PODCAST · science
Real MD
by University of Utah School of Medicine
What is your purpose? The RealMD podcast strives to create a space that helps medical students find and maintain their highest purpose in medicine. These episodes are the daily, weekly reminder you need to keep believing in your purpose.
Episodes
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A Better Evaluation Starts With Reflection: Benefits for Students and Preceptors
How can medical students help their preceptors provide more meaningful, specific evaluations? In this episode of the RealMD Podcast, guest host Rachel Bonnet, Director of the Office of Education Quality Improvement, Evaluation, and Research, explores how student self-reflection can strengthen the...
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The Sacred Ordinary - Fall Storytelling
This episode features a recording from our Fall Storytelling Night, centered on the theme The Sacred Ordinary. The Sacred Ordinary explores how meaning in life is often found in quiet, easily overlooked moments rather than in major milestones. These in-between spaces might appear in daily...
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Giving Yourself Permission to Change Course | Sarah Fairweather on Finding Your Voice and Pursuing Medicine
What happens when the path you’ve been following no longer feels like your own? In this episode of the RealMD Podcast, Sarah Fairweather shares the long and unexpected journey that brought her to medical school after a career in physical therapy, marriage, and raising three children. Sarah…
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Designing the Future with Architect Celestia Carson: Vision, Teamwork, and the Architecture of a Life
What can designing a building teach us about designing a life? In this episode of the RealMD Podcast, we sit down with Celestia Carson, principal architect at VCBO Architecture and a University of Utah alumna who has been part of the new Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine building project…
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The Long Arc of Becoming a Physician | Doreen Balmer on Medical Education and Qualitative Research
What happens when we stop looking at medical training as a series of individual moments and start looking at the whole journey? Dr. Doreen Balmer joins the RealMD Podcast to discuss qualitative research, physician identity, and her new book, The Long Arc of Training: Six Stories of Aspiring...
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Starting Medical School: A Conversation with an Incoming Medical Student Topher Calder
Incoming medical student Topher Calder shares his journey to medical school and reflects on the excitement, uncertainty, and lessons that come with starting this new chapter. Together, they explore community, resilience, and how to stay true to yourself throughout the journey.
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Brotherly Advice - Scott and Cody Orton
At our medical school, we focus on community building a lot including intergenerational relationships. There is a clear benefit to having relationships with medical students who are further along in the process. Having near peer mentors who understand the road ahead is an invaluable resource. In...
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Pay it Forward - Dr Randy Jensen
Neurosurgeon Randy Jensen has worked at the U of U for 28 years. Because so many mentors came out of the wood work to help him navigate his career, he has carved out substantial time to mentor students and help build out a new curriculum. In this episode we talk about his journey into medicine,...
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Be Thankful - Taylor Stewart
It is hard to believe that Taylor Stewart is starting his third year of medical school. It seems like just yesterday he was starting medical school. In this episode we have a chance to catch up and also talk about his unique journey as a veteran who went from recon missions to discovering…
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Spring Storytelling 2026
This episode features a recording from our Spring Storytelling Night, centered on the theme Tradition: "Stories of rituals: inherited, invented, and interrupted. Of finding familiarity in the way we fold a napkin, the words we whisper before a meal, or the path we take home. Our spring…
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Bonus Episode: Building Relationships Through Student Coaching
This week, we’re sharing a special bonus episode featuring a conversation from Scope Radio with Dr. Tom Hurtado, Director of Student Affairs. Joined by medical students Noah Danesh (MS3, Keck School of Medicine of USC) and Suchita Kumar (MS4, Vanderbilt University), this discussion explores the...
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You Are Here For a Reason, For a Purpose - Sheherya Ali
Today on the RealMD Podcast we are joined by Sheherya Ali, a second year MD/MPH student at the University of Texas, Medical Branch at Galveston. In this episode, Sheherya shares how the influence of his mother and father help shape his dual passions for buisnes and medicine. And, how he…
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Be Curious - Sarah P Part 2
This is part II of my conversation with third year medical student, Sarah Petelinsek. Her journey into research was organic, based on her own interests and unique background. It’s true that research especially during the first year can be intimidating, the learning curve, finding the right people...
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Believe in Yourself - TW Jones
TW Jones is a Pediatric Infectious Diseases attending at the U of U. He was recommended to be guest on this episode so I really didn’t know what to expect. Which makes the happenstance of hearing his journey into medicine all the more powerful. To anyone who has been told that you aren’t cut out…
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Meet Patients Where They Are - Dr David Sandweiss and Abel Chavez
The Tribal Rural and Underserved or TRU program was created to help students see that value of being immersed in the tribal and rural space both from a standpoint of future physicians who will practice there, but also seeing a different view of what is possible in medicine regardless of where you...
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Curiosity Builds a Team
In Healthcare, most of the time, you don’t get to choose your team, the patients do. This means the skillset to turn a group of people who have to work together into a high functioning team fundamentally rests on each of us. In this episode, I had the privilege to talk several faculty members who...
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Lean into the Dark - Jordan Broadway
Jordan Broadway (Psychiatrist) helped build RealMD from the early days and we continue to collaborate. In this episode she talks about her career transitions from medical school to residency to being an attending and how at each stage she has leaned into the dark to figure out her next step. I…
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Bigger Than Yourself - Dr. Richard Ingebretsen & Emma Lester
The daunting task of finding and doing meaningful work is understandably hard to navigate. Often, we impose our own limits about what is possible in a career and what doors are open or closed. As a result, the vision of life’s work can be watered down or abandoned. While there are always…
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Moving Through Failure - Ivan and Caroline
Caroline and Ivan are second year medical students at Eastern Virginia Medical School and St. Louis University School of Medicine. On today's episode, guest hosts Elise and Poi talk about their unexpected journey to medicine. Getting rejected from medical school forced them to navigate through...
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Redraw the Boxes - Sarah Petelinsek Part 1
Sarah Petelinsek is a third year medical student who has made it a point to not define herself with the medical student label alone. In this episode we talk about asking for help, experiences that clarify values, maintaining beliefs during hard times, and redrawing the boxes we have to check…
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Support Your Support Night
We have a special episode of the RealMD podcast based on an event we do for our incoming students, significant others, family, friends, parents, and siblings called Support Your Support Night (SYSN). I am joined by Keena Memmott who plans this event which happens the night before the White Coat...
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Fall Storytelling
Our Real MD students recently held their annual fall storytelling event, which always takes place in my backyard. The weather was perfect. This is a live recording, so you’ll hear the shuffling of storytellers, the audience, and even the crickets singing. The theme this year was self-discovery…
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Wisdom Comes From Struggle - Greg Memmott
Greg Memmott (Pediatrics) is a second year medical student who is already matched into pediatrics as part of an early match program called EPAC at the University of Utah. Greg and I have worked together in RealMD over the past two years and presented at conferences about how to start leadership...
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Women in White Coats - Emily Hill
In this episode, I interview second year medical student, Emily Hill, who cohosts her own podcast called Women in White Coats. What started out as a means to explore medicine as a premed has turned into interviews with over 30 women who are physicians who have taken all sorts of journeys…
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Live the Questions - Dr. Jake Robson
The poet Rilke has a well known poem about living the questions during life’s journey rather than seeking or expecting the answers to unfold in a predetermined way. A fundamental aspect of navigating a career in medicine. In this episode I am joined by guest host and second year medical student...
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Become Yourself to Lead - Dr. Tom Hurtado
In this episode the tables have turned and I had the privilege to be interviewed by second year students and RealMD facilitators, Elise Vandamme and Poi Gilmore. We talk about my journey into academic medicine and how RealMD and the RISE conference came to be. A central message about knowing...
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S. 6 E. 0 Season Intro with Tom & Cael
Welcome to Season 6 of the RealMD Podcast! In this episode Tom & RealMD Podcast editor Cael Campbell discuss what's to come this season.
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S. 5 E. 20 Don’t go it Alone - Trisha Enriquez (Peds) Marina Knysheva (IM)
Recent grads, Trisha and Marina met at the University of Utah as undergrads and became fast friends during medical school. There is something to be said about finding just one person who is in the trenches of shared experiences and when the layers of life inevitably bring on challenges, that...
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S. 5 E. 19 When Change Chooses You - Dr. Dale Hull (Ob-Gyn)
The humble beginnings of RealMD began with our student leaders identifying speakers they felt could share their personal journeys into medicine authentically. Over the years, these sessions have covered a wide range of physician experiences. The talks are powerful and vulnerable. Students have…
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S. 5 E. 18 Navigating Motherhood in Medicine - Dr. Jenn Handrop
With Mother’s Day happening this month we wanted to do something special. In this episode, I am joined by guest host, Dr. Jenn Handrop. As a mother who just finished her doctorate, Jenn’s research hits very close to home. At our medical school we have more mothers and parents almost 30% compared…
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S. 5 E. 17 Return To Purpose - Hank Shipman (PM&R)
Hank Shipman is currently in his final year of physical medicine and rehabilitation residency. We started working together in RealMD when he was in medical school. I want to talk about two things in this episode. First, my core desire underneath everything I do is to serve as a witness. This...
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S. 5 E. 16 Lead a House
In this episode, medical students, Payton Erickson and Brooke Austin talk about their leadership roles as House Representatives, what it is like building out a house community, and creating meaningful events. We also talk about what leadership opportunities are worthwhile and how making sure the...
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S. 5 E. 15 Build a House
Brooke Johnston is a pediatric palliative care physician. She also serves as a house director for little wild horse and a Faculty Co-Director of Coaching in PIF (Professional Identity Formation). Brooke also plays the banjo, writes songs and loves doing improv. In this episode, we reflect on her...
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S. 5 E. 14 Stay Connected
For Shi and Cecilia Liang, maintaining a strong connection as a family is the goal but it is not easy. They have 2 young kids and are both building out their careers. I think it’s important to remember there is no perfect template when navigating the messiness of life and at the end of the day...
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S. 5 E. 13 Things Don’t go as Planned
Elise Vandamme is a first year medical student who is on a mission to normalize the challenges associated with getting into medical school. We talk about overcoming the dark days when she didn’t get into medical school the first time around and how she has turned that into a desire to help premed...
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S. 5 E. 12 Come Back to Yourself
Dr. Mary Murphy started out in Emergency Medicine and is now practicing Hospice and Palliative Care. Her professional journey involves threading life’s experiences together in unexpected ways. In this episode, we talk about how her husband started medical school as she started residency and how...
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S. 5 E. 11 - Storytelling
For a few years, The Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine has hosted storytelling events with students, staff and faculty. We do this because it helps us grow together as a community. Each event starts with dinner, stories, and some live music in between stories. Last spring, we held an event at...
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S. 5 E. 10 Support your Support
The topic of this episode is to discuss what support looks like during medical school. Specifically, how do people in committed relationships get through the medical journey and come out the other side, it does take a village of support. Caden Snow and Trevor Ence were kind enough to talk about...
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S. 5 E. 9 Be Honest and Kind
In our career pursuits, sometimes we think we need stay in one lane but doing so doesn't provide variety. Yes, we need certain experiences to pursue medicine but not at the expense of the freedom to explore interests regardless of where they come from. Dr. Brian Good is a pediatric hospitalist at...
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S. 5 E. 8 Building Pathways for Student Leadership
This past November at the AAMC‘s national conference in Atlanta, I had a chance to facilitate a student and resident panel about leadership development programs. It was great to hear directly from learners about what they want, what is working, and what they feel like they still need. In this...
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S. 5 E. 7 Drive Your Career
Dr. Wayne Samuelson is the former Dean of the medical school and alum graduated in 1980. He retired in 2023 and is currently serving a mission for his church with his wife Marianne in Ghana. I have wanted to capture this moment as he looks back a his career and time as leader. In this episode,...
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S. 5 E. 6 Be Honest with Yourself
Maria Poluch came to medicine after pivoting from a promising career as an engineer. Underneath the surface, her desire to serve people and her underlying interest in medicine could not be denied. So she made the jump to medicine and with it a commitment to be honest with herself throughout out…
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S. 5 E. 5 My CV of Failures - Dr. David Morton
Dr. Morton is a distinguished anatomy and neurobiology professor at SFESOM. In addition to his celebrity presence as The Noted Anatomist on YouTube, Dr. Morton became a Fellow of the American Association for Anatomy in 2021 and has been awarded numerous teaching awards — the UU Distinguished...
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S. 5 E. 4 Be Open to the Unknown
Tracy Bumsted specialized in pediatrics and currently serves as Associate Dean for the MD program Oregon Health and Sciences University. In this episode we talk about the moments when she stepped out into the unknown, tried something new, and risked failure to do the work she believes she is here...
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S. 5 E. 3 Get out of your own way
According to Dr. David Morton, the greatest moment for growth is following a setback. In a recent RealMD lunch session with students, rather than talk about successes, he shared his “CV of failures.” Because for him, that is where the most valuable lessons are. But more than just accepting…
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S. 5 E. 2 - Listen Forward
Sri Radhakrishnan matched into general surgery last March. We had an opportunity, post Match Day celebrating, to talk about his identity as a leader and how it informed his specialty choice. A core aspect of Sri’s leadership style is the desire to create and support community. He talks about...
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S. 5 Ep. 1 - Align Your Head and Heart
Adam Sharp is CEO of Galvan Health and his journey to this point is uniquely his own. His path started out as a business undergrad, playing on the U of U basketball team, and an unexpected pivot to medical school. Residency led to a surprising interest in research coupled with a desire to change...
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S. 4 Ep. 16 - Hold Onto Your Stories
Dr. Brian Stagg is an Ophthalmologist and clinician scientist. In this episode, we talk about his experience during residency, feeling happy with his specialty, and still burning out. Brian talks about how in that moment, he started asking himself important questions that led to a life changing...
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S. 4 Ep. 15 - Give Yourself Grace
Sadie Robinson is in her second year of emergency medicine residency, she is a former RealMD facilitator, and U of U Alum. In this episode we look back at her time in medical school, the process of choosing her specialty, and formative experiences that helped her grow. We also look forward to her...
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S. 4 Ep. 14 - Take Care of Yourself
Dr. Beth Vukin has spent the last 20 years as a pediatric hospitalist in an academic setting. Her medicine, as she puts it, is talking to people and listening to the words they use. Lately, this has translated into her own podcast called Real Talk with Kid Docs. We had such a great conversation…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
What is your purpose? The RealMD podcast strives to create a space that helps medical students find and maintain their highest purpose in medicine. These episodes are the daily, weekly reminder you need to keep believing in your purpose.
HOSTED BY
University of Utah School of Medicine
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Real MD have?
Real MD currently has 101 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Real MD about?
What is your purpose? The RealMD podcast strives to create a space that helps medical students find and maintain their highest purpose in medicine. These episodes are the daily, weekly reminder you need to keep believing in your purpose.
How often does Real MD release new episodes?
Real MD publishes regularly with 101 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to Real MD?
You can listen to Real MD on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Real MD?
Real MD is created and hosted by University of Utah School of Medicine.
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