Join hosts Hillary Acer, Lindsey Smith, Caleb Furnas and other Osmosis team members for an ongoing exploration of how to improve health and healthcare with prom...
Fighting the Deceiving Label of ‘Rare’: Zainab Alani, Fourth Year Student at University of Glasgow School of Medicine and Rare Conditions Advocate
To mark International Rare Disease Day, we're going to introduce you to a remarkable young woman, Zainab Alani, who is not letting her challenging rare condition stand in the way of her dream of becoming a physician. After noticing Zainab’s struggles with muscle weakness and fatigue at age 15, her mother – a physician – took her to doctors advocating for a diagnosis of the rare autoimmune condition generalized myasthenia gravis (MG). Unfortunately, a series of clinicians attributed her symptoms to her menstrual cycle and other errant causes and even accused Zainab of being ‘a lazy teenager.’ “Despite having that support and knowledge behind me, these doctors were dismissing my symptoms because of that deceiving label of rare,” Zainab explains to host Lindsey Smith. Wanting to spare others from this frustrating diagnostic odyssey, Zainab turned to advocacy once in medical school and is working with her sister and others through the organization Rare Aware Glasgow to raise awareness among the general public about rare conditions and to spur the medical community to adjust its perspective. “We don't expect medical professionals to know every single rare disease, we just want them to acknowledge their existence and not dismiss them when a family member or a patient brings them up as a differential diagnosis.” In this inspiring episode in our Year of the Zebra podcast series you’ll also learn about intersectionality creating burdens in medical diagnosis and a questionable basis for patients being denied access to new treatments.Mentioned in this episode:Rare Aware GlasgowThe Myasthenia Medic
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What Clinicians Can Learn About Managing Uncertainty: Dr. Jenny Moffett of RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dublin
Having the ability to manage uncertainty is helpful in all professions, but perhaps especially so in medicine where uncertainty abounds and the stakes for managing it are high. Despite that, medical students receive little training in this area, something which our guest today, Dr. Jenny Moffett of RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences in Dublin, is working to change. “There are approaches to uncertainty that can be learned. We can change our perspective and perceptions around uncertainty, stepping away from always viewing it as something aversive, but perhaps maybe looking at it with a little bit more curiosity and openness, and that's definitely a transformation that faculty can make,” says Dr. Moffett, the program director of the Postgraduate Diploma in Health Professions Education. In addition to a perspective shift, Moffett also believes providers should develop skills to talk about uncertainty with patients in an open and honest way. “Clinicians can say, I'm on this journey with you. I don't have all of the answers, but we have paths, we have options, and I'll be there with you as we work them out.” Join host Caleb Furnas as he explores Dr. Moffett’s fascinating work in this area which includes development of an immersive puzzle game that encourages students to address complex, ambiguous, and unpredictable issues.Mentioned in this episode:RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences
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The Role of Clinicians in Addressing Climate Change: Dr. Catharina Giudice, Climate and Human Health Fellow, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
The Role of Clinicians in Addressing Climate Change: Dr. Catharina Giudice, Climate and Human Health Fellow, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health “The healthcare system is in this interesting intersection when it comes to its roles and responsibilities as it pertains to climate change,” says our Raise the Line guest Dr. Catharina Giudice, a research fellow in climate and human health at Harvard University. As she explains to host Hillary Acer, the medical industry is a major producer of the greenhouse gasses that are contributing to serious health impacts on patients, especially those who are already vulnerable due to pre-existing conditions and economic struggles. Giudice, whose academic work focuses on healthcare sector climate preparedness, believes this paradox requires a response from clinicians. “There's so many small things that you can do as an individual clinician to make a difference in the climate change intersection.” Options include working to change hospital practices, educating peers and patients on the health impacts of climate change, and advocacy in the public policy arena. In this thought-provoking installment in our NextGen Journeys series, you’ll also learn how the healthcare delivery system is being affected by climate change, and about a new concentration in climate change and planetary health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.Mentioned in this episode:Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public HealthHarvard University Center for the EnvironmentPractice Greenhealth
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Tackle Every Opportunity: Nikolas Bletnitsky, Third Year Student at Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine
We continue our NextGen Journeys series today featuring fresh perspectives on education, medicine, and the future of health care with an impressive medical student who was brought to our attention by a previous podcast guest, Dr. Michael Foti, whom we'd like to thank for the recommendation. Nikolas Bletnitsky is in his third year at Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine, Middletown, but that's just one element in his medical education. Over the last several years, Nick has done extensive work in the field of OB-GYN -- completing clinical electives in Paris, France and Bologna, Italy, in addition to the Mayo Clinic -- where he has pursued his intense interest in a variety of subspecialties, including maternal fetal medicine. “Right now I'm doing a lot because I'm young and I have the energy and I want to see a lot to give me different perspectives on things so that I can incorporate them into my own practice,” he tells host Michael Carrese. Join us for a wide-ranging conversation in which you’ll learn about current practice in OB-GYN in the US and Europe, neonatal palliative care and advances in fetal surgery, along with what Nick has learned about having crucial conversations with the parents of patients when tough news needs to be discussed.Mentioned in this episode: Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine,
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Managing AI’s Threat to the Provider-Patient Relationship: Dr. Colin Doherty, Head of School at Trinity College Dublin School of Medicine
Today, our ongoing global tour of medical education on Raise the Line stops in the Republic of Ireland by way of a conversation with the head of school at Trinity College Dublin School of Medicine, Dr. Colin Doherty, who is in the midst of revising the school’s curriculum. In that process, particular attention is being given to how medical education needs to change to adjust to the potentially transformative impacts on health, healthcare and society from artificial intelligence, big data and climate change. As Dr. Doherty tells host Caleb Furnas, a recent creative workshop with internal and external stakeholders produced reassuring results. “It was really gratifying that central to the future of our workforce is not technology, but the humanity of the healthcare worker.” The widely-published epileptologist believes achieving that will require a regulatory framework that strikes the right balance. “Let AI help us with making the right choices for treatment, but don't put it between us and our relationship with the patient.” There is much to contemplate in this fascinating discussion of advances in understanding epilepsy, managing change in academia, instituting love as an outcome measure, and the many challenges and opportunities of leading a 300-year-old medical school into the future.Mentioned in this episode: Trinity College Dublin School of Medicine
If you like this podcast, please share it on your social channels. You can also subscribe to the series and check out all of our episodes at www.osmosis.org/raisethelinepodcast
Join hosts Hillary Acer, Lindsey Smith, Caleb Furnas and other Osmosis team members for an ongoing exploration of how to improve health and healthcare with prominent figures and pioneers in healthcare innovation such as Chelsea Clinton, Mark Cuban, Dr. Ashish Jha, Dr. Eric Topol, Dr. Vivian Lee and Sal Khan as well as senior leaders at organizations such as the CDC, National Institutes of Health, Johns Hopkins University, WHO, Harvard University, NYU Langone and many others.