‘Talk Show’ Explores Careers in Medicine

“Questions from the audience?” UC Irvine professor Shin Lin asked his more than 300 freshmen Monday night.

No takers. Lin pressed on, grilling his guest about her background--when she decided to become a doctor and how she went about it. Sitting to Lin’s right, Dr. Marian Chandler explained that she has long wanted to become a doctor.

Relaxing behind his Jay Leno-esque desk with a prop microphone, Lin continued quizzing his guest.

The class is intended to broaden the students’ horizons by exploring the other fields they might want to pursue, with or without a medical degree. Lin and Chandler know that three out of four students who apply to medical school are rejected and that some specialty fields are saturated with doctors. Some students learned both realities Monday.

Teaching the 10-week course “Introduction to Biomedical Research and Careers” in a talk-show format is nothing new to Lin, who recently marked his first anniversary as the dean of the college’s School of Biological Sciences.

While teaching at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Lin used the talk-show idea, teaching the class in a mode perhaps more interesting to students than a traditional format, he said. He brought the idea to UCI this semester.

“Students don’t need another lecture at this time of night,” Lin said. “Most [guest speakers] don’t like to talk about themselves. Students may more naturally ask questions.”

Some sessions are quieter than others, Lin said, but that doesn’t hinder him. “I do have the burden to carry the conversation,” he said.

He urges his class to join in the format by asking questions. His assistant, Fran Allen, rewards the first inquirer with such items as a School of Biological Sciences highlighter, to be used for the many pages the student will read in his or her college career, and a candy bar to help the student stay awake to read.

Others who then begin asking questions, though, don’t get any rewards.

“There’s no ‘Jerry Springer’ stuff here,” joked Allen, who assisted Lin for five years at Johns Hopkins. “I don’t think I can handle that.

“I think it’s incredible,” she said. “It really does expose students to a multitude of opportunities. If their goal is to make a lot of money, being a doctor isn’t the only way to go.”

The one-credit class, with no exams, no notes, is voluntary, Lin said.

Part of its success, Allen said, is Lin’s ability to develop rapport with his students. “He’s a very honorable and dedicated guy,” she said.