Academic medicine--in which a physician works at a university and may have research and/or teaching duties in addition to patient care--is but one of the fulfilling options available to medical students. What's that lifestyle like? That's the question an anonymous listener (who we'll call Dr. Piledhigh Erandeeper) wanted our help answering. Fortunately we have Miranda Schene and Sahaana Arumugam (both in our Medical Scientist Training Program) on hand to tell us--including co-hosts M1 Brandon Bacalzo and M2 Mason LaMarche--what they know about this career option.

Plus Dave puts his co-hosts through a game of Doctor Forehead, featuring some of the more interesting oddball medical stories he ran across prepping for this week's show (see the next section for those links).

This Week in Medical News: The President's new budget could be another nail in the coffin for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. Mayo applicants get acceptance letters that the institution later had to rescind, causing one of the disgruntled victims to create a crowdfunding campaign. And if you're in the market for "global elite" DNA, then...well, you've already missed your chance.

Is there a MD career niche you want to know more about? Call us at 347-SHORTCT anytime, or email theshortcoats@gmail.com.