Peer Review Radio

Hipster scientists be warned! Might you be infecting your families and friends when you leave the lab without washing your moustaches and beards this fine Movember? Crusty agar plates make good moisturizers, we know, but can a good thing go too far? (Microbiological Laboratory Hazard of Bearded Men by Barbeito et al.)

This week, Jeremie Harris of the Student Funded Scholarship Initiative was a special guest in our studio. We brought him on because we are very impressed by a scholarship he and his friends put together: a scholarship that works against keeners. This scholarship is so fundamentally hostile to snot-nosed overachievers that it automatically cuts off anyone with a GPA of 8.5 and above. To apply, you only need to submit your resume and demonstrate that you have a genuine and soul-consuming passion for your future career. Buy tickets for their Variety Benefit Show on December 2nd today and help them raise money for a good cause (yours). 

Also on today’s episode, we discussed the most fun (?) form of euthanasia anyone on Peer Review Radio has ever seen: a Suicide Coaster. To quote Discover News, “The three-minute ride involves a long, slow, climb — nearly a third of a mile long — that lifts one up to a height of more than 1,600 feet, followed by a massive fall and seven strategically sized and placed loops. The final descent and series of loops take all of one minute. But the gravitational force — 10 Gs — from the spinning loops at 223 miles per hour in that single minute is lethal.”

As all of you listeners know, our host Ophira has brilliant taste in music. She is one of those contradictory and revolutionary beings known as unpretentious hipsters. If you hear anything you like, you can count on our website to help you find it.

This week, our show featured:

• Vienna Teng - Say the Word
• Nightmares On Wax - Date with Destiny
• Airlock - Alpha
• Morcheeba - Small Town
• Islands - Rough Gem
• Elsiane - Mend (To Fix, To Repair)
• Elsiane - Hybrid

This week we talked about how US medical schools are a viable option for people who want to broaden their options in their personal quest to join the medical profession. We said on our show that we would provide all the links used in this episode, so here they are. I hope this episode has been informative to anyone dying to be a doctor (or who knows someone who is).

If you are considering applying to a US medical school, you can find info here:

• How to apply
• Deadlines (many schools left for Nov 15 and Dec 1 and Dec 15)
• Average Tuition

For info on eligibility for a Canadian residency program, go here:

• CaRMS (residency matching service)
• CaRMS Eligibility

For information on Osteopathic medicine in Canada, go here:

• Canadian Osteopathic Association
• Their FAQ is very thorough

If you live in Ontario, go away for medical school, but you want to come back,

• Policy guidelines on coming back to practice

CEO of CaRMS on why international schools may be a dead end.

• Too many Canadians studying medicine overseas (CBC)

If you like science and you think science should be a bigger part in everyday conversation, maybe you belong on our team! We’re passionate about science communication, and we’re always looking for new people. The way it works is we go out for lunch on Tuesday after the show, and we ask you what you would like to do. They can include,

• Thinking up show ideas
• Asking for interviews from science celebrities (with Luke)
• Co-hosting every Tuesday at 1PM with Ophira
• Interviewing scientists, artists, entrepreneurs, anyone!
• Interviewing student activists
• Improv for our Heritage Moments or guessing the fake headline
• Researching on science special topics or general news to be broadcasted
• Digging up hip Canadian/Indie artists to play during the show
• Sound editing

Through us, you can learn all about what it takes to run a radio show, you’ll get the chance to interview some cool (and sometimes very important) people who make science happen, and you’ll meet like-minded people who care about science as much as you do. We provide full training, and we’ll accompany you through all of your first sessions. Contact us by clicking the “Contact Us” button on the right side of this page, or e-mail us at peerreviewradio@gmail.com.