Nina Perryman, PhD and Anna Lo, PhD are two synthetic organic chemists embarking on a journey of post-PhD self-recovery. Join us as we try to demystify the complex world of academia, offering guidance, advice, and anecdotes that spill the tea on what it's like to lose your 20s to graduate school.
Basically, How To Choose a Graduate School (feat. Prof. Jared Shaw)
On this week's episode of Basically Doctors, we are back with our PhD advisor Prof. Jared Shaw to talk about what to do once you have gotten in to a chemistry graduate program. In this episode we talk about what to do at graduate school visitations, what NOT to do, questions to ask professors, and more. Hope you enjoy!
Music: Fireplace by Joakim Karud
27 Nov 2024
Basically, How To Get Into Graduate School (Feat. Prof. Jared Shaw)
Prof. Jared Shaw shares expert insights on how to get into a chemistry graduate program, covering key factors from undergraduate research to letters of recommendation.
28 Mar 2024
Ep009. Basically Anyone Can Start a Podcast (Feat. Aidan Looby)
On this week’s episode of basically doctors, we have our first guest of the podcast, Aidan Looby from Synthesis Workshop!!!! (https://www.youtube.com/c/SynthesisWorkshopVideos) In this episode, we talk about why Aidan decided to start his own podcast (formerly Under the Scope), his recent merge with Synthesis Workshop, and how we feel about science communication, the state of publishing, and much much more!
Don't forget to follow Synthesis Workshop and Basically Doctors on social media! Also- leave a comment down below to tell us what you think!If you have a topic you'd like us to discuss, email us at ph14.doctors@gmail.com!
Music: Fireplace by Joakim Karud
REFERENCES
https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/strategy/strategy-2020-2024/our-digital-future/open-science/open-access_en
https://tidsskriftet.no/en/2020/08/kronikk/money-behind-academic-publishing
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1557876/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6740196/
https://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/nihgps/html5/section_8/8.2.2_nih_public_access_policy.htm#:~:text=Under%20the%20policy%20NIH%2Dfunded,the%20official%20date%20of%20publication.
https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2016/nsf16009/nsf16009.jsp
2 Feb 2024
Basically, Be An Empath
On this week’s episode of basically doctors, we discuss dealing with conflict both in real life and in graduate school! We talk about how we dealt with our personal conflict in graduate school, what we think leads to conflict and disagreements, and spill the tea on how we eventually made up!
Getting to Yes - https://amzn.to/3UpiSeG
**Some links may be affiliate links**
Don't forget to follow us on social media and leave a comment down below to tell us what you think!
If you have a topic you'd like us to discuss, email us at ph14.doctors@gmail.com!
Music: Fireplace by Joakim Karud
TIME STAMPS:
00:00 - You can either be right or you can be loved
05:34 - Choose your battles!
14:33 - Misunderstandings
20:06 - You can either be right or you can be loved
30:25 - You can't let conflict get in the way of your work!
35:00 - Dealing with when you completely disagree with someone
39:29 - Hot take... you don't always have to be right!
50:00 - You also don't always have to agree with everyone
51:30 - How did we make up?
17 Jan 2024
Basically, Write Your Dissertation Like The Simpsons
On this week’s episode of basically doctors, Nina and Anna discuss how they wrote their dissertation featuring productivity tips and organizational tools. You don’t want to miss this ;)
Check out some of Nina's other thoughts about data: https://ninaperryman.com/blog/my-biggest-mistakes-in-grad-school
How to Take Smart Notes: https://amzn.to/41XOeuu
Building a Second Brain: https://amzn.to/48zHaH1
Getting Things Done: https://amzn.to/3O5eqxB
Tiago Forte's Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TiagoForte
**Some links may be affiliate links**
Don't forget to follow us on social media and leave a comment down below to tell us what you think!
If you have a topic you'd like us to discuss, email us at ph14.doctors@gmail.com!
Music: Fireplace by Joakim Karud
11 Jan 2024
Basically, Are You Qualified To Be A Doctor?
On this week's episode, of basically doctors, we talk about our process for studying for our PhD qualifying exams at UC Davis! We cover what a qualifying exam is, how we prepared, and how we dealt with our stress and the stress of the people around us. Hope you enjoy!
Find Nina's elaborated thoughts here :
https://ninaperryman.com/blog/how-i-studied-for-my-qualifying-exam-part-1
https://ninaperryman.com/blog/how-i-studied-for-my-qualifying-exam-part-2
Don't forget to follow us on social media and leave a comment down below to tell us what you think!
If you have a topic you'd like us to discuss, email us at ph14.doctors@gmail.com!
Music: Fireplace by Joakim Karud
00:00 - The shoe's gonna drop!
00:11 - Introduction
00:59 - What is a qualifying exam?
03:49 - Qualifying exams at different schools, UC Davis vs Yale
06:13 - Qualifying exams at Yale
10:47 - Was it hard to prepare for the research part of the exam?
13:06 - What is a PhD candidate
16:04 - How Anna prepared - how teaching helps you prepare
31:53 - How Nina prepared - fielding questions
35:46 - IMPOSTER SYNDROME!!
42:42 - Make yourself proud and believe in yourself :)
44:22 - QE's are a cool opportunity
45:51 - Unpopular opinion, QEs are fun
52:04 - Presentations need to be a STORY
53:19 - Confidence is KEY
55:15 - Crowdsource from people who have gone through it before!
59:50 - Nina's Reese's meltdown
1:02:14 - Moral of the story :)
20 Dec 2023
Basically, Are Postdocs Bad for Industry
Since we talked about Nina's postdoc journey in our last episode, we decided to close out 2023 with the story of Anna's journey from graduate school to her job in the pharmaceutical industry. We talk about whether post docs are good/bad for industry, why you might want to do a postdoc before going into industry, and what ultimately led Anna to choose to do a postdoc. Hope you enjoy!
Don't forget to follow us on social media and leave a comment down below to tell us what you think!
If you have a topic you'd like us to discuss, email us at ph14.doctors@gmail.com!
Music: Fireplace by Joakim Karud
13 Dec 2023
Basically, Quit Your Postdoc and Leave the Country
In this week's episode, we wanted to give a little backstory about what led Nina to move abroad earlier this year. You'll hear Nina share her story about quitting her post doc, our thoughts on what it means to be a scientist, and end with what we hope to provide by starting this podcast. Hope you enjoy!
Don't forget to follow us on social media and let us know what you think in our post-show poll!
6 Dec 2023
Basically, How to Pick a Graduate Research Lab
After a brief hiatus for Thanksgiving, we're back with an episode dedicated to how we picked our graduate research lab! We start by speaking generally about what you should look out for when doing lab rotations for your PhD (or masters!) in STEM, then end with Anna's story of how she navigated her first few quarters of graduate school. Hope you enjoy!
15 Nov 2023
Basically, Mental Health Matters
!! Trigger Warning !! In this episode we discuss sensitive topics including anxiety, depression, and death by suicide. Please proceed with discretion!
In this week's episode we talk about mental health in graduate school, including how our mental health was prior to graduate school, how graduate school impacted our mental health, and how we chose to cope.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
The 988 Lifeline provides 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress, prevention and crisis resources for you or your loved ones, and best practices for professionals in the United States.
Contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline if you are experiencing mental health-related distress or are worried about a loved one who may need crisis support.
Call or text 988
Chat at 988lifeline.org (988lifeline.org)
8 Nov 2023
So Basically We Graduated... Now What?
Every podcast has to start somewhere, so please enjoy our first episode of "Basically Doctors," AirPods audio and all! In our inaugural episode, we introduce ourselves and talk about the journey of pursuing a PhD. We also engage in an honest conversation about our experiences in graduate school, how we decided to pursue a PhD, and provide some insights to help you decide if graduate school is right for you.
Follow us on Instagram and X/Twitter to stay updated on upcoming episodes, which will cover topics related to graduate-level STEM education, mental health, and our attempts to make sense of the past seven years of our lives.
If you have a topic you'd like us to discuss email us at ph14.doctors@gmail.com (ph14.doctors@gmail.com) or fill out this anonymous form https://forms.gle/iSgz2wCtmuKuv8Tp7 (https://forms.gle/iSgz2wCtmuKuv8Tp7)
Reach and audience
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YouTube views
16,535
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
1 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
8 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 28 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
13
Social presence
0
YouTube
72
Engagement
32
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