The Podcast by KevinMD

Latest Episodes:

Culinary medicine and why clinicians should garden Jan 18, 2022

Show notes

"For too long have gardeners allowed our food supply to be dependent on mysterious logistics. We have criminally allowed our own food growing capacity to be displaced. Growing something you eat and trading with people who grow what you don't are ways to be less reliant on Big Food and its failed connections and also to help your neighbors.

We have the opportunity to subvert the dominant supply chain. Local gardens and gardeners should be at the center of a new, three-part food supply chain — grow, share, eat."

John La Puma is an internal medicine physician and author of ChefMD's Big Book of Culinary Medicine. He can be reached at What is Nature Therapy?

He shares his story and discusses his KevinMD article, "Grow, share, eat: We have the opportunity to subvert the dominant supply chain."

Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode.

Analyzing the deficit of African-Americans in academic medicine Jan 17, 2022

Show notes

"The lack of diversity in academic medicine is a significant issue that can compromise our patients' health and the education of our training clinicians. There is a vicious cycle in which there are few black academic physicians, leading to seemingly fewer available mentors for black students, which in turn leads to even less of them pursuing careers in academic medicine. As a medical community at large, it is imperative that we understand the implications of this problem, not just on the black patient population, but on the nation as a whole. Its effects ripple through our economy and finances, public health/disease transmission, and educational infrastructure. Knowing this, it is more important now than ever that we promote diversity in academic medicine and to be more specific, that we encourage students, residents, and fellows to pursue such careers."

Mary Branch is a cardiology fellow.

She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "Analyzing the deficit of African-Americans in academic medicine."

Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode.

Empathy and decreasing medical liability Jan 16, 2022

Show notes

"Through empathy-based training, physicians and other health care providers learn the skills to have honest informed consent discussions without causing undo fear, while also preparing patients for all possible outcomes. Empathic skills make for better physicians, better communications, and better conversations for all outcomes.

With a strong alliance, a reduction in medical professional liability claims is the result of increased trust, better understanding and expectations of all possible outcomes, and knowledge that physicians deeply care about their patients, because, when it comes to health care, empathy matters."

Helen Riess is a psychiatrist and author of The Empathy Effect: Seven Neuroscience-Based Keys for Transforming the Way We Live, Love, Work, and Connect Across Differences.

She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "The role of empathy in improving patient care and decreasing medical liability."

Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode.

Superheroes can have disabilities, too Jan 15, 2022

Show notes

"Today, more students are disclosing and speaking out about their disability and how their disability is an asset to their way of learning and what they can bring to their field. Across college campuses, more student-led organizations are forming to promote initiatives to identify and remove structural and systematic barriers to ensure equal access in all aspects of the educational experience. While aging clinicians may have had to live in the shadows with their disabilities, we have a new generation of aspiring clinicians who want to be "out" with their disability and share their experiences to bring more representation to their respective fields. It seems like a new generation of real superheroes is in the making."

Marie Lusk is a social worker and disability specialist.

She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "Superheroes can have disabilities, too."

Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode.

What medicine can learn from the antiwork movement Jan 14, 2022

Show notes

"The classic thinking has always been that a career in medicine is more than just a job; it is a passion, a calling, an anchor of identity. There is a pervasive stigma in medicine against the self-advocacy of the worker. Bedside care providers who push back against their work/life imbalance are often made to feel guilty for putting themselves before their patients. Antiwork challenges those assumptions and inspires health care workers to reevaluate what role they want their jobs to play in their lives. The empathy and work ethic that inspired most of us to choose a career in medicine are not inexhaustible resources, and they should not be treated as such. Doctors and nurses can and should use their newfound bargaining power to demand better compensation, improved working conditions, and protected time to enjoy life outside of the hospital or clinic. The past year of working in medicine has been so enormously challenging that it has caused many to question how much we are willing to sacrifice for our jobs. This is a painful but necessary process. Learning from some of the lessons of antiwork can hopefully help us find a new balance that still allows us to care for our patients while taking better care of ourselves."

Brendan James Flanagan is an emergency physician.

He shares his story and discusses his KevinMD article, "What medicine can learn from the antiwork movement."

Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode.

Our patients become an inextricable part of our lives Jan 13, 2022

Show notes

"The weekend after Isabelle's discharge, I take my shoes outside onto the driveway. The sky is a brilliant blue, and green tinges of leaves poke through shells of buds; the wind slips through my fleece. I scrub the spots of blood with an antibacterial wipe, and tan shoe polish comes off instead, leaving the burgundy spots haloed and dark. Next, I smear shoe polish into the leather and brush away the brown curds of polish with a horsehair brush. The drops of blood remain.

All these years later, those spots are still there, and I think of Isabelle every time I wear those tan shoes. And like those marks on my shoes, memories of babies and families remain etched in my mind—stories of failures, tragedies, successes, and joys. Our patients become an inextricable part of our lives. We carry their stories with us."

Benjamin Rattray is a neonatologist.

He shares his story and discusses his KevinMD article, "Our patients become an inextricable part of our lives."

Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode.

How to end the misinformation pandemic Jan 12, 2022

Show notes

"The way to do this is by recognizing the power of words. I don't mean fervently declaring one's position and arguing why those who disagree are wrong. There has been way too much of this, and health professionals are no exception. Rather what's needed to deliver the best health outcomes for the most people is listening, engaging and having something to offer that misinformation peddlers don't — interventions that work.

It's also time to recognize the importance of innovating how those of us in health professions communicate. COVID has made it clear that getting your message across is an essential part of health care — the best interventions in the world can do nothing if people do not believe in them. Effective communication strategies should be pursued, studied, innovated and taught with the same rigor as the biological aspects of medicine.

Biomedical innovation has been a resounding success in creating vaccines and treatments to fight the COVID pandemic. Now let's put the same effort into understanding how to tackle the health care concerns of different communities and how to reach across the political divide with empathy. That's how we end the misinformation pandemic."

Ellen F. Foxman is an immunologist.

She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "How to end the misinformation pandemic."

Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode.

Stress: Is it time to expose the alcohol con? Jan 11, 2022

Show notes

"Stress is just part of the alcohol con trick. And the truth is that every benefit we have ever imagined alcohol giving us it doesn't. It is a drug, and it works the same way as all other drugs.

Many of my clients are doctors and nurses, and some are in the role of advisor for alcohol issues, and yet are themselves caught in the alcohol trap. This shows how endemic the problems are and how little is understood.

The great news here is that when you start waking up to the truth, you are beginning to get wise, and that gives you the power to get wiser still."

Michaela Weaver is an alcohol coach.

She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "Stress: Is it time to expose the alcohol con?"

Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode.

Crowdfunding to pay health bills Jan 10, 2022

Show notes

"Crowdfunding models of paying for health care maximize the probability that all members' eligible bills will be paid in full each month. These models come without the burdens of skyrocketing premiums and deductibles. Unlike traditional models, members aren't chained to yearly contracts and have more flexibility and autonomy with crowdfunded models."

Andy Schoonover is a health care executive.

He shares his story and discusses his KevinMD article, "Open enrollment: It's time to leave your insurance plan behind."

Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode.

Is direct primary care the answer to insurance-based problems? Jan 09, 2022

Show notes

"Virtually everyone understands the importance of major medical insurance as it relates to unexpected high-dollar care for severe injuries and significant medical conditions, but the value equation for health insurance is quite different when applied to coverage for primary care services.

The full potential cost for primary care services is neither expensive nor unpredictable. Routine and preventive care and the management of most acute illnesses and the majority of chronic disease processes by primary care physicians would be quite affordable for most Americans even if they had no health insurance. The involvement of health insurance in the relationship between patients and their primary care physicians introduces several major challenges and disadvantages. Here are the six primary areas of concern."

Troy A. Burns is an internal medicine physician and author of Medical Answers Now!: How Direct Primary Care Guarantees Fast Access to Your Doctor.

He shares his story and discusses his KevinMD article, "6 major disadvantages of insurance involvement in primary care."

Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode.

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