Short Coat podcast merges medical students interests in radio, medicine

IOWA CITY - Although University of Iowa medical students are on track for careers in the medical field, some admit they entertain other ambitions.

'I always wanted to host an NPR talk show. Obviously this (medicine) is a better career path, maybe more earning potential, but a lot more debt,” UI medical student Lisa Wehr said with a laugh.

Wehr, 25, and other like-minded students are able to live out part of that dream as hosts of The Short Coat, a weekly podcast recorded on the UI medical campus in the Medical Education Research Facility.

The podcast, named after the white coats students receive upon entering medical school, is a window into the life of medical students and also an opportunity for its hosts to discuss and sometimes joke about medical news.

Previous shows' topics have ranged from transparency in medicine to an admission counselor's advice on how medical mission trips look on medical school applications. On the last Friday before Thanksgiving break, Wehr and three other students were lounging in large black armchairs circled around a mobile cart with audio equipment in Flocks Learning Commons. Each person had a microphone perched in front of his or her face.

David Etler, staff member in the UI Carver College of Medicine Writing and Humanities Program, also was in the circle as a co-host and creator of the program. Although he launched the podcast in 2010, shows were sporadic until he committed to weekly recordings this summer.

'That's just not enough to build any sort of an audience, so in a way I feel like this is the first year of the podcast,” Etler said, adding he feels the regularity is attracting an audience and student hosts. As the show grows, he hopes to add an undergraduate intern to help with the production.

Show content includes medical-related news and interviews with special guests. Etler said given students' busy schedules, he often comes with material but incorporates anything students want to discuss. Some students host regularly, while others contribute when their schedules allow. He edits it and posts the shows on the web.

The hosts admit they do it for fun but are aware that there is a growing audience within the school and also from prospective students.

'I hear sort of on a regular basis, ‘Oh, I heard you on the podcast.' I heard that from three people this morning,” said Keenan Laraway, a fourth-year medical student.

For medical student Cole Cheney, 25, participating in the show is a welcome change of pace in his week.

'For me, it's the only producing thing I do all week,” he said. 'Everything else is absorptive, I'm taking it in, and so this is a huge release for me.”