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April 28, 2025There have been many times that Isabella Ntigbu has not felt seen or heard during her medical education.
Ntigbu, who is Black, appreciates the opportunities her medical school has provided, and it has overall been a positive experience, she said. However, as a medical student at an “Ivory Tower institution, it’s hard because there’s only so many Black people in that space,” she said.
Podcasts serve as a type of refuge for her. So much so that she now co-hosts her own show.
“You can really hear people talk and tell you who they are and allow you to, in a way, see yourself if that resonates with you,” she said.
This generation is redefining what it means to be a physician, Ntigbu said. For the longest time, when people thought of what a doctor looked like, they would think of a 50-year-old “all knowing” White man.
“And now, we have a growing number of underrepresented people, who are Black, who are Brown, who are Native…who are from so many different cultural backgrounds and so many races and even gender identities” and religions, Ntigbu said.
As healthcare continues to diversify, it’s important for people to have outlets such as podcasts where they can “find their voice,” she said.
Medscape Medical News surveyed the medical podcasting landscape. Here are our top picks for the best podcasts for medical students.
1: The OSA Insider Podcast
About the podcast: This podcast focuses on the lives of medical students and their paths to becoming physicians, including major milestones and survival and wellness tips. Host and producer, Neda Frayha, MD, interviews medical students and residents as well as faculty members about the inside story of becoming a doctor. Frayha is a part-time assistant professor of medicine and faculty member in the Office of Student Affairs at the University of Maryland Medical School, Baltimore. Hence, the “OSA” in the title.
Why we like it: The podcast is narrated by the smooth, reassuring voice of Frayha, an internist and medical educator. She is creative in her choice of show topics. One episode features author Amanda Hirsch’s new book Improvising Adulthood: What I Wish Someone Had Told Me, about questioning life scripts and feeling empowered to stop running on autopilot. In another episode, Frayha asks medical students to talk about a moment of “humanism” they faced during their clinical training years. One medical student organized a packet of information for a scared female patient with a spinal tumor who had been advised to consider fertility preservation prior to starting radiation treatments.
Area for improvement: The podcast might benefit from a new name — perhaps something a bit catchier?
2: The Undifferentiated Medical Student
About the podcast: This podcast is perfect for medical students who don’t know what specialty they want to pursue. Founder and host Ian Drummond, MD, interviews attending doctors from over 120 specialties. Drummond started the podcast while still in medical school to help other medical students struggling with what field to go into.
Why we like it: Drummond does his homework and asks thoughtful questions of guests. His podcast is engaging and informative. For health policy wonks, check out Episode 071 from August 8, 2019, where Drummond interviewed then−US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary, MD — a former surgeon at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore — about hybrid careers and separately about unnecessary medical care.
Areas for improvement: The podcast could stand for a little more editing. Some episodes run for 2 hours.
3: SNMA Presents: The Lounge
About the podcast: The podcast was founded during summer of 2020 — at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic — as a way for “underrepresented people to connect with each other,” explained executive producer and co-host Ntigbu, the fourth-year medical student. The show is hosted by multiple medical students (SNMA stands for Student National Medical Association).
Topics: The sometimes free-flowing format involves hosts (sometimes three or four at a time) talking about medical-related topics, such as medical mistakes, but also social and popular culture topics of the day such as “Love is Blind” stars AD Smith and Ollie Sutherland getting engaged. Other topics covered: Issues underrepresented students face in medical school, such as how the match process may not always be favorable to them, doctor shortages, mental health and physician burnout, finding love as a Black or Brown person in medicine, and general advice.
Why we like it: Knowledgeable, self-aware hosts delve into complex issues in an engaging way.
Areas for improvement: Sound quality and editing could use some improvement. Some episodes are an hour and 20 minutes long.
4: The Short Coat Podcast
About the podcast: From Carver College of Medicine, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, this podcast brings together medical student hosts who get real about the intense environment of medical school.
Topics: Episodes focus on preparing for standardized tests, finding a mentor, deciding what field of medicine to pursue, applying to residency programs, and addressing student burnout.
Why we like it: Episodes offer an honest glimpse into what medical school is like with relatable stories from different medical students. The show is funny and informative. Students are honest. In one episode, a student admitted he chose where to apply to residency after falling in love with the city of Denver after going there to pick up his new dog.
Areas for improvement: Episodes could use some trimming. Some run for over an hour.
5: Inside the Match
About the podcast: This podcast is good for getting an insider view of the residency matching process. Episodes go over tips for medical students who are applying to various specialties such as getting letters of recommendation and writing personal statements. Note: Select podcasts are also shared with Medscape and can be found here.
Topics: Episodes also delve into what factors make a medical student competitive for residency programs (think research and volunteer experiences) and discussions about how to improve the match process.
Why we like it: Hosts and guests cover a wide range of topics pertaining to the match, providing useful information including the importance of geographic location when deciding where to apply to residency. The podcast also has a website with tips organized by specialty. Episodes are a great length and clip along nicely.
Areas for improvement: Sound editing and design could use some improvement.
6: The Curbsiders Internal Medicine
About the podcast: This podcast — run by internists — covers a wide variety of clinical topics such as how to assess thyroid nodules and how to treat alcohol use disorder. Episodes are generally organized around medical cases that hosts break down and discuss. Evidence-based care and guidelines are featured.
Why we like it: Episodes are detailed, engaging, and educational. There are spin-off shows which are also detailed and educational, such as: The Cribsiders Pediatric Medicine podcast, The Curbsiders Addiction Medicine podcast, and The Curbsiders Teach podcast, pertaining to medical education.
Areas for improvement: Some episodes run on the long side, at least an hour and a half.
7: Divine Intervention Podcasts
About the podcast: This podcast focuses on helping medical students and residents prepare for the United States Medical Licensing Examinations Step 1, 2, and 3 exams, and third-year medical school shelf exams.
Topics: Episodes offer 6-week study guides, reviews, and test-taking strategies. There are many episodes related to “must know” topics, Ntigbu said.
What we like about it: Detailed show notes accompany the episodes. Also, the educational materials are primarily free.
Areas for improvement: None.
8: The Black Doctors Podcast
About the podcast: This podcast examines different pathways to get into and through medical school and beyond. Episodes are useful and relatively short — always a good thing for a busy medical student.
Topics: Shows delve into strategies for excelling on the Medical College Admission Test, suggestions on effective shadowing, and physician burnout. The host, Steven Bradley, MD, also talks about how to navigate being on rotations and in residency. The podcast is his favorite, said Rico Carter, a medical student and the first in his immediate family to go to college. In his future career as a doctor, he envisions working hard but also having time to relax at home and pursue hobbies in his down time. The podcast host affirmed that mindset, Carter said.
“I mean, I have my ‘why medicine story’, but I think the thing that was really impactful to me is that it’s okay to go into medicine and say that you want a stable career and that you want a good paying job,” Carter said. “And I think that’s just something that you don’t really hear being said a lot, at least when you’re a pre-med.” Carter came from a low-income background and worked throughout college to help his family.
What we like about it: The episodes target important topics and are a manageable length. Even a busy medical student can probably break away for a 15- to 20-minute podcast.
Areas for improvement: None.
Honorable Mention: Physician Cents Podcast
This educational yet entertaining podcast focuses on arming oneself with smart financial information, such as managing student loan debt and learning how to get asset protection and disability insurance. Episodes also discuss breaking down financial goals into manageable pieces, making solid financial plans, and most importantly keeping a marriage alive through date nights (after all, one host said fairly frequently, not getting divorced is one of the best ways to protect your assets).
