Focus on Global Medicine: Recent Episodes
ReachMD
As HIV/AIDS therapies take hold in Botswana, developing countries strive for clean and potable water, and India battles against malaria, we in the US ask - How are we working to promote health and longevity for people around the world? ReachMD investigates a range of medical issues that transcend the international landscape.
Guest: Mary Beth Pfeiffer
With cases being reported in every state and across 80 countries, Lyme disease has become one of the fastest growing vector-borne illnesses in the world. But have you ever wondered how this global health threat came to be? That’s what journalist Mary Beth Pfeiffer investigates in her book, Lyme: The First Epidemic of Climate Change, and with the ReachMD team.
Host: Maurice Pickard, MD
Guest: Beth Macy
Beth Macy’s Dopesick is a heartbreaking trajectory that illustrates how America’s twenty-plus year struggle with opioid addiction has persisted for this long and has become so firmly entrenched in practically every corner of our country—from desolate cities to once idyllic farm towns.
Tune in as Beth Macy joins Dr. Maurice Pickard to illuminate the persistent and often conflicting gaps in the treatment and criminal-justice landscapes while shining a hopeful light on the heroes battling the worst drug epidemic in American history.
Host: Michael Greenberg, MD
Guest: Michele Meltzer, MD
Rheumatology services are limited or non-existent in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa. Basic diagnostic tests, biological agents, and treatments are either unavailable or not affordable for the majority of people living in that area.
This shortage results in patients not having the benefit of early diagnosis and management of relatively cheap and cost-effective therapies. Instead, they present at advanced stages of disease with otherwise preventable morbidity.
Host Michael Greenberg chats with Dr. Michele Meltzer, Associate Professor at Jefferson University Hospitals in Philadelphia and President of the non-profit organization, Rheumatology for All, about providing medical training and care for countries with limited or non-existent rheumatology services.
Host: Brian P. McDonough, MD, FAAFP
Cigarette smoking is one of the leading cause of preventable death in North America, an unfortunate statistic that is rapidly replicating across the rest of the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) predicts based on current trends that cigarette smoking will kill a billion people this century.
But what can be done to reverse this trend?
Host Brian McDonough talks with David Sweanor, Adjunct Professor of Law, and Chair of the advisory committee for the Centre for Health Law, Policy and Ethics, at the University of Ottawa. Mr. Sweanor has been spearheading efforts to reduce cigarette smoking nationally and globally.
Host: Matt Birnholz, MD
Guest: Luanne Freer, MD
Practicing medicine at 17,000 feet brings a unique set of challenges for doctors, including altitude-related sicknesses, IV fluids freezing, and the need for duct tape to serve as an essential medical tool.
Dr. Matt Birnholz chats with Dr. Luanne Freer, Founder and Director of Everest ER, a medical clinic at Mount Everest Base Camp serving Everest climbers, support staff, and the local Nepalese population.
To find out more information about Everest ER, please visit http://www.everester.org.
Host: Andrew Wilner, MD, FACP, FAAN
Guest: Lawrence Loh, MD
Almost two-thirds of medical students expect to join a medical mission during medical school and their medical early careers. Yet despite positive intent, such short-term experiences may exacerbate global health inequities and even cause harm.
Dr. Lawrence Loh, Adjunct Professor at the University of Toronto Dalla Lana School of Public Health, joins host Dr. Andrew Wilner to talk about the benefits and pitfalls of medical mission work for the communities being served.
Host: John J. Russell, MD
Infectious disease has the terrifying power to disrupt everyday life on a global scale, overwhelming public and private resources and bringing trade and transportation to a grinding halt.
Host Dr. John Russell sits down with Dr. Osterholm to talk about the book Deadliest Enemy: Our War Against Killer Germs. They talk about how we could wake up to a reality in which many antibiotics no longer cure, bioterror is a certainty, and the threat of a disastrous influenza pandemic looms ever larger. Only by understanding the challenges we face can we prevent the unthinkable from becoming the inevitable.
Host: John J. Russell, MD
Host Dr. Russell sits down with Dr. Steven Hatch, an infectious disease specialist and author of the book, Inferno: a Doctor's Ebola Story, about his experience in Liberia during the heart of the Ebola crisis.
Dr. Steven Hatch first came to Liberia in November 2013, to work at a hospital in Monrovia. Six months later, several of the physicians Dr. Hatch had mentored and served with were dead or barely clinging to life, and Ebola had become a world health emergency. Hundreds of victims perished each week; whole families were destroyed in a matter of days; so many died so quickly that the culturally taboo practice of cremation had to be instituted to dispose of the bodies. With little help from the international community and a population ravaged by disease and fear, the war-torn African nation was simply unprepared to deal with the catastrophe.
A physician’s memoir about the ravages of a terrible disease and the small hospital that fought to contain it, Inferno is also an explanation of the science and biology of Ebola: how it is transmitted and spreads with such ferocity. And as Dr. Hatch notes, while Ebola is temporarily under control, it will inevitably re-emerge―as will …
Host: Andrew Wilner, MD, FACP, FAAN
Guest: John Kihm, MD
Host Dr. Andrew Wilner explores different opportunities to combine medicine with outside interests when off call.
Today, he talks with Dr. John Kihm, an internist in private practice in Durham, NC. who fell in love with North Carolina's Outer Banks and Ocracoke Island off Cape Hatteras while a 4th year medical student. He has found a way to combine his passion for volunteer medical work with his passion for flying by commuting to Ocracoke one weekend a month to conduct his special "house call" practice.
Host: John J. Russell, MD
Guest: Amy Mackey, MD
Hosts Dr. John Russell and Dr. Amy Mackey sit down to reflect on their individual and shared experiences participating in medical missions from their respective vantage points of family medicine and obstetrics & gynecology.
Host: Jennifer Caudle, DO
News about the Zika virus have dominated health headlines, but understandings about the full range of viral transmission routes, symptomatology, complications, and rising endemic zones remain unclear for many clinicians.
Joining Dr. Jennifer Caudle for updates in recognitions and treatment for Zika virus infection is Dr. Kecia Gaither, practicing OB/GYN and maternal fetal medicine specialist, and perinatal consultant at St. Lukes Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri. Most recently, Dr. Gaither served as Director of Perinatal Outreach at Montefiore Medical Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Prior to this post, she served as the Vice Chairman and Director of Maternal Fetal Medicine in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology at Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center. Dr. Gaither earned her MPH in health policy and management at Columbia University.
Host: John J. Russell, MD
A fascinating and shocking historical exposé, The Malaria Project is the story of America's secret mission to combat malaria during World War II—a campaign modeled after a German project which tested experimental drugs on men gone mad from syphilis. Karen M. Masterson, a journalist turned malaria researcher, uncovers the complete story behind this dark tale of science, medicine and war.
Host: Alan S. Brown, MD, FACC, FAHA, FNLA
Like in the United States, Canadian citizens contend with a high pediatric prevelance of lipid disorders, particularly familial hypercholesterolemia. However, perspectives on clinical care and standards public health priorities to address dyslipidemia differ markedly between these two countries. Can American practitioners and health policy experts alike benefit from Canadian approaches to lipidology?
Dr. Alan Brown welcomes Dr. Julie St. Pierre, Professor of Pediatrics at Sherbrooke University in Canada, to discuss pediatric lipid disorder management across North American borders.
Host: John J. Russell, MD
In recent years, malaria has emerged as a cause celebre for voguish philanthropists. Bill Gates, Bono, and Laura Bush are only a few of the personalities who have lent their names--and opened their pocketbooks--in hopes of stopping the disease. Still, in a time when every emergent disease inspires waves of panic, why aren't we doing more to tame one of our oldest foes? And how does a pathogen that we've known how to prevent for more than a century still infect 500 million people every year, killing nearly one million of them?
In The Fever, journalist Sonia Shah sets out to answer those questions, delivering a timely, inquisitive chronicle of the illness and its influence on human lives. Dr. John Russell hosts this fascinating discussion about her book.
Host: John J. Russell, MD
Over the past fifty years, more than three hundred infectious diseases have either newly emerged or reemerged, appearing in territories where they’ve never been seen before. Ninety percent of epidemiologists expect that one of them will cause a deadly pandemic sometime in the next two generations. But which one, and how?
In Pandemic: Tracking Contagions, from Cholera to Ebola and Beyond, prizewinning journalist Sonia Shah interweaves history, original reportage, and personal narrative to explore the origins of contagions, drawing parallels between cholera, one of history’s most deadly and disruptive pandemic-causing pathogens, and the new diseases that stalk humankind today.
Host: Brian P. McDonough, MD, FAAFP
Reporting from the Caribbean island of Bonaire, Dr. Brian McDonough provides an update on local public sentiments and concerns around the continuing spread of Zika virus infections across the world.
[Read the Article]
To some, end of life care in the United States is considered resource intensive, expensive, and inattentive to patients' needs. So how does the United States compare to other countries? A new study examined several health care measures at the end of life for cancer patients in five European countries, Canada and the United States.
Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine compared the health care experience for cancer patients older than 65, in Canada, Belgium, Germany, England, the Netherlands, Norway and the United States. They examined several clinical measures during the final six months of life.
The United States and Netherlands had the lowest percentage of patients dying in the hospital. The United States also had the fewest hospitalizations and the smallest number of days patients spent in the hospital. In contrast, intensive care admissions were twice as common in the United States compared to the other countries.
During the last six months of life, patients in Norway and Canada had higher hospital costs than patients in the United States. There was less spending in Germany and Belgium, but the lowest expenditures were in the Netherlands and …
Global health security is the protection of the health of people and societies worldwide. With diseases a plane ride or border crossing away, the importance of global health security has never been clearer. Patterns of global travel and trade pose greater opportunities for infectious diseases to emerge and spread nearly anywhere within 24 hours. The Ebola epidemic in West Africa, which has infected more than 28,000 people across 10 countries and has caused more than 11,200 deaths, highlights the importance of ensuring that every country is prepared to prevent, detect, and respond to outbreaks and emerging health threats.
In this session of Public Health Grand Rounds from the CDC, experts discuss how CDC, other U.S. government agencies, and global partners are working to promote global health security as an international priority and accelerate progress toward a world safe and secure from epidemics of infectious disease.
For more details on this Grand Rounds session and its participants, click here.
Host: Matt Birnholz, MD
Joining host Dr. Matt Birnholz is Sarah Marchal Murray, Chief Operating Officer at The END Fund, a private philanthropic initiative dedicated to controlling and eliminating neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Over 1.4 billion people globally are affected by one or more of the most common NTDs, including 875 million children. The END Fund focuses on tackling the five most prevalent NTDs: intestinal worms,schistosomiasis,lymphatic filariasis,trachoma, and river blindness.
Guest: Olufunmilayo (Funmi) Olopade, MD, FACP
Host: Maurice Pickard, MD
Host Dr. Maurice Pickard welcomes Olufunmilayo (Funmi) Olopade, MD, FACP, Walter L. Palmer Distinguished Service Professor of Medicine & Human Genetics, Associate Dean for Global Health, and Director of Center for Clinical Cancer Genetics at the University of Chicago Medicine, Chicago, IL. Dr. Olopade reviews the latest information and best practices in establishing an interdisciplinary program in improving chronic disease treatment worldwide. She reviews challenges and progress toward providing better education, research and training, and service infrastructures addressing global health issues within the United States and around the world.
Host: Frank Russomano
What are the continuing rehabilitation efforts in Haiti? And, how can you assist in the continual medical needs of this country? Host Frank Russomano welcomes pharmacist Ro Brual to discuss his special volunteer work in Haiti before, during and after the Haiti earthquake of 2010. Mr. Brual is a pharmacist and Associate Consultant of Medical Education at Eli Lilly & Company.
Guest: Shelly Batra, MD
Host: Maurice Pickard, MD
Multidrug Resistant (MDR) Tuberculosis is a growing public health epidemic in India. The non-profit organization Operation ASHA has expanded its role considerably over the past few years to stem this tide of TB transmission within both the poorest and the most prosperous communities, bringing innovative treatment protocols right to the patients' doorsteps. Dr. Shelly Batra, president of Operation ASHA, discusses the progress being made in this increasingly global public health campaign. Hosted by Dr. Maurice Pickard.
Guest: Simon Jensen, MBChB, FACEM, BSc(Hons), MSc(Dist)
Host: Mary Leuchars, MD
How common are snake bites in various parts of the world, and how many of these are venomous? What are the symptoms of envenomation, and how widely does the venom vary among snake species? Dr. Simon Jensen, founding director of the Global Snake Bite Initiative and clinical research supervisor at the University of Papua New Guinea's snake bite research project, discusses methods and treatments for snake bites. Dr. Mary Leuchars hosts.
Guest: Emmanuel Teye Adjase, MD
Host: Lisa Dandrea Lenell, PA-C, MPAS, MBA
In the past 40 years Medical Assistants have become a crucial part of Ghana's healthcare system. The MAs as their called are the equivalent to PAs in the U.S. For the past 40 years the 500 Medical Assistants have been trained at the Kintampo Rural Health Training School. Dr. Emmanuel Teye Adjase, Director of the school joins host Lisa D'Andrea Lenell to discuss the pros and cons of the health system in Ghana, how the school is changing with the times, and the country's vision for a national healthcare plan.
Guest: Karen Mulitalo
Host: Lisa Dandrea Lenell, PA-C, MPAS, MBA
Even though physician assistants aren't officially recognized in Australia, the University of Queensland is training its first class of PAs. The two-year program, which is comparable to the traditional US model, will graduate its first home-grown PAs in 2011. Host Lisa Dandrea Lenell talks with Karen Mulitalo, director of the PA program at Queensland, to discuss these new pioneers in the field, where the program is heading in the next five years and the challenges that lie ahead as they try to gain acceptance from the medical and general community.
Guest: Allan (Al) Forde, PA-C
Host: Lisa Dandrea Lenell, PA-C, MPAS, MBA
The physician assistant concept was introduced to Australia in 1999, a decade later there are two pilot programs underway and the first class of PAs started their training in July 2009. Al Forde, senior lecturer at James Cook University in Townsville, Australia, joins host Lisa Dandrea Lenell to discuss the future of PAs in Australian healthcare.
Guest: Nadia Miniclier, PA-C
Host: Lisa Dandrea Lenell, PA-C, MPAS, MBA
How does a country with only 2,500 practicing doctors provide medical care to 22 million people? That's the healthcare crisis facing the medical community and the people in Ghana. Host Lisa Dandrea Lenell looks at the healthcare landscape in this West African country, the issue of brain-drain, and the role of physician assistants — known there as "medical assistants" — in the country of Ghana, as compared to physician assistants in the US. Her guest is PA Nadia Miniclier, director of the Ghana Clinical Medicine Rotation at the PA program at the University of Utah.
Guest: Dorothy Armstrong
Host: Lisa Dandrea Lenell, PA-C, MPAS, MBA
In 2006 the Scottish National Health Service began a two-year pilot program to gauge whether physician assistants would be a positive addition to the country's medical community. Eighteen PAs from the United States came to Scotland to participate in the project. Dorothy Armstrong, program director for the Scottish National Health Service, joins host Lisa Dandrea Lenell to talk about the results of the study and the future of PAs in Scottish healthcare.
Guest: Catherine Hoelzer, MPH, PA-C
Host: Lisa Dandrea Lenell, PA-C, MPAS, MBA
Imagine your patients walking for two weeks just to receive medical care or operating your medical practice in mud huts without running water or electricity. Those are the conditions under which PA Catherine Hoelzer operates in South Sudan everyday. Ms. Hoelzer joins host Lisa Dandrea Lenell to talk about the daily challenges she faces and her goals for improving medical care in a third world country.
Guest: William Fenn, PhD, PA-C
Host: Lisa Dandrea Lenell, PA-C, MPAS, MBA
The physician assistant has become a vital part of the medical community in the United States, but can the model be replicated in other countries? England, Japan, Australia and the Netherlands are just a few of the countries across the world trying to bring a PA model to their medical force. Dr. Bill Fenn, vice president of the American Academy of Physician Assistants and professor at Western Michigan University, joins host Lisa Dandrea Lenell to discuss the challenges, politics and cultural differences to bringing the PA field to other countries across the globe.
Guest: Renee-Marie Stephano, JD
Host: Maurice Pickard, MD
What is medical tourism, and what does it mean for your patients? How should we react when our patients tell us they plan to leave the country for a procedure? Host Dr. Maurice Pickard takes a closer look at the medical tourism industry and its effects on physicians and patients with Renee-Marie Stephano, founder and president of the Medical Tourism Association and editor of The Medical Tourism Magazine.
Guest: Sathyu Sarangi
Host: Larry Kaskel, MD
Many of us remember the chemical disaster that occurred in Bhopal, India in December 1984. Twenty-five years after what many call the world's worst industrial disaster, estimates suggest more than 100,000 people, including children of survivors of the initial disaster, still suffer illnesses that are linked to this ongoing tragedy.
Sathyu Sarangi arrived in Bhopal the day after the disaster, expecting to serve for a short time as a volunteer in the short-term relief efforts. Instead, he has spent the last quarter-century advocating for the allocation of proper health care, clean water and other basic necessities for disaster-affected people in Bhopal. Today, Mr. Sarangi is the managing director of the Sambhavna Trust Clinic in Bhopal, a vibrant clinic that provides free medical care, community health education classes and other vital services to nearly 25,000 individuals.
As Mr. Sarangi explains, with many of the local hospitals struggling under the weight of corruption, inefficient management and a disinclination to care for disaster survivors and their children, Sambhavna offers the people of Bhopal hope for a better, healthier future. He joins host Dr. Larry Kaskel to share the story of the people of Bhopal and their ongoing struggle, and explains what we, as …
Guest: Subodh Kumar Singh, MD
Host: Maurice Pickard, MD
The Oscar-winning documentary film Smile Pinki depicts a little girl who undergoes a cleft palate operation, and experiences a very changed life as a result. Host Dr. Maurice Pickard welcomes Pinki’s surgeon, Dr. Subodh Kumar-Singh, director and chief of plastic surgery at GS Memorial Plastic Surgery Hospital in Varanasi, India. Dr. Kumar-Singh also works with the non-profit organization Smile Train, which provides cleft surgeries to underserved children worldwide. Tune in to learn more about the significant problem of cleft lip and palate in India, and worldwide.
Guest: Shelly Batra, MD
Host: Maurice Pickard, MD
Tuberculosis is a public health epidemic in India. What strategies is the non-profit organization Operation ASHA using to treat and prevent T.B. in India? Tune in to hear Dr. Shelley Batra, gynecologist and president of Operation ASHA, discuss the progress being made in treating T.B. patients in India, and why she has dedicated her time to addressing this epidemic. Dr. Maurice Pickard hosts.
Guest: Bernard Cohen, MD
Host: Michael Greenberg, MD
Hemangiomas are common in infants, and often appear within the first few weeks of life. Although many infant hemangiomas are unsightly but regress after a few months, others can be large and disfiguring. Until recently, there have been no ideal treatment options, but there has been recent success using propranolol to treat infant hemangiomas. Host Dr. Michael Greenberg explores this exciting new treatment with Dr. Buddy Cohen, professor of dermatology and pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Guest: Alex Haynes, MD
Host: Mary Leuchars, MD
Little is known currently about the amount and availability of surgical care worldwide. How does this challenge development of surgical care protocols globally and, by extension, the formation of international public health policies? Dr. Alex Haynes, surgical research fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health and Massachusetts General Hospital, and lead author of a recent study evaluating the WHO surgical safety checklist, joins host Dr. Mary Leuchars to address these clinical and political challenges.
Guest: Pride Chigwedere, MD, PhD
Host: Cathleen Margolin, PhD
Dr. Pride Chigwedere, an affiliate of the Harvard AIDS Initiative, speaks with host Dr. Cathleen Margolin about the role of government policy in the AIDS epidemic in South Africa. Dr. Chigwedere's research, as published in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes, pins fault on these frightening government rules for the loss of more than 3.8 million person-years in the early portion of this decade. How is South Africa now moving toward a state of accountability for this crucial aspect of their overall public health strategy?
Guest: Jack Franaszek, MD
Host: Shira Johnson, MD
Urgent care centers, boutique emergency rooms, free standing emergency departments and retail clinics: How do all of these non-traditional emergency facilities fit in the paradigm of emergency medicine? What works? What doesn't work? What is the best for the patient and for healthcare? Dr. Jack Franaszek, director of the emergency department at Lake Forest Hospital and clinical associate professor at University of Chicago, elaborates on the structure and the financial impact of the multi-tiered options of emergency care. He discusses how all of these tiers of acute healthcare are eating up dollars. And will it be for the better? Dr Shira Johnson hosts.
Guest: Mark Denison, MD
Host: Mark Nolan Hill, MD
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) made significant headlines in 2003, testing the mettle of our global public health infrastructure. Since then, we have seen robust evidence to suggest that bats were the original animal host for the virus, with the latest data coming from a synthetic SARS-like bat coronavirus. These most recent efforts were led by the research team of Dr. Mark Denison, professor of pediatrics and associate professor of microbiology and immunology at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. Dr. Denison details this work with host Dr. Mark Nolan Hill. From a global perspective, how does our ability to synthesize complex viruses like this one enhance our capacity to deal with threatening pathogens?
Guest: Tim Davis, MD, PhD
Host: Mary Leuchars, MD
Malaria control is challenging in regions of the world where there is intense year-round transmission of multiple species. What do the results from a recent clinical trial in one such area — Papua New Guinea — tell us about treating this disease? Principle investigator Dr. Tim Davis, a professor of medicine at the University of Western Australia, shares the results of his NEJM-published study on combination antimalarial therapies in children from Papua New Guinea. Hosted by Dr. Mary Leuchars.
Guest: William Collins, PhD
Host: Mary Leuchars, MD
Each year, over one million people die of malaria and its complications. Can malaria ever be eliminated, and is a malaria vaccine the answer? Speaking with host Dr. Mary Leuchars on this important subject is Dr. William Collins, senior biomedical research scientist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Collins has been a leading expert on malaria and antimalarial vaccine developments for the past 50 years. In this interview he describes a hopeful beginning for malaria vaccines, predicated on research from the past 20 years, toward eliminating the disease burden globally.
Guest: William Collins, PhD
Host: Mary Leuchars, MD
Malaria is the most deadly vector-borne disease in the world, and physicians need to be current on its biology, global disease burden, and advancing treatments. Dr. William Collins, senior biomedical research scientist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has been a leading expert on malaria and antimalarial vaccine developments for the past 50 years. He joins host Dr. Mary Leuchars to update listeners on the cycle of disease transmission, scope of burden across the world, and the path toward prevention and vaccine development.
Guest: Milton Ochieng, MD
Host: Maurice Pickard, MD
Guest: Frederick Ochieng
Growing up in Lwala, Kenya, a small rural community in western Africa, 45 minutes from the nearest paved road and two hours from a hospital, brothers Milton and Fred Ochieng' watched members in their community die simply because they could not get to a doctor quickly enough. As children, the brothers began to dream of building a healthcare facility in Lwala. In this segment, Dr. Milton Ochieng', a resident at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, and his younger brother, Fred Ochieng', a third-year medical student at Vanderbilt Medical School in Nashville, Tennessee, tell host Dr. Maurice Pickard the story of how, with the aid of grassroot efforts in the US, they empowered the local community in the village where they grew up to build a clinic of its own.
Guest: Milton Ochieng, MD
Host: Maurice Pickard, MD
Guest: Frederick Ochieng
Growing up in the isolated village of Lwala, Kenya, without electricity or running water, 45 minutes from the nearest paved road and two hours from the nearest hospital, the Ochieng' brothers wanted to do something to improve lives in their community. Host Dr. Maurice Pickard welcomes Dr. Milton Ochieng', a resident at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, and his younger brother, Fred Ochieng', a third-year medical student at Vanderbilt Medical School in Nashville, Tennessee. They tell the story of how their village pooled its resources to send them to the United States for an education, and the health clinic they returned to Lwala to build. Listen in to learn about the first 18 months at the Ochieng' Memorial Lwala Community Health Center, which has served 25,000 patients at the time of this story.
Guest: Barbara Sheer, PhD, FNP-C
Host: Bill Rutenberg, MD
Nurse Migration fulfills 5 to 10 percent of the nursing workforce in developed countries like the US, Canada and the UK. Is migration a sustainable solution to nursing shortages? Join Dr. Barbara Sheer, professor emeritus at the University of Delaware School of Nursing, in conversation with host Dr. Bill Rutenberg about the challenges and success of nurse migration in the US. They talk about underlying factors of the nursing shortages in the US and additional solutions. Dr. Sheer also shares worldwide efforts towards standardization of baccalaureate and advanced practicing nursing education.
Guest: Barbara Sheer, PhD, FNP-C
Host: Bill Rutenberg, MD
Nurse migration while not a new phenomenon, has surged as nursing shortages grow around the world. Dr. Barbara Sheer, professor emeritus at the University of Delaware School of Nursing, talks about the push-and-pull forces on the nursing workforce worldwide as well as the impact of migration. Surprisingly, migration is not just occurring from underdeveloped to developed countries. Learn more about the critical issues, including ethical recruiting, finding ways to evaluate vast and varying levels of nurse education, and integration of migrating nurses to a new culture. Hosted by Dr. Bill Rutenberg.
Guest: Arthur Matas, MD
Host: Mark Nolan Hill, MD
Our system for procuring organs in the United States is based on altruism, but unfortunately, this approach continues to leave supplies short of demand, creating a shortage in transplantable organs that causes unnecessary deaths. As a means to meet the demands in other countries around the world, various forms of payment have been considered, and some are in use today. Dr. Arthur Matas, professor of surgery and director of the renal transplant service at the University of Minnesota Medical School, explains how the concept of financial incentives for organ donation could be received by the American populace and within the medical community. Toward this end, how would a large-scale clinical trial, yet to be conducted on this model, help us to evaluate our options in the United States? Dr. Mark Nolan Hill hosts.
Guest: Arthur Matas, MD
Host: Mark Nolan Hill, MD
Since the mid-1970s, all 50 states have afforded citizens an opportunity to donate their organs for transplantation after death, either by signing the back of their drivers' license or through an organ donation card. Yet our supply of organs remains woefully short of demand for transplantation. What if we took steps, as many countries around the world have, to make organ donation near-mandatory? Dr. Mark Nolan Hill welcomes Dr. Arthur Matas, professor of surgery and director of the renal transplant service at the University of Minnesota Medical School, to weigh the effects of a ‘presumed consent' program for organ donation. In which countries has this practice brought a notable increase in organ donation, and what might be the pitfalls for such a program in the United States?
Guest: Parminder Suchdev, MD, MPH
Host: Jennifer Shu, MD, FAAP
We are seeing more physicians participate in short-term international medical work, owing in part to a greater awareness for global inequities in healthcare. What types of volunteer opportunities are available to physicians interested in making a difference overseas? What are some of the most common challenges and benefits of working abroad? Dr. Parminder Suchdev, assistant professor of pediatrics and global health at Emory University and a medical epidemiologist in the nutrition branch of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, talks with host Dr. Jennifer Shu about the personal commitment and professional preparations needed to make your journey a success.
Guest: Parminder Suchdev, MD, MPH
Host: Jennifer Shu, MD, FAAP
The health of people around the world is frequently said to be a global responsibility, one that is shared and often spearheaded by medical professionals in the United States. How can we help to build sustainable international medical projects? And what practical, financial and ethical issues must be considered before undertaking these endeavors? Dr. Parminder Suchdev, assistant professor of pediatrics and global health at Emory University and a medical epidemiologist in the nutrition branch of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, guides us through the experience of medical volunteerism overseas. How do you ensure that your efforts fulfill both your expectations and those of the community in which you serve? Further, what can you do to make certain that your work will be continued once you have returned home? Dr. Jennifer Shu hosts.
Guest: Michael Cappello, MD
Host: Jennifer Shu, MD, FAAP
Improving public health in the developing world depends on a number of factors, such as adequate financing, strong governmental and private support, and stable local infrastructures that include hospitals, laboratories, and health professionals. While funds allocated to tackle global diseases have risen in recent years, in many cases, local infrastructures have been neglected. What are the global implications of an imbalanced distribution of first-rate medicine? How can the local talent pool of health workers be encouraged to stay in their home countries and work to improve the health of people in their native lands?
Dr. Michael Cappello, professor of pediatrics, microbial pathogenesis, epidemiology and public health at the Yale School of Medicine, directs a Yale program, based in Ghana, that aims to build research capacity, strengthen academic infrastructure and create viable career opportunities for local scientists. He joins host Dr. Jennifer Shu to talk about efforts to keep home-grown research talent at home.
Guest: Michael Cappello, MD
Host: Jennifer Shu, MD, FAAP
Parasitic infections have a major impact on the developing world. Their modes of transmission, treatments, and preventions vary widely: Whereas one parasitic infection is nearing eradication without the use of any drug therapy or vaccine, innovative approaches involving immunology, molecular biology and genetics may be required for the elimination of another. Dr. Michael Cappello, professor of pediatrics, microbial pathogenesis, and epidemiology and public health at the Yale School of Medicine, talks with host Dr. Jennifer Shu about what we have learned from these cases, and how these principles can be applied to help reduce other infectious diseases.
Guest: Jill Grimes, MD
Host: Jennifer Shu, MD, FAAP
There are 340 million cases of curable sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) each year around the world. In developing countries, STDs and their complications are among the top five disease categories for which adults seek healthcare. Dr. Jill Grimes, practicing board-certified family physician in Austin, Texas, and associate editor of the 5-Minute Clinical Consult textbook, joins host Dr. Jennifer Shu to discuss notable facts and figures in the common struggle with curable sexually transmitted diseases. What medical advances in the United States might help patients with STDs across the globe, and vice versa: what lessons in effective care overseas can we apply to our work in the United States?
Guest: Bruce Aylward, MD, MPH
Host: Jennifer Shu, MD, FAAP
Nearly 90 percent of poliomyelitis cases are found in Nigeria and India, two countries where the virus remains endemic. Poor vaccine coverage, especially in Nigeria, has contributed to the transmission of disease, but could a newly licensed monovalent vaccine help eliminate the virus in the region? Is this strategy applicable in India as well, and how does this all fit into the worldwide effort to eradicate poliovirus? Dr. Bruce Aylward, director of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative at the World Health Organization (WHO), probes these questions and more with host Dr. Jennifer Shu, as he lays out WHO plans to move us closer to conquering polio over the next several years.
Guest: Steven Larson, MD
Host: Mark Nolan Hill, MD
Over the past several years, immigration and healthcare have become increasingly confounding issues for our nation's lawmakers and policy experts. In many circumstances, like those where a hospital weighs the possibility of transporting a migrant patient back to their country of origin, the two issues overlap, and with medical, legal, ethical and diplomatic ramifications. In some cases, as we learn from Dr. Steven Larson, assistant dean of global health at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and an expert on migrant health, some patients are even voluntarily leaving the United States for their home countries. Why is this occurring, and how does this put into perspective current concerns regarding the overall health of our migrant populations? Dr. Mark Nolan Hill hosts.
Guest: Steven Larson, MD
Host: Mark Nolan Hill, MD
Legal immigrants across the United States pay taxes, to be sure, but those who have spent less than five years in the country are often not able to qualify for any healthcare coverage under their state’s Medicaid program. If a patient in this situation develops an illness that requires long-term care, who pays? And how might this scenario financially impact a hospital’s capacity to maintain cost-effective strategies for care? Dr. Steven Larson, assistant dean of global health at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and an expert on migrant health, probes these questions and more with host Dr. Mark Nolan Hill.
Guest: Steven Larson, MD
Host: Mark Nolan Hill, MD
Lost in the ever-evolving diversity of the American populace, is what happens when one of our newest, or in some cases, undocumented immigrants, becomes extraordinarily ill. Under our current system, hospitals are often left to shoulder the logistical and financial burden of care. How are our hospitals coping with this responsibility, and how does this impact the care we can provide to these patients and more broadly, to all of our patients? Dr. Steven Larson, assistant dean of global health at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and an expert on migrant health, helps us sort through some of the key issues related to this far-reaching topic. Dr. Mark Nolan Hill hosts.
Guest: Edward Holmes, MD
Host: Bruce Bloom, DDS, JD
What is the status of biomedical research in Singapore? Several years ago, Dr. Edward Holmes, distinguished professor of medicine, vice chancellor and dean emeritus of health sciences at the University of California, San Diego, was invited to Singapore to take on the role of executive deputy chairman of the Biomedical Research Council. Dr. Holmes joins Dr. Bruce Bloom to both share his personal experience and report on the initiatives and progress of biomedical research in Singapore.
Host: Bruce Bloom, DDS, JD
Guest: Eamonn R. Maher, MD
Guest: John Solly, PhD
Skin lesions, pneumothorax and kidney tumors? Is it Birt-Hogg-Dubé Syndrome? Described in the late 1970s, Birt-Hogg-Dubé was very difficult to recognize until recent molecular genetic testing made the diagnosis of this orphan disease more accurate. What is this disease? What systems does it affect? How do we treat it and what is the hope for the future? Join host Dr. Bruce Bloom and his guests Dr. Eamonn Maher, professor of medical genetics and department head of medical and molecular genetics at the University of Birmingham in the UK, and John Solly, director of the Myrovlytis Trust, a UK charity dedicated to the promotion of research into rare genetic disorders.
Host: Bruce Bloom, DDS, JD
Guest: John Solly, PhD
The worldwide effort to find cures for rare disease is often the work of small organizations such as the the Myrovlytis Trust, a not-for-profit organization in Great Britain dedicated to finding treatments and cures for rare diseases. John Solly, charity manager for the Myrovlytis Trust, talks with host Dr. Bruce Bloom, the rationale for focusing large dollars on diseases affecting a small population and how the Trust is approaching the search for a cure to their first target disease, Birt-Hogg-Dubé Syndrome.
Guest: Roland Sutter, MD, MPHTM
Host: Jennifer Shu, MD, FAAP
The World Health Organization (WHO) is working diligently to eliminate Type 1 poliovirus transmission in endemic countries around the world. Although progress has been made using the trivalent oral poliovirus vaccine, eradication remains elusive. Recent studies have examined the efficacy of a monovalent oral poliovirus vaccine given to newborns: could this monovalent vaccine bring us closer to eradicating poliomyelitis? Dr. Jennifer Shu welcomes Dr. Roland Sutter, coordinator of the research and product development team for the WHO's Global Polio Eradication Initiative, to detail his team's contributions to the evolving body of polio research.
Guest: Michael Worobey, PhD
Host: Mark Nolan Hill, MD
Previous estimates indicate that the earliest signs of HIV in humans appeared in Africa during the 1930s. Historical data indicates the disease made its way to Haiti, its first stop in the Western Hemisphere, and then eventually on to the United States. But we're learning that the disease may have circulated in Africa for decades before heading west. Does this new information about the origin of HIV offer any clues about the eventual demise of the virus? Dr. Michael Worobey, assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Arizona, shares details of his research that traces the genesis of HIV/AIDS in humans to the turn of the 20th century. Find out more with host Dr. Mark Nolan Hill.
Guest: James M. Hughes, MD
Host: Maurice Pickard, MD
How large is the threat of a world wide water shortage and what can we do? Dr. James M. Hughes professor of medicine at both in the school of medicine and school of public health at Emory University speaks about water being a right but also a commodity that is costly to provide especially to those who have it in the shortest supply. There are answers that have been ignored but time is getting short as we undergo global warming and an increasing population.
Guest: James M. Hughes, MD
Host: Maurice Pickard, MD
Are we headed towards a water crisis? Directory of the Emory Center for Global Safe Water and professor of medicine and public health at Emory University joins host Dr. Maurice Pickard to discuss the global implications of not having clean water. He discusses the linkages between potable water, sanitation and health and the need to promote and facilitate appropriate hygienic behavior. The success of almost eradicating guinea worm shows that behavior modification can combat waterborne and vector-borne diseases.
Guest: Stephen P. Spielberg, MD, PhD
Host: Bill Rutenberg, MD
Medicines for malaria, tuberculosis, and AIDS are all available for children, but none are formulated specifically for the younger patient population. Recently, the World Health Organization generated an essential drug list for kids. How will they follow up on this effort? Dr. Stephen M. Spielberg, professor of pediatrics, pharmacology and toxicology at Dartmouth Medical School, and principal investigator for the Institute for Pediatric Innovation's Pediatric Pharmaceutical Reformulation Project, joins host Dr. Bill Rutenberg to discuss some of the challenges ahead: formulation, dosing, preservation, delivery and beyond.
Guest: Molly Melching
Host: Maurice Pickard, MD
Molly Melching, founder of Tostan, an NGO organization based in Senegal, West Africa, that uses human rights education to empower communities around healthcare issues, joins host Dr. Maurice Pickard. They explore Tostan's successful education campaign on the health and human rights effects of female genital cutting. Key to its success was an approach that included an understanding of the history and social norms of the culture. Hosted by Dr. Maurice Pickard.
Guest: Molly Melching
Host: Maurice Pickard, MD
Host Dr. Maurice Pickard welcomes Molly Melching, founding director of Tostan, an organization in Senegal empowering local communities to learn more about sustainable development and social transformation through a greater awareness for human rights issues. Ms. Melching shares more about her organization, emphasizing that women in Senegal are quickly becoming more effective community leaders, as they take on greater responsbility for making the important decisions that affect the health of their entire country.
Guest: Sonya Shin, MD, MPH
Host: Mark Nolan Hill, MD
More than half a million people around the world are stricken with multi- or extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis every year, but only a fraction of these patients receive effective treatment for their disease. In a few TB hotspots in South America and Asia, we are seeing years of research investment come to fruition, as promising data heralds key advances in our work against TB around the globe. What are the most important aspects of a successful treatment regimen, particularly in regions of the world with fewer medical resources? Dr. Sonya Shin, assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, assesses the distinctive features of inpatient and outpatient care for TB, as well as the role played by local non-government organizations and government officials in these settings in South America and Asia. Dr. Mark Nolan Hill hosts.
Host: Mark Nolan Hill, MD
Guest: Sonya Shin, MD, MPH
Since it was first described by international health organizations in 2006, extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis has been documented in 49 countries. In addition, more than 80 countries are coping with multi-drug resistant tuberculosis. How are we addressing the rapid emergence of these significant threats to tuberculosis treatment and control programs across the world? In which countries are we seeing significant progress in treating both forms of tuberculosis? Dr. Sonya Shin, assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, contours lessons for the global struggle against TB from her work in South America and Asia with host Dr. Mark Nolan Hill.
Guest: Robert Bailey, PhD, MPH
Host: Larry Kaskel, MD
New research reveals that male circumcision could reduce HIV infection rates by up to 60 percent, which could prevent 5.7 million new cases and 3 million deaths over 20 years in sub-Saharan Africa. Dr. Robert Bailey, professor of epidemiology at the University of Illinois, Chicago, School of Public Health, discusses his research findings with host Dr. Larry Kaskel, highlighting HIV infection rates in areas of Africa where the male population is circumcised, and explaining the mechanism by which HIV infection may occur in uncircumcised men.
Guest: Devon Herrick, PhD
Host: Bruce Japsen
If U.S. health professionals thought the movement by consumers and patients toward medical tourism was a passing fad, think again. Dr. Devon Herrick, senior fellow at the National Center for Policy Analysis, tells Bruce Japsen of the Chicago Tribune about how medical tourism is on the verge of becoming even more global, with benefits and cautions for doctors and their patients.
Guest: John Kao, MD, MBA
Host: Leslie P. Lundt, MD
Dr. John Kao, author of the recent book Innovation Nation, says that the US spends more on astrology than astronomy, that we suffer from societal anosognosia. He joins host Dr. Leslie Lundt to discuss what other countries are doing to improve innovation in their healthcare and science sectors.
Guest: Nina Dudnik, PhD
Host: Cathleen Margolin, PhD
Extra medical and laboratory supplies ordered by researchers and practitioners in the developed world are often kept in storage or thrown away prematurely. The story is very different for colleagues in less fortunate parts of the world, many of whom struggle to sustain their research initiatives without access to proper equipment. Host Dr. Cathleen Margolin interviews Dr. Nina Dudnik, co-founder and executive director of Seeding Labs, a philanthropic group working to share surplus supplies with scientists and medical practitioners in need worldwide. How can we, as medical professionals, participate in this opportunity?
Guest: Stephen Lewis
Host: Cathleen Margolin, PhD
Healthcare professionals are deeply concerned about HIV/AIDS and the problems presented across the world by the disease. Our voices often carry some influence with those leaders in policy and politics who possess the power to do more for the afflicted and to take preventive steps for those at risk, but our intentions must be strong and clear. What specific messages should we be sending to our world leaders and the powers that be? How can we do more to make known our views? Host Dr. Cathleen Margolin investigates these questions on advocacy and more with Stephen Lewis, co-director of AIDS-Free World, a former United Nations special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa and a former deputy executive director of UNICEF.
Guest: Stephen Lewis
Host: Cathleen Margolin, PhD
A passionate belief in the power of advocacy fuels AIDS-Free World, an organization working to maintain accountability among those responsible for addressing the challenges of this most devastating disease. Host Dr. Cathleen Margolin speaks with the co-director of AIDS-Free World, Mr. Stephen Lewis, who also is a former United Nations special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa and a former deputy executive director of UNICEF.
Guest: William Kennedy Smith, MD
Host: Bruce Japsen
War-torn countries like Darfur, Afghanistan and Iraq are often unable to address even the most basic medical needs of their citizens. A unique volunteer effort, called ‘iCons in Medicine,' could soon change that, using new advances in telemedicine to provide much needed assistance to medical care providers in these areas. Dr. William Kennedy Smith, founding president of iCons in Medicine and the Center for International Rehabilitation in Chicago, tells host Bruce Japsen about an effort to get 300 volunteer physicians to provide 1,000 hours of free consultations to their medical colleagues working in regions ravaged by war, poverty and other devastating conditions.
Guest: Jason Yap, MD
Host: Larry Kaskel, MD
Has Singapore become an international medical hub suitable for all types of medical procedures? From the Healthcare Globalization Summit in Las Vegas, host Dr. Larry Kaskel speaks with keynote speaker, Dr. Jason Yap, director of Healthcare Services for the Singapore Tourism Board and member of the multi-agency Singapore Medicine Initiative.
Guest: Prabhat Jha, MD, PhD
Host: Mark Nolan Hill, MD
Impactful research estimates on smoking-related mortality in India project that the country will soon see more than one million smoking deaths annually. Even in a nation as densely populated as India, the sheer size of these numbers is alarming. For more on the specifics of this data, host Dr. Mark Nolan Hill welcomes Dr. Prabhat Jha, professor of health and development, and founding director of the Centre for Global Health Research at the University of Toronto, and lead author of this noteworthy research published in the New England Journal of Medicine on the current smoking epidemic in India. How did Dr. Jha and his team coordinate the collection of data across the vast Indian subcontinent?
Guest: Victor Elinoff, MD
Host: Leslie P. Lundt, MD
What happens to someone who breaks their hip when there is no orthopedic surgeon to provide care? In many third-world countries, where medical caregivers are few and far between, how do people find treatment for their medical problems? Traditional healers may be part of the answer. So what can we learn from this group of caregivers? Host Dr. Leslie Lundt welcomes Dr. Victor Elinoff, to discuss his work in Ghana.
Guest: David Morens, MD
Host: Gary Kohn, MD
What are the key signs and symptoms of dengue fever? What are its main epidemiological characteristics and how is the disease treated? Dr. David Morens, senior adviser to the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, answers these questions and more as he explores with Dr. Gary Kohn the potential impact of an outbreak of dengue fever in the United States.
Guest: Shelly Batra, MD
Host: Maurice Pickard, MD
One-third of the world’s tuberculosis cases strike in India, where unfavorable logistics and modest infrastructure often hinder efforts to combat the disease. Operation Asha comprises a series of registered non-profit clinics, managing the coordination of tuberculosis care in some of India’s poorest communities. Dr. Shelly Batra, president of Operation Asha, joins host Dr. Maurice Pickard to discuss their organizational strategies for community-based TB care.