in response to a system-wide need for follow-up of recently discharged newborns whose well-child visits fell on weekends and holidays.

Please enjoy with Dr. Vasudha Bhavaraju!

Mar 24, 2017

Are you a physician? Consider volunteering for an interview about your specialty to help Ian hit 120+ interviews!

Show notes page!

Dr. Banagan is an orthopedic spine surgeon and Assistant Professor of Orthopedics at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

Dr. Banagan completed her undergraduate degree at St. Lawrence University in 2001; completed her medical degree at SUNY Upstate Medical University in 2005; completed a residency in orthopedic surgery at the University of Maryland Medical Center in 2010; then completed a fellowship in orthopedic spine surgery at Rush University Medical Center in 2011, after which her returned to the University of Maryland to join the faculty.

Dr. Banagan specializes in adult and pediatric spine patients and treats cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine conditions. In addition to her clinical duties, Dr. Banagan has already authored or co-authored 20 book chapters in her young career. She is also involved in the Medical Student Mentor Program at the School of Medicine, as well as the Orthopedics Clerkship Program, which oversees orthopedic clinical rotations for 3rd and 4th year med students. Lastly, she is the education coordinator for the spine fellowship taking active part in the training of future spine surgeons.

Please enjoy with Dr. Kelley Banagan!

Mar 21, 2017

Go to audibletrial.com/TUMS for a free 30-day trial membership and free audiobook!

Are you a physician? Consider volunteering for an interview about your specialty to help Ian reach 120+ interviews!

Show notes page!

Dr. Chad Zender

Dr. Zender is the director of the Head and Neck Microvascular Reconstructive Surgery Fellowship at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Centerand an Associate Professor of Otolaryngology at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.

Dr. Zender completed his undergraduate degree at Bowling Green State University in 1997; completed his medical degree at Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine in 2001; completed his residency in otolaryngology at Loyola University Medical Center in 2006; and then completed a fellowship in microvascular surgery at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in 2007.

Dr. Zender is an active member of the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center and is participating in several clinical trials involving non-surgical treatment of HPV-related head and neck cancer, as well as adjuvant therapy after surgery.

In addition, his translational research interests are in discovering therapeutic biomarkers for the identification of cancerous and precancerous lesions of the head and neck.

Of note, Dr. Zender has also participated in several surgical missions trips around the world including to east Africa where he worked with local otolaryngologists to provide care and education to patients and physicians through the Head and Neck Outreach Program.

Please enjoy with Dr. Chad Zender!

Mar 17, 2017

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Dr. Herrmann is a Pediatric and Adult Congenital Cardiac surgeon in the Division of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery at Indiana University School of Medicine.

Dr. Herrmann completed his undergraduate degree at Wabash College in 2002; completed his medical degree at Indiana University School of Medicine in 2006; completed his general surgery residency at Indiana University in 2013, during which time he also completed an NIH-sponsored postgraduate research fellowship. Then, following residency, he completed a cardiothoracic surgery fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania in 2015, as well as a congenital cardiac surgery fellowship at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia in 2016, after which he returned to Indiana University to join the faculty.

Dr. Herrmann specializes in pediatric and adult congenital cardiac surgery but has special interests in single ventricle physiology, pediatric mechanical circulatory support, and the Ross procedure.

Dr. Herrmann and his wife have two children. He enjoys playing sports with his children and spending time outdoors, particularly landscaping.

Please enjoy with Dr. Jeremy Herrmann!

Mar 10, 2017

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Help Ian interview all 120+ specialties by referring him physicians; or, if you're a physician, volunteer for an interview!

Show notes page!

Dr. Shadia Jalal

Dr. Jalal is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine.

Dr. Jalal completed her medical degree at the University of Jordan Faculty of Medicine in 2002 and her residency in internal medicine at the University of Indiana in 2006, where she also completed a fellowship in Hematology-Oncology in 2009 and where she remains today as faculty.

In addition to her clinical duties as the director of the thoracic oncology clinic at Indiana University, Dr. Jalal is the director of the Clinical Trials Office where she helps oversee clinical research at the University. Her own research interests include lung and esophageal cancer, and is or has been the principal investigator on near 20 clinical trials in her young career to date, being awarded the Young Investigator Award in 2013.

She also finds time to advise medical students, residents and fellows, for which she was recognized with the Outstanding Teaching Contributions to Medical Student Education award by the School of Medicine in 2014.

Please enjoy with Dr. Shadia Jalal!

Mar 7, 2017

Help Ian interview all 120+ specialties by referring physicians; or, if you're a physician, volunteer!

Show notes!

Dr. El Asmar is an endocrinologist at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.

Dr. El Asmar completed her undergraduate degree in 2005; her medical degree in 2009; a research fellowship in breast cancer in 2010, as well as her intern year of internal medicine residency training in 2011, all at the American University of Beirut in Lebanon. She then completed her internal medicine residency in 2014, followed by an Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism fellowship in 2016, both at University Hospitals where she remains to day as faculty.

Dr. El Asmar is currently full-time clinical faculty but is also actively involved in the teaching and mentoring of fellows in preparation for their future careers in Endocrinology.

Please enjoy with Dr. Nadine El Asmar!

Mar 3, 2017

Go to audibletrial.com/TUMS for a free 30-day trial membership and free audiobook!

Help Ian interview all 120+ specialties by referring him more physicians; or, if you're a physician, volunteer!

Show notes!

Dr. Eugene Ceppa

Dr. Ceppa is the Associate Program Director for both the General Surgery Residency program and the Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Surgery Fellowship at Indiana University School of Medicine.

Dr. Ceppa completed his undergraduate degree in 1999 and his medical degree in 2003 both at Johns Hopkins; completed his general surgery residency in 2010 at Duke University, a 7 year span that included a 2-year research fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco; completed a minimally invasive surgery fellowship in 2011, also at Duke; and then completed a hepato-pancreato-biliary (aka HPB) surgery fellowship in 2012, at Indiana University, where he remains today as faculty.

Dr. Ceppa is dedicated to the mentorship of medical students in career choices in surgery and research having been the recipient of the Appleseed Medical Student Teaching Award while at Duke and then the General Surgery Medical Student teaching Award while at Indiana.

All the while, Dr. Ceppa has been voted Top Doctors by the Indianapolis Monthly and authored 60 peer-reviewed publications, 21 book chapters, and taken part in 70 posters, presentations, and surgical video tutorials.

Please enjoy with Dr. Eugene Ceppa!

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