June 20, 2025 • 19 mins
Click Here to Chat with Us! We're all ears (& probably wine).
Ever wondered what really happens in a trauma surgeon's day? Dr. Mallory pulls back the curtain on emergency medicine with stories that will make you laugh, gasp & maybe cross your legs a little tighter.
From saving a woman crushed by a car driving through her living room to removing objects from places they definitely don't belong, Dr. Mallory's candid accounts offer a rare glimpse into the high-stakes world of trauma surgery.
Dr. Mallory's journey breaks stereotypes about medical professionals. Unlike the straight-A student path many might expect, she struggled academically in her youth, living in the shadow of her gifted sister. This relatable story challenges our assumptions about who becomes a surgeon and reminds us that finding your passion sometimes happens through unexpected routes.
Join us for this unfiltered, enlightening conversation with a female surgeon breaking barriers in a traditionally male-dominated field. Your view of emergency medicine will never be the same!
🎙️fearlesslyfemaleuncensored@gmail.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Brittany (00:00):
Welcome back to Fearlessly Female, where two
blondes make and write.
We are Brittany and Megan, thehost of Fearlessly Female.
This podcast was born out ofambition, drive and a lot of
wine.
We're two powerhouse comedicwomen having uncensored
conversations about topics thataffect women.
We're airing all the dirtylaundry, so grab your favorite
drink and give us a listen.
Meghan (00:19):
Today's podcast is a little slicing and dicing, maybe
a bit of hacking and definitelypumping the meds.
Brittany (00:26):
Wow, megan, you could just say we have a female trauma
surgeon joining us today andalthough women now compromise
more than half of the medicalschool enrollees and about 35%
of all active physicians, theyare still scarce in the surgical
field.
That's right.
You're probably getting sliced,diced and hacked up by Dexter.
So before we get into it, thisis our disclaimer Warning calm
(00:54):
your tits.
Offense will not be taken here.
Grab your favorite drink,especially today.
Burn your bra and let's have agood time.
Meghan (00:59):
I am super excited about this conversation and just a
little backstory when we have anidea for a podcast, we write
out a general outline of thetopics we want to cover and flow
.
So hopefully it makes sense toyou, the listeners, which I know
somebody is going to write inand give us some feedback about
that.
But I knew I wanted to haveMallory on this podcast because
she's my favorite cousin that isa surgeon.
(01:20):
For my cousins that arelistening, I also have a
favorite cousin that is a lawyerand one that's the best line
dancer ever.
I don't want anybody to getjealous, but anywho, mallory has
a superstition around tests andgoes on vacation afterwards,
which has worked 100% of thetime now.
So she always passes her testswhen she goes on vacation.
(01:41):
And I was the only cousinavailable when we headed to San
Diego for a weekend after onetest and I spent like the whole
drive interviewing her about herjob and asking all kinds of
questions so I could get theflow for this podcast.
Mallory, do you remember whatyou said to me during that
conversation?
Dr. Mallory (01:59):
Oh, my God, Meghan, you know I can't retain useless
information.
We've been to Fiji and back.
How am I supposed to remember?
Meghan (02:07):
Well, it was.
No one's asked me this manyquestions about my job before it
made me laugh, because I justlove listening to your stories,
getting your pictures not somuch, but your stories, yes,
Brittany (02:19):
Oh, my gosh pictures.
I can't even imagine.
Meghan (02:22):
Yeah, she's received a couple lectures about how I need
warning and coffee and booze inmy system.
There's nothing like seeing asevered whatever to wake up the
senses.
Brittany (02:33):
Well, good thing I'm on the East Coast because I need
to get on this group text,because it sounds like a blast.
Like gunshot blast.
Dr. Mallory (02:41):
That would be awesome.
Brittany (02:43):
So, mallory, what has been your most exciting surgery?
I'm sure you have a ton.
Dr. Mallory (02:48):
Yeah, there's a lot .
One that stands out is probablyI had a young woman who was
sitting at home she's actuallysitting on her couch in her
living room and a car wentthrough the wall of her living
room and crushed her and brokeher pelvis and she was bleeding
pretty severely, and so we tookher to the operating room.
She was really unstable and shewas.
(03:09):
Unfortunately, the pelvis has alot of blood vessels, so she
was bleeding a lot and we hadthree surgeons working on her
trying to stop the bleeding, andevery unit of blood we gave her
would just come right out.
And one of the surgeons saidyou know, this isn't working.
She's not going to make it.
We can't control the bleeding.
And so the other surgeon saidwell damn, it would just really
suck dying from sitting at home.
(03:31):
And so I said well then, let'skeep going.
And five minutes later we gotcontrol bleeding and she
survived.
Brittany (03:39):
Jesus Christ.
Oh my God, can you imagine,just like you know, like sitting
on your couch in the morning,waking up, having your coffee,
and then all of a sudden, thisfucking car like plows through
your fucking living room Like,oh my gosh.
Dr. Mallory (03:50):
If it were Megan, it would be a mimosa.
Meghan (03:55):
And you guys all know how I like my mimosas,
Brittany (03:58):
The essence of orange juice in the air?
Oh my gosh
Meghan (04:02):
Not even.
Brittany (04:04):
I can't even imagine, Do you?
I mean, I'm sure you probablyexperienced a lot of death in
your field.
Meghan (04:12):
Mal, you have to tell her.
Dr. Mallory (04:15):
Well, in medicine there's a superstition that if
you get a lot of consults or alot of bad things happen when
you're on call, or you just arevery busy, you're considered to
have a black cloud, and my blackcloud is particularly strong,
and so because of that, I wasgiven the nickname Dr Death.
So, yeah, it's a name thatstuck with me for a while.
Brittany (04:41):
Oh my gosh.
Dr Death, what a nickname.
I've had a lot, but I don'tthink any have been that strong.
How do you handle somethinglike that?
Or you know, like process asitation like that?
Dr. Mallory (04:54):
I think it's kind of patient by patient.
You know you have to rememberwhile you're working on them
that this is someone's brotheror son or uncle and you do
everything you can as if they'reyour own family.
But as soon as you lose themyou have to just move on and
remember that it was theirmechanism.
You know it was their caraccident or their stabbing or
their gunshot wound that tookthem and that you did everything
(05:15):
you could because you have tomove on and take care of the
next patient.
Meghan (05:19):
So you talked about kind of one of the surgeries that
was, you know, most exciting.
You felt really proud that youwere able to get this woman back
from, you know, just sitting onher couch and having something
super bad happen.
But do you have a worse surgery?
Brittany (05:35):
Thanks, Megan, for being a Debbie Downer.
I'm already crying here.
You really have to bring up theworst surgery.
Meghan (05:42):
I do!
Dr. Mallory (05:44):
Yeah, it's usually involving kids.
You know those are always hardsituations, so you have to just
try your best and it's greatwhen you can save them try your
best and it's great when you cansave them.
Meghan (06:00):
Well, now that we've got everybody all sad and thinking
about that, let's talk a littlebit about before you become a
surgeon.
I think there's a little bit ofa process to get into medical
school.
You want to talk about that?
Dr. Mallory (06:09):
Yeah, that process is wild.
Getting into medical school andgetting a residency is a really
strange process.
But basically, in order to getinto medical school you're
encouraged to have you knowperfect grades and you know a
great MCAT score and havevolunteered and have clinical
experience and started your ownFortune 500 company.
Meghan (06:30):
Whatever happened to just becoming a doctor?
Dr. Mallory (06:33):
I know right.
So after you apply, you fill outa bunch of essays and this
whole application, you getinvited to go to an interview
and so you travel the countrygoing to interviews and my first
interview was in Nebraska, ofall places.
So I flew out there and was inmy suit and I met with this
physician.
(06:53):
We sit down and the first thinghe says to me he looks at my
application and I went to theUniversity of Southern
California, or USC, and he saidI see, you went to the
University of Spoiled Children,which of course I've heard that
joke before and I wanted to comeback with a cute, smart
response.
So I said well, I like to thinkof it as the University of
Smart Children.
(07:17):
And unfortunately I found outduring that interview that his
son failed out of that school,so it got a little awkward.
Brittany (07:27):
Oops, that's right.
Go against the system.
I see you know you're already inNebraska meeting with Warren
Buffett for your Fortune 500company, so I guess that was a
good start.
Dr. Mallory (07:31):
Yeah exactly!
Brittany (07:33):
So tell us about the school.
Dr. Mallory (07:34):
It's a crazy experience.
You really form strong bondswith the people you meet in
medical school.
You're with them so often.
We do anatomy lab during ourfirst year, which is an amazing
experience.
People donate their bodies toscience and they're preserving
formaldehyde, so you can imaginethe smells get a little potent
in the lab, but we used to studyin there as a group for hours
(08:00):
preparing for our gross anatomyexams, and then you know
formaldehyde makes you reallyhungry, so we would finish up
there and just go get Phillycheesesteaks.
Meghan (08:09):
I really used to like Philly cheesesteaks, but now all
I think about is likeformaldehyde and you cutting up
bodies.
I'm not sure why you had toruin it for me.
Dr. Mallory (08:18):
Sorry, Meghan.
Meghan (08:21):
Alright, well, I think it's time let's talk about butt
stuff.
Brittany (08:24):
Butt Stuff.
Meghan, are you kidding me?
Are you 12?
For the record, Meghan justsent me like a video on butt
stuff.
So flared base, everybodyflared base.
Dr. Mallory (08:39):
Well, it actually happens a lot.
It's technically called arectal foreign body and about
99.9% of the time patients willsay they sat on it.
They never admit to puttinganything up there.
But funny enough, I made it to34 and I sit all the time and
nothing's ever managed to go upmy butt while I'm sitting.
Meghan (08:58):
So it's normal stuff, right, like toys made for such
adventure.
Dr. Mallory (09:03):
If by toy you mean Barbie doll, then yes, I've
pulled all kinds of things outVegetables, axe body spray,
light bulb.
And yes, it shattered on theway out,
Meghan (09:17):
Not on the way in?
Dr. Mallory (09:18):
No, the most recent one was a pool ball and any
guesses on the color and number?
Brittany (09:24):
Oh, oh, oh.
Black 8-ball.
Black 8-ball has to be Black8-ball.
Dr. Mallory (09:29):
Ding, ding ding, Definitely a winner.
Meghan (09:33):
All right, Mallory, it's time to tell the story.
You know the one.
Dr. Mallory (09:39):
So Meghan's favorite medical story that I've
told is when I was a residentand I was still in training.
We have to do rotations onother services, so I was on a
medical ICU rotation and theemergency department called and
said hey, we have a patient herethat just had a cardiac arrest.
Their heart stopped and so youknow we need you to come and
(10:01):
meet the patient.
They're on the ventilator.
And so I go down there and Italk to the ER doc really
quickly and you know she givesme a little bit of information.
I go in and I look at thepatient and it looks like a
child, and so they go back outand I say I think you gave me
the wrong room number.
I'm looking for an adultpatient, I'm taking care of the
(10:23):
adult ICU.
And she goes oh, no, no, no,it's a dwarf.
So I go back in and thecardiologist, the heart doctor,
is there assessing a patientbecause he needed to do a
procedure and he is freaking outbecause he isn't sure if the
equipment will fit in thepatient because we're an adult
facility.
(10:44):
And he turns to me at one pointand asked if I was pranking him
.
I wasn't.
And then you know, after acardiac arrest, we usually put
the patient on something calledhypothermic protocol, where we
cool their body temperature toallow for healing, and so I did
(11:05):
tell Meghan that I froze a dwarf.
Brittany (11:08):
Oh my gosh.
Dr. Mallory (11:09):
So she definitely likes that story.
Brittany (11:12):
I'm speechless on this one, especially as a resident,
Like code blues, Obviously I'mnot a surgeon.
Someone call Snow White.
We just froze one of thedwarves.
Meghan (11:23):
I just love that.
The guy was like are youpranking me?
Like yes, I just have spare,like friends around that want to
like lay in the hospital, thathappen to be dwarves.
Brittany (11:33):
So the stats we were talking about earlier is women
being in male dominatedindustries.
So I guess part of the traumaof dealing with that is being in
a male dominated industry.
So what's that like?
How do you deal with that?
Meghan (11:46):
Yes, so I like to call her triple board certified, but
she calls it board certifiedwith a certification in trauma.
My version sounds better, sowe're going with it.
Brittany (11:57):
Trauma as in dealing with men?
Dr. Mallory (12:02):
I mean yeah, yeah, there's definitely some male
egos that involve some majortrauma in the hospital.
But honestly, I got trauma, Idid training in trauma because
it's easier to get a job at atrauma center and I really love
trauma and I love critical carebecause I like thinking about
(12:23):
physiology and the whole bodyand how different body systems
interact physiology and thewhole body and how different
body systems interact.
For example, you know if apatient has a perforated
intestine or you know rupturedcolon, they need a surgery.
That's the mechanics part.
You take that part of the colonout but then the body goes
through a whole reactionafterwards, and so I really like
(12:45):
understanding the physiology ofhow the reaction affects the
patient and dealing with kind ofthe aftermath of that.
Meghan (12:53):
So you like dealing with the whole enchilada.
Brittany (12:55):
Enchiladas, really, while we're talking about
intestines, I like the analogy,but a little gross.
Dr. Mallory (13:05):
Well, it is the truth and I like looking at how
everything's connected versus,you know, just fixing one part
and moving on.
I think it's nice to know andunderstand what else is going to
be impacted.
Meghan (13:17):
Anyone up for chips and a margarita?
Brittany (13:20):
Clearly, Meghan just came from a formaldehyde lab
talking about all this food.
What about role models?
I mean, Meghan is my role modelwhen it comes to our focus on
food during this interestingconversation.
But what about you?
You have like role models atwork or growing up.
Dr. Mallory (13:39):
I mean, honestly, there were a lot of female
surgeons that I got to work withas a trainee and they really
showed me that it's possible tohave a work-life balance and to
be a surgeon and have a lifeoutside of the hospital, and I
don't mean just with family, youknow.
I think they juggle a lot ofdifferent things and the
profession used to kind of beoff limits to women because it
(14:01):
was prohibitive to having afamily, and I think that barrier
has really been broken down bya lot of the women who have come
before me.
Meghan (14:09):
That's really cool to hear you see it dramatized on TV
shows and movies so muchdifferently.
Dr. Mallory (14:14):
Oh gosh, Don't get me started on the inaccuracies
of doctors in TV shows andmovies.
Brittany (14:21):
After all these seasons of watching Grey's
Anatomy, I'm not qualified to bea surgeon.
Dr. Mallory (14:26):
Oh, but you're probably qualified to have sex
in a call room or in a closet inthe hospital.
Brittany (14:31):
Fair enough, fair enough.
This sounds like a round twopodcast coming on.
Dr. Mallory (14:35):
Yeah, definitely.
Brittany (14:39):
What about growing up Like did you know?
You always wanted to be adoctor.
Dr. Mallory (14:42):
You know, interestingly, I was never a
great student growing up.
In middle school and highschool it took me a while to
kind of figure out that I likedlearning and I think I just
hadn't quite figured out myinterest yet.
I was put in like an honorsgeometry class and I remember my
teacher just yelling at me fornot applying myself and I just
thought it was because I didn'thave the intelligence to do it.
(15:05):
You know, I grew up with anolder sister that was very smart
and she just, you know, kind ofhad this you know shadow cast
and everyone expected me to beas smart as her and I just, you
know, wasn't quite ready tocommit to school at that age.
Meghan (15:26):
So in your head were you always imagining being a
surgeon.
Dr. Mallory (15:30):
Yeah, you know, when I realized that I wanted to
go into a pre-health field andI kind of clicked into science
and found my interest in, youknow, human physiology, I knew
that I wanted to do you knowsomething with my hands and be a
surgeon.
Meghan (15:45):
So you talk a little bit about your sister and kind of
casting that shadow.
Do you think that you knowthinking about when you were
talking about being in highschool and not applying yourself
and not thinking you were assmart like it all had to do with
Mary Ellen?
Brittany (16:07):
I'm guessing Mary Ellen's, your sister in question
here.
Meghan (16:12):
It is Well for the crowd .
It's Mallory's sister, but shetaught herself Japanese at nine
years old, took a Spanish classfrom a Japanese speaking
instructor, so just kind of offthe charts in the intelligence
standpoint.
So I could see like that's apretty specific shadow to be
cast on Mallory.
Dr. Mallory (16:32):
Oh yeah, I know, we always went to the same school
growing up and the teachersdefinitely expected me to be the
same kind of goody two shoesthat she was.
And I think, because I wasn't,you know, as interested in
school I was always, I alwaysfelt like kind of a
disappointment to teachers.
And you know it's funny, when Ifinally did figure out my
(16:53):
interest in science and I was,you know, kind of interested in
human physiology, I asked my momwhat's the most prestigious job
someone can have?
And she said Well, you know,it's probably a doctor.
And and I think that in there Idecided like I'm going to
become a doctor, to one up mysister and I'm probably a doctor
today because I wanted tocompete with her.
Brittany (17:15):
I don't blame you.
Intelligence comes in manyfacets and I think too, like at
a young age, it's very differentfor a lot of people.
I mean, obviously you and yoursister are like a great example,
right, like you know she's oneway, you're another way.
Like I'm sure you're notdrawing.
You know geometry figures onyour patients to figure out the
angle, you know on which to pullsomething out Exactly.
(17:35):
But you know there's stupid onesfor sure that obviously sit on
pool balls and I hope we getbetter as a society, recognizing
that intelligence doesn'talways look book smart.
Meghan (17:52):
Clearly, Mallory has some book smart there.
I think there's probably a fewbooks in medical school.
Brittany (18:01):
I hope so.
I hope so.
Well, this has been a veryenlightening podcast, so thank
you, Mallory, for sharing yourexperiences.
As we leave today's listeners,what would you have like one
piece of advice if they'reinterested in being a doctor, or
to you know, maybe be a betterpatient other than maybe don't
put things up your butt or drinkcoffee in your living room.
Dr. Mallory (18:22):
Yeah, you know, definitely for patients out
there.
Definitely for patients outthere, don't put anything out
there that doesn't belong upthere.
For anyone else I would say youknow, focus on relationships,
especially in your 20s.
Build really good relationshipsand never sacrifice a
relationship for work or forwhatever else you think in the
moment is more important,because you never know when that
(18:43):
relationship is going to helpyou in one way or another.
And unfortunately, as we getolder, it's harder to meet
people and harder to build thosestrong relationships.
So really focus on that andnever sacrifice it.
Meghan (18:55):
Some sound advice and really remember.
The butt acts as a vacuum, sobe careful what you put on there
.
Brittany (19:01):
That is some great advice, I guess, from both ends.
No pun intended, but yeah, Iagree.
You know, as you get older itis harder to meet people and
form relationships, and you domake a lot of sacrifices I think
some people do when they'reyounger, and it's always nice to
kind of hear that from somebodythat's older and just echo it,
keep it in mind.
And of course, Meghan had toend with the butt stuff.
(19:23):
So just make sure it has aflared base.
Meghan (19:27):
It's the end, though, but if you yourself have
ambition, drive and booze inyour system, we would love to
have you as a guest or hear yourideas.
Emailfearlesslyfemaleuncensored@
gmail.
com.
Welcome back to Fearlessly Female, where two
blondes make and write.
We are Brittany and Megan, thehost of Fearlessly Female.
This podcast was born out ofambition, drive and a lot of
wine.
We're two powerhouse comedicwomen having uncensored
conversations about topics thataffect women.
We're airing all the dirtylaundry, so grab your favorite
drink and give us a listen.
Meghan (00:19):
Today's podcast is a little slicing and dicing, maybe
a bit of hacking and definitelypumping the meds.
Brittany (00:26):
Wow, megan, you could just say we have a female trauma
surgeon joining us today andalthough women now compromise
more than half of the medicalschool enrollees and about 35%
of all active physicians, theyare still scarce in the surgical
field.
That's right.
You're probably getting sliced,diced and hacked up by Dexter.
So before we get into it, thisis our disclaimer Warning calm
(00:54):
your tits.
Offense will not be taken here.
Grab your favorite drink,especially today.
Burn your bra and let's have agood time.
Meghan (00:59):
I am super excited about this conversation and just a
little backstory when we have anidea for a podcast, we write
out a general outline of thetopics we want to cover and flow
.
So hopefully it makes sense toyou, the listeners, which I know
somebody is going to write inand give us some feedback about
that.
But I knew I wanted to haveMallory on this podcast because
she's my favorite cousin that isa surgeon.
(01:20):
For my cousins that arelistening, I also have a
favorite cousin that is a lawyerand one that's the best line
dancer ever.
I don't want anybody to getjealous, but anywho, mallory has
a superstition around tests andgoes on vacation afterwards,
which has worked 100% of thetime now.
So she always passes her testswhen she goes on vacation.
(01:41):
And I was the only cousinavailable when we headed to San
Diego for a weekend after onetest and I spent like the whole
drive interviewing her about herjob and asking all kinds of
questions so I could get theflow for this podcast.
Mallory, do you remember whatyou said to me during that
conversation?
Dr. Mallory (01:59):
Oh, my God, Meghan, you know I can't retain useless
information.
We've been to Fiji and back.
How am I supposed to remember?
Meghan (02:07):
Well, it was.
No one's asked me this manyquestions about my job before it
made me laugh, because I justlove listening to your stories,
getting your pictures not somuch, but your stories, yes,
Brittany (02:19):
Oh, my gosh pictures.
I can't even imagine.
Meghan (02:22):
Yeah, she's received a couple lectures about how I need
warning and coffee and booze inmy system.
There's nothing like seeing asevered whatever to wake up the
senses.
Brittany (02:33):
Well, good thing I'm on the East Coast because I need
to get on this group text,because it sounds like a blast.
Like gunshot blast.
Dr. Mallory (02:41):
That would be awesome.
Brittany (02:43):
So, mallory, what has been your most exciting surgery?
I'm sure you have a ton.
Dr. Mallory (02:48):
Yeah, there's a lot .
One that stands out is probablyI had a young woman who was
sitting at home she's actuallysitting on her couch in her
living room and a car wentthrough the wall of her living
room and crushed her and brokeher pelvis and she was bleeding
pretty severely, and so we tookher to the operating room.
She was really unstable and shewas.
(03:09):
Unfortunately, the pelvis has alot of blood vessels, so she
was bleeding a lot and we hadthree surgeons working on her
trying to stop the bleeding, andevery unit of blood we gave her
would just come right out.
And one of the surgeons saidyou know, this isn't working.
She's not going to make it.
We can't control the bleeding.
And so the other surgeon saidwell damn, it would just really
suck dying from sitting at home.
(03:31):
And so I said well then, let'skeep going.
And five minutes later we gotcontrol bleeding and she
survived.
Brittany (03:39):
Jesus Christ.
Oh my God, can you imagine,just like you know, like sitting
on your couch in the morning,waking up, having your coffee,
and then all of a sudden, thisfucking car like plows through
your fucking living room Like,oh my gosh.
Dr. Mallory (03:50):
If it were Megan, it would be a mimosa.
Meghan (03:55):
And you guys all know how I like my mimosas,
Brittany (03:58):
The essence of orange juice in the air?
Oh my gosh
Meghan (04:02):
Not even.
Brittany (04:04):
I can't even imagine, Do you?
I mean, I'm sure you probablyexperienced a lot of death in
your field.
Meghan (04:12):
Mal, you have to tell her.
Dr. Mallory (04:15):
Well, in medicine there's a superstition that if
you get a lot of consults or alot of bad things happen when
you're on call, or you just arevery busy, you're considered to
have a black cloud, and my blackcloud is particularly strong,
and so because of that, I wasgiven the nickname Dr Death.
So, yeah, it's a name thatstuck with me for a while.
Brittany (04:41):
Oh my gosh.
Dr Death, what a nickname.
I've had a lot, but I don'tthink any have been that strong.
How do you handle somethinglike that?
Or you know, like process asitation like that?
Dr. Mallory (04:54):
I think it's kind of patient by patient.
You know you have to rememberwhile you're working on them
that this is someone's brotheror son or uncle and you do
everything you can as if they'reyour own family.
But as soon as you lose themyou have to just move on and
remember that it was theirmechanism.
You know it was their caraccident or their stabbing or
their gunshot wound that tookthem and that you did everything
(05:15):
you could because you have tomove on and take care of the
next patient.
Meghan (05:19):
So you talked about kind of one of the surgeries that
was, you know, most exciting.
You felt really proud that youwere able to get this woman back
from, you know, just sitting onher couch and having something
super bad happen.
But do you have a worse surgery?
Brittany (05:35):
Thanks, Megan, for being a Debbie Downer.
I'm already crying here.
You really have to bring up theworst surgery.
Meghan (05:42):
I do!
Dr. Mallory (05:44):
Yeah, it's usually involving kids.
You know those are always hardsituations, so you have to just
try your best and it's greatwhen you can save them try your
best and it's great when you cansave them.
Meghan (06:00):
Well, now that we've got everybody all sad and thinking
about that, let's talk a littlebit about before you become a
surgeon.
I think there's a little bit ofa process to get into medical
school.
You want to talk about that?
Dr. Mallory (06:09):
Yeah, that process is wild.
Getting into medical school andgetting a residency is a really
strange process.
But basically, in order to getinto medical school you're
encouraged to have you knowperfect grades and you know a
great MCAT score and havevolunteered and have clinical
experience and started your ownFortune 500 company.
Meghan (06:30):
Whatever happened to just becoming a doctor?
Dr. Mallory (06:33):
I know right.
So after you apply, you fill outa bunch of essays and this
whole application, you getinvited to go to an interview
and so you travel the countrygoing to interviews and my first
interview was in Nebraska, ofall places.
So I flew out there and was inmy suit and I met with this
physician.
(06:53):
We sit down and the first thinghe says to me he looks at my
application and I went to theUniversity of Southern
California, or USC, and he saidI see, you went to the
University of Spoiled Children,which of course I've heard that
joke before and I wanted to comeback with a cute, smart
response.
So I said well, I like to thinkof it as the University of
Smart Children.
(07:17):
And unfortunately I found outduring that interview that his
son failed out of that school,so it got a little awkward.
Brittany (07:27):
Oops, that's right.
Go against the system.
I see you know you're already inNebraska meeting with Warren
Buffett for your Fortune 500company, so I guess that was a
good start.
Dr. Mallory (07:31):
Yeah exactly!
Brittany (07:33):
So tell us about the school.
Dr. Mallory (07:34):
It's a crazy experience.
You really form strong bondswith the people you meet in
medical school.
You're with them so often.
We do anatomy lab during ourfirst year, which is an amazing
experience.
People donate their bodies toscience and they're preserving
formaldehyde, so you can imaginethe smells get a little potent
in the lab, but we used to studyin there as a group for hours
(08:00):
preparing for our gross anatomyexams, and then you know
formaldehyde makes you reallyhungry, so we would finish up
there and just go get Phillycheesesteaks.
Meghan (08:09):
I really used to like Philly cheesesteaks, but now all
I think about is likeformaldehyde and you cutting up
bodies.
I'm not sure why you had toruin it for me.
Dr. Mallory (08:18):
Sorry, Meghan.
Meghan (08:21):
Alright, well, I think it's time let's talk about butt
stuff.
Brittany (08:24):
Butt Stuff.
Meghan, are you kidding me?
Are you 12?
For the record, Meghan justsent me like a video on butt
stuff.
So flared base, everybodyflared base.
Dr. Mallory (08:39):
Well, it actually happens a lot.
It's technically called arectal foreign body and about
99.9% of the time patients willsay they sat on it.
They never admit to puttinganything up there.
But funny enough, I made it to34 and I sit all the time and
nothing's ever managed to go upmy butt while I'm sitting.
Meghan (08:58):
So it's normal stuff, right, like toys made for such
adventure.
Dr. Mallory (09:03):
If by toy you mean Barbie doll, then yes, I've
pulled all kinds of things outVegetables, axe body spray,
light bulb.
And yes, it shattered on theway out,
Meghan (09:17):
Not on the way in?
Dr. Mallory (09:18):
No, the most recent one was a pool ball and any
guesses on the color and number?
Brittany (09:24):
Oh, oh, oh.
Black 8-ball.
Black 8-ball has to be Black8-ball.
Dr. Mallory (09:29):
Ding, ding ding, Definitely a winner.
Meghan (09:33):
All right, Mallory, it's time to tell the story.
You know the one.
Dr. Mallory (09:39):
So Meghan's favorite medical story that I've
told is when I was a residentand I was still in training.
We have to do rotations onother services, so I was on a
medical ICU rotation and theemergency department called and
said hey, we have a patient herethat just had a cardiac arrest.
Their heart stopped and so youknow we need you to come and
(10:01):
meet the patient.
They're on the ventilator.
And so I go down there and Italk to the ER doc really
quickly and you know she givesme a little bit of information.
I go in and I look at thepatient and it looks like a
child, and so they go back outand I say I think you gave me
the wrong room number.
I'm looking for an adultpatient, I'm taking care of the
(10:23):
adult ICU.
And she goes oh, no, no, no,it's a dwarf.
So I go back in and thecardiologist, the heart doctor,
is there assessing a patientbecause he needed to do a
procedure and he is freaking outbecause he isn't sure if the
equipment will fit in thepatient because we're an adult
facility.
(10:44):
And he turns to me at one pointand asked if I was pranking him
.
I wasn't.
And then you know, after acardiac arrest, we usually put
the patient on something calledhypothermic protocol, where we
cool their body temperature toallow for healing, and so I did
(11:05):
tell Meghan that I froze a dwarf.
Brittany (11:08):
Oh my gosh.
Dr. Mallory (11:09):
So she definitely likes that story.
Brittany (11:12):
I'm speechless on this one, especially as a resident,
Like code blues, Obviously I'mnot a surgeon.
Someone call Snow White.
We just froze one of thedwarves.
Meghan (11:23):
I just love that.
The guy was like are youpranking me?
Like yes, I just have spare,like friends around that want to
like lay in the hospital, thathappen to be dwarves.
Brittany (11:33):
So the stats we were talking about earlier is women
being in male dominatedindustries.
So I guess part of the traumaof dealing with that is being in
a male dominated industry.
So what's that like?
How do you deal with that?
Meghan (11:46):
Yes, so I like to call her triple board certified, but
she calls it board certifiedwith a certification in trauma.
My version sounds better, sowe're going with it.
Brittany (11:57):
Trauma as in dealing with men?
Dr. Mallory (12:02):
I mean yeah, yeah, there's definitely some male
egos that involve some majortrauma in the hospital.
But honestly, I got trauma, Idid training in trauma because
it's easier to get a job at atrauma center and I really love
trauma and I love critical carebecause I like thinking about
(12:23):
physiology and the whole bodyand how different body systems
interact physiology and thewhole body and how different
body systems interact.
For example, you know if apatient has a perforated
intestine or you know rupturedcolon, they need a surgery.
That's the mechanics part.
You take that part of the colonout but then the body goes
through a whole reactionafterwards, and so I really like
(12:45):
understanding the physiology ofhow the reaction affects the
patient and dealing with kind ofthe aftermath of that.
Meghan (12:53):
So you like dealing with the whole enchilada.
Brittany (12:55):
Enchiladas, really, while we're talking about
intestines, I like the analogy,but a little gross.
Dr. Mallory (13:05):
Well, it is the truth and I like looking at how
everything's connected versus,you know, just fixing one part
and moving on.
I think it's nice to know andunderstand what else is going to
be impacted.
Meghan (13:17):
Anyone up for chips and a margarita?
Brittany (13:20):
Clearly, Meghan just came from a formaldehyde lab
talking about all this food.
What about role models?
I mean, Meghan is my role modelwhen it comes to our focus on
food during this interestingconversation.
But what about you?
You have like role models atwork or growing up.
Dr. Mallory (13:39):
I mean, honestly, there were a lot of female
surgeons that I got to work withas a trainee and they really
showed me that it's possible tohave a work-life balance and to
be a surgeon and have a lifeoutside of the hospital, and I
don't mean just with family, youknow.
I think they juggle a lot ofdifferent things and the
profession used to kind of beoff limits to women because it
(14:01):
was prohibitive to having afamily, and I think that barrier
has really been broken down bya lot of the women who have come
before me.
Meghan (14:09):
That's really cool to hear you see it dramatized on TV
shows and movies so muchdifferently.
Dr. Mallory (14:14):
Oh gosh, Don't get me started on the inaccuracies
of doctors in TV shows andmovies.
Brittany (14:21):
After all these seasons of watching Grey's
Anatomy, I'm not qualified to bea surgeon.
Dr. Mallory (14:26):
Oh, but you're probably qualified to have sex
in a call room or in a closet inthe hospital.
Brittany (14:31):
Fair enough, fair enough.
This sounds like a round twopodcast coming on.
Dr. Mallory (14:35):
Yeah, definitely.
Brittany (14:39):
What about growing up Like did you know?
You always wanted to be adoctor.
Dr. Mallory (14:42):
You know, interestingly, I was never a
great student growing up.
In middle school and highschool it took me a while to
kind of figure out that I likedlearning and I think I just
hadn't quite figured out myinterest yet.
I was put in like an honorsgeometry class and I remember my
teacher just yelling at me fornot applying myself and I just
thought it was because I didn'thave the intelligence to do it.
(15:05):
You know, I grew up with anolder sister that was very smart
and she just, you know, kind ofhad this you know shadow cast
and everyone expected me to beas smart as her and I just, you
know, wasn't quite ready tocommit to school at that age.
Meghan (15:26):
So in your head were you always imagining being a
surgeon.
Dr. Mallory (15:30):
Yeah, you know, when I realized that I wanted to
go into a pre-health field andI kind of clicked into science
and found my interest in, youknow, human physiology, I knew
that I wanted to do you knowsomething with my hands and be a
surgeon.
Meghan (15:45):
So you talk a little bit about your sister and kind of
casting that shadow.
Do you think that you knowthinking about when you were
talking about being in highschool and not applying yourself
and not thinking you were assmart like it all had to do with
Mary Ellen?
Brittany (16:07):
I'm guessing Mary Ellen's, your sister in question
here.
Meghan (16:12):
It is Well for the crowd .
It's Mallory's sister, but shetaught herself Japanese at nine
years old, took a Spanish classfrom a Japanese speaking
instructor, so just kind of offthe charts in the intelligence
standpoint.
So I could see like that's apretty specific shadow to be
cast on Mallory.
Dr. Mallory (16:32):
Oh yeah, I know, we always went to the same school
growing up and the teachersdefinitely expected me to be the
same kind of goody two shoesthat she was.
And I think, because I wasn't,you know, as interested in
school I was always, I alwaysfelt like kind of a
disappointment to teachers.
And you know it's funny, when Ifinally did figure out my
(16:53):
interest in science and I was,you know, kind of interested in
human physiology, I asked my momwhat's the most prestigious job
someone can have?
And she said Well, you know,it's probably a doctor.
And and I think that in there Idecided like I'm going to
become a doctor, to one up mysister and I'm probably a doctor
today because I wanted tocompete with her.
Brittany (17:15):
I don't blame you.
Intelligence comes in manyfacets and I think too, like at
a young age, it's very differentfor a lot of people.
I mean, obviously you and yoursister are like a great example,
right, like you know she's oneway, you're another way.
Like I'm sure you're notdrawing.
You know geometry figures onyour patients to figure out the
angle, you know on which to pullsomething out Exactly.
(17:35):
But you know there's stupid onesfor sure that obviously sit on
pool balls and I hope we getbetter as a society, recognizing
that intelligence doesn'talways look book smart.
Meghan (17:52):
Clearly, Mallory has some book smart there.
I think there's probably a fewbooks in medical school.
Brittany (18:01):
I hope so.
I hope so.
Well, this has been a veryenlightening podcast, so thank
you, Mallory, for sharing yourexperiences.
As we leave today's listeners,what would you have like one
piece of advice if they'reinterested in being a doctor, or
to you know, maybe be a betterpatient other than maybe don't
put things up your butt or drinkcoffee in your living room.
Dr. Mallory (18:22):
Yeah, you know, definitely for patients out
there.
Definitely for patients outthere, don't put anything out
there that doesn't belong upthere.
For anyone else I would say youknow, focus on relationships,
especially in your 20s.
Build really good relationshipsand never sacrifice a
relationship for work or forwhatever else you think in the
moment is more important,because you never know when that
(18:43):
relationship is going to helpyou in one way or another.
And unfortunately, as we getolder, it's harder to meet
people and harder to build thosestrong relationships.
So really focus on that andnever sacrifice it.
Meghan (18:55):
Some sound advice and really remember.
The butt acts as a vacuum, sobe careful what you put on there
.
Brittany (19:01):
That is some great advice, I guess, from both ends.
No pun intended, but yeah, Iagree.
You know, as you get older itis harder to meet people and
form relationships, and you domake a lot of sacrifices I think
some people do when they'reyounger, and it's always nice to
kind of hear that from somebodythat's older and just echo it,
keep it in mind.
And of course, Meghan had toend with the butt stuff.
(19:23):
So just make sure it has aflared base.
Meghan (19:27):
It's the end, though, but if you yourself have
ambition, drive and booze inyour system, we would love to
have you as a guest or hear yourideas.
Emailfearlesslyfemaleuncensored@
gmail.
com.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com