Podcast appearances and mentions of michael connors

 What delusions can tell us about the cognitive nature of beliefThe Conversation, By Michael Connors and Peter W Halligan, on November 19, 2024http://theconversation.com/what-delusions-can-tell-us-about-the-cognitive-nature-of-belief-243627This episode of The Non-Prophets explores the intricate relationship between belief, delusion, and religious convictions. Hosted by Eli Slack, the discussion is prompted by an article from The Conversation by Michael Connors and Peter Hallagan, examining whether beliefs and delusions share common psychological roots. The article highlights that the primary difference between the two lies not in the mental process of formation but in the number of adherents, challenging our perceptions of "normal" beliefs versus delusional thinking.The panel delves into a case study of a woman experiencing postpartum psychosis, whose delusions were shaped by interpreting ordinary stimuli in the context of her personal biases. This underscores a universal mechanism: beliefs, whether true or false, arise from subjective interpretations of sensory input filtered through emotional and cognitive biases. Eli emphasizes that religious beliefs, while not inherently indicative of mental instability, share no epistemological advantage over delusions.The group critiques the article's lack of a clear definition of belief, a flaw that hampers meaningful discourse. Kelley asserts that beliefs are often embraced without critical thought, making them stagnant compared to an active pursuit of understanding. The panel also discusses societal double standards—other religions are dismissed as myths, while Christianity often escapes such scrutiny due to its dominant cultural presence.Aaron and Kelley explore how psychology struggles to distinguish beliefs from delusions, suggesting that the objective truth—or lack thereof—defines the difference. Aaron provocatively argues that religion meets the criteria for delusion, as it lacks verifiable evidence, yet garners social acceptance when widely shared. Kelley supports this by highlighting how belief systems solidify when critical thought ceases.The conversation concludes with reflections on societal norms and the dangers of uncritically accepted beliefs. While respecting individual faiths, the panel underscores the value of skepticism and evidence-based reasoning in navigating the complexities of belief and delusion.The Non-Prophets, Episode 23.49.3 featuring Jimmy Jr., Kelley Laughlin, Aaron Jensen and Eli SlackBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-non-prophets--3254964/support.

Pressing the old Colonial Building back into service for a talk about the history of the NL Press Gallery Association. The author and NTV Evening Newshour co-host and who's giving the talk drops by the On the Go studio to unravel some of the history and mystery of the press gallery. (Krissy Holmes with Michael Connors)

Jace is joined by writer/artist Michael Connors to talk about his current Kickstarter campaign for Conrad Van Cottonmouth. A super-intelligent rabbit with the ability to teleport who find himself in a unique position to save the world. The guys chat about Michael's process, the story in general and Michael's hopes of turning this story into a franchise. Join us for the fun and go support this very affordable campaign.

For a full transcript of this episode, click here. Cognitive dissonance is kind of rampant in the healthcare industry. Cognitive dissonance is when what someone winds up doing, their actions, are in conflict with what they believe in. Cognitive dissonance also can mean when someone holds two contradictory beliefs at the same time. Let's say a person believes they want to do well by patients but their performance review depends on, as just one example, making care less affordable for patients. But somehow, this individual is able to conclude that what they're doing is a net neutral or a net positive despite (in this hypothetical, let's just say) obvious indications that it is not. In this hypothetical, there are, say, clear facts that show that what this person is up to is indisputably a problem for patients. But yet at every opportunity, this person talks about their commitment to patients. This rationalization, or earmuffs don't look, don't see, is cognitive dissonance. Now, it's harder to engage in cognitive dissonance the closer you are to patients because you see the impact up close. This is probably why moral injury and burnout is most associated with clinicians who are seeing patients. Unless these at-the-bedside clinicians enjoy a robust lack of self-awareness, those who are seeing patients don't, a lot of times, have the luxury of pretending that what is going on is good for patients when they can see with their own two eyes that it is not good for patients. The further from the exam room or the community, however, the easier it is to not acknowledge the downstream impact—if you can even figure out what that downstream impact is, which is also worthy of being mentioned. When the machine is really big, sometimes it's legitimately difficult to connect the dots all the way down the line to the customers, members, or patients. Kate Wolin, ScD, talked about this in an episode (EP432) a couple of weeks ago. But this whole dissonance exploration was a big reason why actually I created my manifesto, which is episode 400, because almost everything that we do in healthcare wherein we are making money or helping someone else make money is dissonant to some degree. And it literally keeps me up at night contemplating how much dissonance is too much dissonance or how much self-interest is too much self-interest. This is tough, subjective stuff. So, again … episode 400 for more on at least how I think about this. But in this healthcare podcast, I am talking with John Lee, MD, about what to do in the face of all this when working in the, as I call it, belly of the beast—working for a large healthcare organization such as a hospital. Because hospitals sometimes (and we certainly do not want to put all hospitals in the same category—they are a wildly diverse bunch), but sometimes some people at some hospitals do some things which are not things I think they should be doing anyway. They're fairly egregious breaches of trust, actually. But yet within that same organization, you have doctors and other clinicians or others who are working really hard to serve patients as best they can. This is the real world that we're talking about. And the question of the day is … so, now what? While it would be amazing if someday we build a whole new health system that didn't include some people doing things that I don't think they should be doing, that day is not today. And it's not tomorrow. I'm gonna hope that there's other people in our village who are full-on doing the disruption thing. But if we're not able to do that personally, for whatever reason, but we still want to inch forward within the existing environment and do the things that make us feel like we're achieving our mission, what's the best way to think about this? That is what I asked Dr. John Lee, and that's what our conversation is about today. Summing up his advice, which is really good advice, Dr. Lee talks at length about how it's so important to celebrate the small wins and feel good about care that is a little bit better than it was six months ago. He talks about acknowledging that you can't do everything. He talks about incremental improvement that helps both patients but also colleagues, and that's not insignificant to really consciously consider how to work together and help to support each other. Look, I just finished reading a post on LinkedIn about toxic medical culture and just how brutal and cruel some physicians and physician leaders and others can be to their colleagues. Ann Richardson writes about topics like this a lot. Follow her on LinkedIn if you're interested. So does J. Michael Connors, MD. But just saying, it's pretty cognitively dissonant to talk about the potential of team-based care and then condone or engage in toxic behavior with those same team members. There's like 90 studies on this whole topic linked to this book. But bottom line, fixing cognitively dissonant paradigms in any sort of durable or scalable way is, for sure, going to require a culture that inspires constructive criticism, innovation, and collaboration. It also requires—and this is Dr. Lee's last piece of advice—it's really important to seek out like-minded individuals as sounding boards and as a support network to commit to supporting each other. And I hope, all of you, that you feel like you've found your tribe here at Relentless Health Value. You guys are an amazing bunch, so know that and don't hesitate to reach out to each other when you need help. And I know, I know, I need to create a directory so you can all hook up more easily, so do subscribe to the weekly email because I am inching closer to finally managing to get this done and you won't know about it unless you're subscribed. Go to the Web site relentlesshealthvalue.com. You will be hit with a pop-up window fast enough, but back to easing cognitive dissonance and the why here. I thought Michelle Bernabe put how much of a difference the right culture can make for patients and those who work together really eloquently recently. This is a great why, since we spend so much of our life at work. She wrote, “Each day, we come together [ready to] roll up our sleeves, committed to our own growth, our boundaries, … and our teamwork. This collective dedication resonates throughout our organization and is, I trust, felt by our clients and [our] partners!” In the conversation that follows, Dr. John Lee offers a really nice array of examples of incremental, in the belly of the beast, stuff that might be possible in the real world (at least in the bellies of some beasts), plus some other points of contemplation. Dr. Lee is an ER (emergency room) doc by training, who is also an informaticist and chief medical information officer. I can tell you from personal experience that Dr. Lee is one of the most creative and pragmatic problem solvers that I have encountered. He says he's dedicated to trying to help move the ball forward and changing our healthcare system using information technology and using our ability to be far more transparent with the things that we try to do in a positive way in healthcare. Below are some additional episodes concerning heart failure readmissions: EP326: The Unfortunate News About HRRP, With Insight Into How to Fix It, With Rishi Wadhera, MD, MPP INBW34: The Absence of Collaboration Between Healthcare Stakeholders: What It Means EP361: The Gap in Closing Care Gaps, With Carly Eckert, MD, PhD(c), MPH Also mentioned in this episode are Kate Wolin, ScD; Ann M. Richardson, MBA; J. Michael Connors, MD; Michelle Bernabe, RN, KAT; Scott Conard, MD; Jodilyn Owen; Rob Andrews; Rishi Wadhera, MD, MPP; Peter Attia, MD; Barbara Wachsman; Kenny Cole, MD; and Mark Cuban.   You can learn more by following Dr. Lee on LinkedIn.   John Lee, MD, is both a practicing emergency physician and a highly regarded clinical informaticist. He has served as chief medical information officer at multiple organizations and has an industry reputation for maximizing the utility and usability of the electronic medical record (EMR) as a digital tool. He was the recipient of the HIMSS/AMDIS Physician Executive of the Year Award in 2019. He has deep expertise in EMRs, informatics, and particularly in Epic. He has multiple analyst certifications, which gives him a unique advantage in delivering solutions to Epic organizations. His vision is a healthcare system that is driven completely by transparent data, information, and knowledge, delivered efficiently.   07:37 What is cognitive dissonance relative to the healthcare industry? 08:57 What are the systems that start to bear down on individuals within the healthcare system? 10:14 EP391 with Scott Conard, MD. 10:48 EP421 with Jodilyn Owen. 10:59 EP415 with Rob Andrews. 12:30 EP326 with Rishi Wadhera, MD, MPP. 13:10 “The system has almost gamed them.” 17:49 EP430 with Barbara Wachsman. 19:07 How can alignment still be achieved in the face of cognitive dissonance? 20:34 EP431 with Kenny Cole, MD. 24:06 Why does it take more than one person to solve the dysfunction in the healthcare system? 26:26 What are some little changes that can help change the cognitive dissonance in healthcare? 28:22 Why is a hierarchal healthcare structure not necessarily beneficial? 30:38 The RaDonda Vaught story. 37:58 “Be happy in the small things.”   You can learn more by following Dr. Lee on LinkedIn.   John Lee, MD, discusses overcoming #cognitivedissonance on our #healthcarepodcast. #healthcare #podcast #digitalhealth #healthcareleadership #healthcaretransformation #healthcareinnovation   Recent past interviews: Click a guest's name for their latest RHV episode! Brian Klepper, Elizabeth Mitchell, David Scheinker (Encore! EP363), Dan Mendelson, Dr Benjamin Schwartz, Justin Leader, Dr Scott Conard (Encore! EP391), Jerry Durham (Encore! EP297), Kate Wolin, Dr Kenny Cole  

For a full transcript of this episode, click here. First of all, I just want to start out this pod and really thank everyone listening and for showing up for a show like this one. You do it and you are here because you care about patients/members. It's just so easy to feel like we'll never be able to do enough, and that's a rough, rough feeling. Please take a moment to truly hear how grateful I am for you being here and for doing all that you do and that you try to do. I saw on the interwebs the other day a Marcus Aurelius quote. What he said was, “Be satisfied with even the smallest progress.” And I think this is really important to remember because nobody working in the healthcare industry, especially today, is ever probably gonna get anything close to a perfect solution. So instead, just aim for progress—even the smallest amount—and feel good about that, please. This show is an important one for anybody either in the business of healthcare delivery or buying healthcare delivery services. It's an exploration of what works and what doesn't work and how what works can easily become what doesn't work in the face of the real world. This peril of cutting clinical “waste” perilousness all starts with the whole “Hey, let's make some money, so we gotta scale and be efficient. We gotta do our thing at as low as possible a cost and maybe grow as fast as possible. We gotta keep our investors happy or pay off the debt we got saddled with or pay that giant management fee we're being charged or compensate the C-suite at the level they've grown accustomed to.” So again, the “let's be efficient and get everything repeatable” has entered the building. The first point my guest today, Kate Wolin, ScD, makes about all of this—and this is exactly the same point that Rik Renard made in episode 427—efficient to what endgame? Now, it turns out, surveys show, only a small, small percentage of healthcare delivery solution providers are measuring outcomes of pretty much any kind. So, how do we even know if cutting so-called waste is actually waste at all? I mean, in the absence of any actual measures—here's a hypothetical for you—someone could look around: “Hey, I see these nurses. They're all just sitting around chatting with patients and, I don't know, talking about throw rugs? What is this? An episode of HGTV? Who cares if a patient with diabetic neuropathy has throw rugs in their hallway? Let's tell these nurses chop-chop, get them on the computer using AI to be efficient, right? Let's get rid of that clinical waste.” I just made a point in the most sarcastic way possible, but the bottom line is this: It's actually really efficient to not engage patients in these ways, right? Patients, they talk slow, they ask questions that seem irrelevant, and they're time-consuming. It's very efficient to not build relationships or foster trust or, I don't know, assess fall risks … but whatever is going on is also going to fail in that model—from a patient outcome standpoint at least. Here's a quote from Sergei Polevikov, with some light edits. He wrote on LinkedIn: Primary care is not scalable in the same way as Scrub Daddy or Bombas Socks. That's something not taught in MBA and CFA programs. Someone should have told Walgreens, CVS, Amazon, and Walmart. They also probably should tell a whole bunch of point solutions and payers. Also, some health system execs or pharmacy leaders might also want to get that memo. What I really liked about the conversation with Kate Wolin in this healthcare podcast is that she retains optimism in the face of all of this. She offers advice for how to navigate the balance between mission and margin in a way that's better for patients and also sustainable financially. She talks about three points: 1. Founders and investors being in alignment and the essential nature of that 2. The importance of having clinical leadership and a team dynamic that enables innovation but in a clinically sound way 3. How you gotta measure what matters and do it in a way that inspires a mission-driven culture If we're talking about relevant shows to listen to next after you listen to this one, please do not forget episode 331. This is where Al Lewis teaches us how to evaluate wellness vendors and health solutions, but it also teaches us how to be a good wellness vendor or health solution. Also, do come back and listen to the encore with Jerry Durham next week about front desks and the total care experience. Lots of really bad avoidable things happen if the front desk isn't considered—and it isn't often considered. For sure, also listen to the show with Kenny Cole, MD (EP431); that's a must-listen. Then again, the show with Rik Renard (EP427) came up several times in this episode. The show with Jodilyn Owen (EP421) also gets brought up; that's a great cautionary tale there to keep in mind for mission-driven entrepreneurs and investors. And then, I also recommend J. Michael Connors, MD. He writes a lot of stuff in a newsletter along these lines. Last, last, last … Please go to our Web site and subscribe to the weekly email. I am planning on doing a few invite-only sessions for email subscribers. Plus, the weekly email is a really very convenient way to get the episode transcripts and stuff. And if you don't get it, you're making your life less efficient. So, go fix that. Kate Wolin, my guest today, trained as a behavioral epidemiologist and has done research in chronic disease prevention and management. She launched and led a digital health start-up and sold it to Anthem. She's been in the digital health start-up space largely at the intersection of science and product strategy ever since. Also mentioned in this episode are Rik Renard; Sergei Polevikov; Walgreens; Amazon; Walmart; Al Lewis; Jerry Durham; Kenny Cole, MD; Jodilyn Owen; J. Michael Connors, MD; Carly Eckert, MD; and Mike Pykosz. You can learn more by following Dr. Wolin on LinkedIn.   Kate Wolin, ScD, is a behavioral epidemiologist who left academic medicine to launch and lead a digital health start-up, which she bootstrapped to profitability before selling to Anthem. She has since been a C-suite leader, investor, and advisor to digital health start-ups and enterprise organizations on bridging clinical and behavioral science with product strategy and execution. She has been named as a Forbes Healthcare Innovator That You Should Know and a Notable Woman in STEM by Crains. Dr. Wolin is a Fellow of the Society of Behavioral Medicine and the American College of Sports Medicine and teaches entrepreneurship at Kellogg.   06:24 Irrespective of money, what works in clinical care and population healthcare? 09:51 EP361 with Carly Eckert, MD, PhD(c), MPH. 10:26 Why is creating a gathering place and sense of community important in clinical care? 12:46 “Sometimes, we make this about the clinical provider. It always makes me think about the rest of the people in an ecosystem that create trust.” 13:49 EP297 with Jerry Durham. 14:11 Where can things go wrong when we start to think about the margin in respect to the clinical care that works? 16:47 EP427 with Rik Renard. 19:35 “We're actually very unspecific in what we're trying to achieve a lot of times in these digital health programs.” 24:00 “Are you aligned as a founder, as a business with your investors on the pace of growth and what is feasible … ?” 25:30 Why is Dr. Wolin optimistic about achieving growth and still providing value? 28:17 Why is it important to ask why something is being done? 30:39 EP421 with Jodilyn Owen. 34:35 How are people motivated, and how can you use that to reduce turnover? 35:21 Why measuring what matters and communicating that is important.   You can learn more by following Dr. Wolin on LinkedIn.   Kate Wolin, ScD, discusses #clinicalwaste on our #healthcarepodcast. #healthcare #podcast #digitalhealth #healthcareleadership #healthcaretransformation #healthcareinnovation   Recent past interviews: Click a guest's name for their latest RHV episode! Dr Kenny Cole, Barbara Wachsman, Luke Slindee, Julie Selesnick, Rik Renard, AJ Loiacono (Encore! EP379), Nina Lathia, Marshall Allen, Stacey Richter (INBW39), Peter Hayes  

For a full transcript of this episode, click here. Hey, Relentless Health Value Tribe, thanks so much for being here this week. I gotta say, I really appreciate all of you who write and tell me that you kick off your Thursdays by listening to this show every week. You just pop open your app and you listen to the show. Because yeah, we're a pretty sure thing over here. If the guest was boring or if the guest was talking about stuff that I already know and probably you already know, the guest would not be on the show. So, listening to Relentless Health Value every week is a hugely easy way to just keep up with what's going on and, at the same time, get a pretty holistic deep dive into how all of the various parts of the industry fit together and how they ultimately impact patients and anybody who is at risk to pay for their care. One thing that you'll notice about the guests who we invite to come on Relentless Health Value, they are usually not the ones who are merely going to recite a very well-curated point of view that is fully in line with some marketing pitch. It would be easy enough, honestly—it would be so much easier—to just invite all of the bigwigs who we get pitched. I get 50 pitches a day from PR teams who want to get their executives to come on the show because they want to get their message out to you, Relentless Health Value Tribe. You, for sure, have a reputation of being industry movers and shakers. Although it would be super easy for me to phone it in and let them have their way with you, I've never been one to take the easy way. I want to find those individuals to be guests who are willing to share actionable insights to actually tell the truth. I'm really not into someone hijacking this platform for their own self-interest when that self-interest is not aligned with anything that I would consider a win-win for patients. You'll probably find more actionable insights here than listening to talk tracks, even if you're just listening to figure out what to include in your pitch to some of these industry insiders. I'm gonna tell you that repeating their marketing spin or their party line isn't probably gonna sell much. What they will say in public and what they really want to do are so very often sadly at counterpoint. So, come here for the real story. Alright, so let's get to the conversation that we're gonna have today, which is about and for digital health vendors' or virtual care providers' point solutions (they go by many names) and also for anybody who is a customer of said solutions. If we're taking it from the top here, let me just make a Captain Obvious point. These digital health vendors, they kind of have to perform better than the traditional community health providers. Otherwise, they have no reason to exist, really, right? Purchasers would just go with the local gang of care providers. So then, what does “perform better” actually mean? Let's discuss. I'd say perform better means to offer better measurable patient outcomes probably, both clinically and patient reported. I'd also say it means to offer more affordability. Also, better engagement, accessibility, and maybe all of this at a better cost profile for purchasers such as employers or health plans that are taking on actual risk. So, if all things are equal, again, why the heck would an employer or other purchaser even bother? It couldn't even be considered, honestly, a member benefit from a regular benefit perspective if the local standard of care is superior or just as good. Now, if any clinical entity is looking to actually achieve better performance in any or all of the ways that I just mentioned with any level of consistency and in a way that is profitable for them and their investors, you got to do a few things. And one of them is to design and implement care flows, care processes, pathways—again, you can pick a name and define it how you like. But bottom line, there needs to be a standardized way to deliver high-quality care that is measurable. Here's Ali Khan, MD, MPP, who is chief medical officer over at Oak Street Health, talking about this. He says: “At Oak Street Health we think about standardization as a 70/30 split. It is important that the largest aspects of what your care team does are standardized. (...) The bulk of the work that we do is to make sure not only that we set standards, but that we also disseminate standards, coach standards, review standards, and then update and iterate those based on the things we learned. Our standards are constantly evolving and improving.” Okay, so said another way, gotta have and use care flows. This doesn't seem like rocket science, but yeah, that is a blue's clue for what's coming up here. So, how are most digital health vendors doing when it comes to care flows performing better? Rik Renard and Thomas Vande Casteele from Awell have done a survey with a group called Health Tech Nerds and have dug into the usage of care flows among, specifically, digital health vendors. Given everything aforementioned, I wasn't surprised to hear that 84% of digital health vendors use care flows in 2023 … 84%. But it was kind of shocking, to be honest, to hear that in 2023, only 16% use care flows that they feel are based on evidence and the science of medicine. If you don't follow the latest science, then outcomes, both clinically as well as probably patient-reported outcomes, won't be of the “perform better” variety. Oh, boy. Also, only 7% of respondents have the ingredients to build a 360-degree picture of how their flows impact finances and quality of care. And I say that because only 7% can and do measure four things. And here's the four things: 1. Performance metrics such as patient engagement and compliance rates 2. Financial metrics such as revenue per patient/per member 3. Clinician-reported outcomes 4. Patient-reported outcomes, or PROMs Seven percent. That is less than one out of ten of these digital health vendors. There are other higher, but still pretty sad, percentages that measure combinations of the above four factors; but only 7% measure all of them. And if you don't or can't measure what you're doing, then you wind up with what my guest Rik Renard calls black box care, which is another way of saying if you don't measure it, you can't manage it. Because think about it, if you have black box care, well, the solutions to perform better are also a black box. If you don't know the problem, good luck finding the solution to it. A few things as we contemplate all of this. First of all, as Stacy Mays pointed out to me, if that digital health vendor is working for different payers or different purchasers, those different payers or purchasers might demand different care flows; and those different care flows might ladder up to different ultimate goals. The hard part about being a digital health vendor employed by a payer or a purchaser is that your customer is the boss of you. So, complication. The other relevant conversation I had is with David Claud, MD, PhD, who told me that many employers/customers evaluating healthcare vendors, like on-site clinics, do not have the clinical expertise to meaningfully evaluate the quality of care; so, they tend to focus more on cost and service. When this happens, you kinda wind up with a race to the bottom, where being really nice and being cheap are more important than actually delivering high-quality care that no one can measure anyway. And the last point that I'll bring up is what Sanat Dixit, MD, MBA, FACS, brought up the other day; and I love how he put it. He said doctors don't tend to caucus well. And coming up with care standards and best practice care flows means getting everybody to walk the same pathways. Bottom line, it's really pretty hard to be a digital health entrepreneur these days. Coming up here, I have a conversation with Barbara Wachsman. Barbara was the managing director over at Disney. She's worked for PE (private equity) as well as being executive director over at PBGH, the Purchaser Business Group on Health. So, that's upcoming in a couple of weeks. But the point that Barbara makes, which I think is really apropos here, she said that, in the United States, we desperately need really talented and great digital health vendors, great entrepreneurs, ones who actually can deliver real results and do it at a fair price. So, my hope is that we get better at these care flows. Now, I say all this to say, let's take the conversation today as an opportunity for both entrepreneurs, vendors, as well as customers like employers and other purchasers or payers. It's an opportunity to recognize and work together where there's room for improvement and also place value on achieving that headroom. As I mentioned earlier, in this healthcare podcast I am speaking with Rik Renard from Awell. Rik has a background in nursing and healthcare management. He joined Awell four years ago and now manages strategic accounts. For more on this topic, listen to the show with George Mathew, MD, MBA, FACP (EP253).   Also mentioned in this episode are Ali Khan, MD, MPP; Oak Street Health; Thomas Vande Casteele; Stacy Mays; David Claud, MD, PhD; Sanat Dixit, MD, MBA, FACS; Barbara Wachsman; George T. Mathew, MD, MBA, FACP; Yubin Park, PhD; Jessica H. Green, MPH; Thyme Care; Better Health; Wellinks; Bob Matthews; Emily Kagan Trenchard; Robert Pearl, MD; and J. Michael Connors, MD.   You can learn more at Awell and CareOps. You can also follow Rik on LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter).   Rik Renard transitioned from a nurse practitioner to a start-up operator. Currently leading strategic accounts at Awell, Rik focuses on helping large care organizations make their care flows work harder than their care teams. As the coauthor and driving force behind CareOps, a vibrant community of over 4000 healthcare professionals focused on enhancing care flows, he imparts insights on designing and improving care flows. His expertise is grounded in over five years of hands-on experience, during which he has successfully implemented over 50 care flows in various medical areas, including oncology, musculoskeletal disorders, and cardiovascular care. These efforts have significantly improved patient outcomes and efficiently freed up time for healthcare teams. Holding a master's degree in health care management and policy from Ghent University, Rik combines his educational background with real-world experience to make a tangible impact in healthcare.   09:26 Why should clinicians care about care processes and care flows? 12:05 Why do care flows and care processes have a bad reputation? 12:31 What components does a good pathway include? 14:51 Why pathways need to be looked at as a process of continuous reconfiguration. 17:15 Who did Awell survey about care processes and flows? 18:42 How many clinicians were using care flows, and what did those care flows look like? 25:45 EP315 with Bob Matthews. 26:44 EP392 with Emily Kagan Trenchard. 28:21 EP412 with Robert Pearl, MD. 30:01 “Just document something.” 30:14 What was a shocking find from this care process survey? 31:06 Is AI the answer? 34:13 Why is it important to get the foundation of data correct before introducing AI? 34:51 How should employers use this information to vet vendors?   You can learn more at Awell and CareOps. You can also follow Rik on LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter).   @rikrenard discusses #digitalhealthvendors and #patientoutcomes on our #healthcarepodcast. #healthcare #podcast #digitalhealth #healthcareleadership #healthcaretransformation #healthcareinnovation   Recent past interviews: Click a guest's name for their latest RHV episode! AJ Loiacono (Encore! EP379), Nina Lathia, Marshall Allen, Stacey Richter (INBW39), Peter Hayes, Joey Dizenhouse, Benjamin Jolley, Emily Kagan Trenchard (Encore! EP392), Cora Opsahl (Encore! EP372), Jodilyn Owen    

ONE MAN'S JOURNEY TO HELP OTHER VETERANS Michael Connors is a veteran who understands the difficulties of transitioning from military life to civilian life while dealing with the physical and emotional scars of war. He founded an organization to help other veterans get specialized service dogs to aid them on their journey. He's now undertaking a massive 105 mile ruck march to raise money and awareness for his program. Here is a link to his route, which he's already on! He joins me at 1 to talk about why service dogs matter and how you can help! The ruck will end this weekend with a fundraiser in Castle Rock and you can get all the info by clicking here!

I hope you listened to episode 399, which was Part 1 of this two-part exploration of my manifesto, meaning my aims and my path or framework to achieve those aims. Regarding the first part of my manifesto, episode 399 from two weeks ago, here's the tl;dl (too long, didn't listen) version; but please go back and listen to that show (Part 1) because it's about you—and it's a compliment and a thank you, and you deserve both. Just to quickly recap, Part 1 of my manifesto is that I started this show because I want to, and wanted to, provide information to those in the healthcare industry trying to do the right thing by patients, to get you the insights that you might need to pull that off, to create a Coalition of the Willing, as I've heard it called. When we get reviews like the one from Megan Aldridge, a self-proclaimed Relentless Health Value binge listener, I feel very gratified because it makes me feel like I'm chipping away at this mission and in a non-boring way. Thank you, Megan. Along these lines, there was also a recent review from Mallory Sonagere, who says she listens to learn new things and to be a little sharper at how she approaches her day job. And just one more I'll mention: I loved the review from Mark Nixon calling Relentless Health Value the best healthcare podcast out there. Every review like this I take as validation that maybe I can count some measure of success toward achieving the mission to empower others on their journeys to make it better for patients or to transform the healthcare industry. But this whole endeavor to create a manifesto is also borne out of me struggling personally to figure out what “having personal integrity” in this business actually means when it comes to deciding what to do and what not to do, when it comes to deciding who or what to try to help or support or who or what to step away from either passively or actively. I mean, how this podcast gets funded is my business partner and I pay for it with money from our consulting business and from some tech products that we have on offer. Who do we choose to take on as clients, and what are we willing to do for them or help them with? These are questions that literally keep me up at night. And this is what this episode, Part 2, is all about. It's about my struggle and how I attempt to navigate my own path forward. And holy shnikeys, it's tough to find a path, especially when you have the sort of perspective that I've wound up with over these past however many years. It can feel like no matter what I do, there's negatives as it relates to the Quadruple Aim. You raise one of the quadrants, and something else for somebody else certainly has the potential to be negatively impacted. We cannot forget here in the short term, but, for sure, often in the longer term as well, it's a zero-sum game. Every dollar someone takes in profit under the banner of improving health or even saving money is a dollar that someone else paid for. Is the amount of profit fair? Where'd that money come from? Is there COI (conflict of interest), and if so, what's the impact? I think hard about things like this. An inescapable fact is that there has been a financialization of the healthcare industry, and that includes everybody who also gets sucked into the healthcare industry whether they want to be or not (ie, patients/members and plan sponsors and, oftentimes, physicians and other clinicians, too). But the financialization of healthcare means that most everybody at the healthcare industry party has a self-interest to either make money or save money. And sometimes the saving money means saving money for themselves, not necessarily anything that is ever gonna accrue to patients or members. Now let's say I'm trying to determine if I want to take on a new client or decide if I personally want to promote or do something or other. This self-interest that abounds all around matters here because it means it is often very tough to find some kind of “pure” initiative to hitch your wagon to. The crushing reality that we all face is you gotta earn a living. The other reality is that often the person that benefits from the thing you want to do (ie, the patient) is not gonna pay for it. And frequently, physician organizations won't either. If everybody was lining up to pay to get something fixed, the problem would not be a problem, after all. But the only way your moral compass is the only moral compass in play is if you're doing whatever you're doing for free, really, or by yourself—and thus you are not encumbered by anybody else or any self-interest beyond your own … and your own motives are the only motives that you can control. I hear all the time initiatives and coalitions and advocacy organizations and even research funded by grants … these things also get bashed as suspect because who'd that money come from and whose “side” are the funders on. Nikhil Krishnan wrote on LinkedIn the other day (and I'm gonna do a little bit of editing, but yeah). He wrote: “Patients have low trust in healthcare because they think every stakeholder is incentivized not in their best interest. Many patients think the hospitals want to keep them sick, the [carriers and plan sponsors] don't want to pay their claims, the drug companies want to keep them on their meds, etc. And we can't pretend like that … isn't true.” Every party, every stakeholder has some measure of self-interest. They have to; otherwise, they'd be out of business. It's all a matter of degrees. No big group, no entire category gets to stand on the high ground here when you think like a patient. There's great hospitals and great people who work at hospitals, and then there's people doing things that cause a strikingly large percentage of patients to fear going to the hospital for clinical and/or financial reasons. Pick any other stakeholder and I'd tell you the same thing. Any other stakeholder. It's basically up to us as individuals to do the right thing. In every sector of the healthcare industry, there's good eggs and there's bad eggs and there's eggs in the middle just doing their day jobs as instructed. Personally, I want to be a good egg, and that's what my manifesto is all about. Let me dig into this a bit further for just a sec and then I'll continue with my personal manifesto for how I find my own path of integrity through all of this confusion. Here's another anecdote. Stuff like this I make myself crazy thinking about: I was listening to a podcast, and one of the guests said, “I wanted to get my MPH [Master of Public Health] because I felt a personal calling to be altruistic.” Then, 120 seconds later, he says something like, “So then, when it came time to pick my internship, I hunted around to find the one that paid the most money—and that's how I wound up working for an HMO in the '90s.” Consider how that strikes you. How do you feel about that guy right now, who, by the way, has gone on to support some very interesting and probably impactful initiatives? There's this commonly used phrase, “Let's do well by doing good.” So, back to that HMO intern. Let's just say we all agree that these HMOs were not unconflicted organizations. We all know they had a reputation for putting profits over members, and a reason they went out of business was because they denied care. They refused to pay claims for patients who had AIDS. And it turns out that the friends and families of people with AIDS are incredibly well organized and sued the crap out of the HMOs, which may have expedited their demise. You know what the intern was doing at the HMO? He was helping them with data analytics, and his personal goal was to use that data to improve patient outcomes. So, okay … here's the thought experiment: Do we want this HMO taking money that they're gonna take anyway and then not adding the value that they potentially could add with their data because they don't have any smart, dedicated, highly compensated interns working there to keep the ship pointed in a decent direction? I mean, I guess if I know I'm gonna spend a dollar as a member of that plan, I'd prefer to get as much as possible for my dollar that is already being spent. Maybe from that perspective, this guy is doing well by doing good. You see how this gets messy when you take a theoretical statement and then apply everyone's real-world prejudices and predilections to it. Here's a last point to ponder, and this is another thought experiment … so, just heads up and then I'll get to the point here: Say you are asked to help with a program run by a Medicare Advantage (MA) plan to provide those in need of transportation a ride to their annual wellness exam. Do you help? Those who listen to this show will fully understand there's a lot of self-interest involved in getting patients to the annual wellness exam because … risk adjustment. Also, star ratings. Listen to the show with Betsy Seals (EP375 and EP387) if you need the full story here. Short version is, MA plans can't upcode, either fairly or aggressively (if they are so inclined), if the patients don't show up for their annual physical. So, there's a lot of money for them at stake. But, then again, are physicals important for patients? Do they improve patient care and health? If we think yes, then again, is this doing well by doing good to help patients get to their appointments? After literally years of asking myself questions like this—and most of them were not thought experiments—I came up with my manifesto. And there are three parts to it, and I will go through each of them. But here's my manifesto in full: If the thing results in a net positive for patients, then I will do it. The timeframe is short-term or medium-term. And the assumption is that it will take a village and I am not alone in my efforts to transform healthcare or do right by patients. Here's how I think about the first part of my manifesto: If the thing results in a net positive for patients, then I'll do it. And keep in mind, I could talk about this for seven hours; so everything I'm saying is oversimplified to some degree and has as many nuances as there are stars in the sky. So, to calculate the net-positive impact, I think through what good the thing could do and weigh that against the negatives. And there are always negatives because, most of the time, the work that I do anyway has to get paid for by somebody and that somebody has some self-interest. Self-interest means that they are attaining something that furthers their business goals. Let me list two major upside/downside contemplations: 1. How much good does the thing actually do for patients? I think about this. What's the value here? Is it a little? Is it a lot? Will this thing be a distraction for clinicians, because time is often the most precious currency? If we're talking about some kind of navigation or utilization management, what's the reason someone wants to do this? Is the reason clinically and, for reals, evidence driven? Or are we predominantly doing this to enrich shareholders or save plan sponsors money in ways that are not a win-win for patients in the clinic right now trying to get cancer treatments for their kid? I try to think like a patient and be as impartial as possible. 2. Money. Where's the money for this thing coming from, and who wins in this particular initiative (ie, is it a win-win and patients win something worthwhile)? Now, the company doing the funding has got to win, too; otherwise, they wouldn't fund the thing. That's where it gets subjective, and, as aforementioned, do I care if the company in question wins if the patient wins, too? Or is this company so damn evil at its core that I am willing to sacrifice the opportunity to do a good thing for patients in order to not have anything to do with said possible funding entity. Or am I cutting off my nose to spite my face because this is a really important thing for patients and this particular company is the only one that's gonna fund it? Because tragedy of the commons or whatever else. Again, this gets dicey really fast. Let me poorly paraphrase a little exchange I saw on LinkedIn the other day that had me completely preoccupied during my work-from-home midday walk around the block for at least three days. Somebody wrote (maybe that Master of Public Health intern), “Given how intractable it feels to me to try to reduce healthcare spend, I think I'm going to try to help patients get more value out of the dollars that are currently being spent by them or on their behalf.” Do you think that's a worthy goal? Well, not everyone does. Somebody in T-minus 8 seconds responded, “That's a toxic way of thinking. Everyone who is not actively working to reduce healthcare spend by putting patients in cash-pay models is part of the problem.” This is a good segue into the second part of my manifesto. The first part is: If the thing results in a net positive for patients, then I'll do it. Here's the second part: The timeframe is short-term or medium-term. And here's what I mean by that. My main focus is helping patients right now. This is what this has to do with the aforementioned exchange on LinkedIn wherein someone was trying to figure out how to get more out of the dollars we're currently spending and someone else said that's toxic, because we should rip it all down and build a better model. There's incremental change, and then there's disruptive change. These two things are not mutually exclusive. Apparently, Mr. This Is Toxic doesn't agree with me, but as I said in the last episode, there's that Buckminster Fuller quote: “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” And sure, I like to aspire to that as much as the next person. But does aspiring to a big hairy goal mean completely forgoing any incremental ways that patients can be helped immediately, like right now? If you ask me—and you're listening to this, so you de facto asked me—incremental change will probably actually support and beget disruptive change. So, incremental versus disruption is not a battle royale. These things are not diametrically opposed. They're probably actually aligned. I could go on a tangent here to explain why, but I'm not going to … except to say tipping points. But forget about that for a sec. Here's the more basic question: If all parties are interested in transforming healthcare, legit, how does someone trying to do it incrementally, or improve value for patients right now, in any way negatively impact someone trying to be disruptive and/or trying to change financial models? Keep all this in mind and now let me get back to my manifesto. I'm worried about patients, and I'm worried about them largely right now, short term to medium term. So, if I have the opportunity to help a patient—and I think about my two grandmothers (God rest their souls) here, but both of them would have died in the healthcare system multiple times in avoidable ways had my family not been there advocating for them—if I have the opportunity to help a patient, I will do so as long as I believe that the impact is a net positive in the shorter term. Disruption is a longer-term operation. Some have said it's a generational change. When I see stuff like Toxicity Guy wrote on LinkedIn, I really try to understand what his point is, as I always try to understand what people's points are. Could he be arguing that no one should work to improve care right now or try to maximize what we get for the bucks that we've already been shelling out? And, if so, for what reason … so that what happens? So that resentment about poor-quality care builds up to a boiling point such that everybody shuns the status quo and moves to a new care model and financial models faster? Is that the aim of Toxicity Guy? To force a let-them-eat-cake moment for the purposes of triggering a faster revolution? I've probably thought about this guy's motives and his potential impact harder than he has. In my manifesto, in my worldview, I don't let grandmas suffer right now so that someone else has a better narrative, even if I am in full support of what that person is trying to do and the mission that they are on, which, by the way, is a longer-term one. This gets me to the third part of my manifesto: The assumption is that transforming the healthcare industry will take a village and I am not alone. When I state this outright, it's gonna seem self-evident; but sometimes it's hard to not push blame here like Toxicity Guy, so I say this sort of in his defense. Here's the point of contemplation: There's maybe four big parts of the healthcare industry at a minimum. We have those trying to fix SDoH (social determinants [or drivers] of health). We have those trying to fix medical morbidity (ie, are patients on evidence-based pathways and taking meds appropriately, limiting polypharmacy side effects/cascades). Once a patient is in the healthcare system, what happens then? Then we have those working hard to improve behavioral/mental health. And lastly, everything going on with what I'm gonna call FDoH (financial determinants of health)—patients making decisions or having decisions made for them due to financial implications for them or for somebody else. Lots of stuff rolls up under these categories, but even just listing out these four things, we got a hell of a lot of work to do to improve the lot of patients and taxpayers and make it easier to do business in this country. I always try to keep in mind that it will take a village. Just because someone is working on getting patients housing or eating better does not imply that they don't care about employers struggling to curb claims billing waste, fraud, and abuse—and vice versa. It's just not everybody can do everything. For me personally, I tend to focus my attention on helping as many patients as possible get on what would be for them the optimal treatment plan or best care pathway. That does not mean I'm anti-someone working on getting more competition in the payer space. Nor does it mean I'm against trying to curb the price of overpriced (as per ICER [Institute for Clinical and Economic Review]) pharmaceutical products or legislate to rein in hospitals doing stuff that, in my book, they should not be doing. I am all for getting all of these things done. I just do not have the bandwidth or the depth of expertise to do everything myself. I would suspect that no one does. As my grandma used to say (and anyone who attended a slumber party seance in eighth grade might know), many hands make light work. You get 15 girls each holding out but two fingers, and you can lift up your friend, no problem. When I keep in mind that it takes a village, it helps me curtail the tendency to become paralyzed in my quest to help patients because I can see a potential problem it might create somewhere else in the industry or somewhere else down the line. I have to trust that one of my fellow villagers is holding down that end of the fort. Here's a quote from J. Michael Connors, MD, that he wrote in his newsletter: “When you point one finger, three are pointing back at you … It's like everything you learned in kindergarten seems to be so applicable to our approach to healthcare. Sadly, the game of finger pointing and pushing blame on others is killing real innovation in healthcare.” This is so real, which is why inherent in my manifesto here is my efforts to remember we are all on the same team (all the good eggs, anyway). That it takes a village, that there will be some things that some people are doing that I maybe don't fully agree with. There might be groups who don't accomplish much. There are certain people doing well (ie, doing self-interested things) but, at the same time, creating a better place for patients. As long as, in general, we are all following the same North Star, we'll achieve much more spending our time focused on our own missions and not worrying about what other people are doing. And when I say “not worrying about what other people are doing,” I mean people in the “good egg” village. I do not mean I intend to stop calling out conflicted and net-negative self-interested behavior, because this is what some people in the village should hopefully have their eyes on and get busy working against. The village here, it's a Venn diagram. At the point where other people's circles intersect with my mission or what I think would be better for patients, these are the people I can work with and collaborate with. These are the people that I'd take their business or I'd try to help them if I can. My manifesto is to determine when something is a positive for patients and then to find others who will win as a result of that thing happening. Then I can study why this is a win for those others, which is always going to be some self-interested why. And then I can think through what the negatives are if their self-interest comes to fruition. Is it still a net positive? If yes, proceed. Look, this making it better for patients, this transforming healthcare, it is hard, dispiriting work. It's a long slog. I'd like to suggest we encourage each other. Can we be the wind beneath each other's wings when we find a kindred spirit? Can we focus on the points of intersection and spend our energy deepening what's going on there? So again, here's my manifesto: If the thing results in a net positive for patients, then I'll do it. The timeframe I'm concerned about … short-term, medium-term. The assumption is that it will take a village to transform healthcare and I am not alone. I feel kind of exhausted having finished that. But let me ask you this: What is your manifesto? If you have one or if you have thoughts on this, go to our Web site and click on the orange button to leave a voice message. My hope is to do an upcoming show sharing what you think.   For more information, go to aventriahealth.com.   Each week on Relentless Health Value, Stacey uses her voice and thought leadership to provide insights for healthcare industry decision makers trying to do the right thing. Each show features expert guests who break down the twists and tricks in the medical field to help improve outcomes and lower costs across the care continuum. Relentless Health Value is a top 100 podcast on iTunes in the medicine category and reaches tens of thousands of engaged listeners across the healthcare industry. In addition to hosting Relentless Health Value, Stacey is co-president of QC-Health, a benefit corporation finding cost-effective ways to improve the health of Americans. She is also co-president of Aventria Health Group, a consultancy working with clients who endeavor to form collaborations with payers, providers, Pharma, employer organizations, or patient advocacy groups.   03:16 “It's a zero-sum game.” 03:26 Is the amount of profit fair? 03:37 What is an inescapable fact of the healthcare industry? 03:54 What does the financialization of healthcare mean? 04:19 Why does the self-interest in healthcare matter? 06:18 “It's basically up to us as individuals to do the right thing.” 10:03 What is the first part of Stacey's manifesto? 10:18 How does Stacey calculate the net positive of an impact? 10:41 What are two major upsides/downsides that Stacey contemplates? 13:31 Why are incremental change and disruptive change not mutually exclusive? 17:40 “I always try to keep in mind that it will take a village.” 19:19 Why finger pointing is killing innovation in healthcare.   For more information, go to aventriahealth.com.   Our host, Stacey Richter, discusses our #healthcarepodcast and where she sees the path moving forward. #healthcare #podcast   Recent past interviews: Click a guest's name for their latest RHV episode! Dawn Cornelis (Encore! EP285), Stacey Richter (EP399), Dr Jacob Asher, Paul Holmes, Anna Hyde, Dea Belazi (Encore! EP293), Brennan Bilberry, Dr Vikas Saini and Judith Garber, David Muhlestein, Nikhil Krishnan (Encore! EP355)  

Dr. Connors joins us in the studio for a conversation covering several topics, but all pointing back to “where the magic happens” which they identify as relationships and trust with parents. Both Dr. Connors and Dr. Honaker discuss their personal missions to give families what they want and need in a way that is new and innovative so that kids can get the best care possible. Healthcare is a complex business with many challenges, but this conversation is enough to inspire anyone to think outside the box and get back to the foundation of what's important to guide us.    Show notes can be found here: https://parentmd.com/podcasts/relationships-and-trust-is-where-the-magic-happens-w-michael-connors-md-ep-20/  Visit our website to learn more at www.parentmd.com    The podcast can also be found on YouTube: https://youtu.be/6qzR4pL6Eu0 Find us on social media @myparentmd   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/myparentmd/   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/myparentmd    Twitter: https://twitter.com/MyParentMD    TikTok: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMdngysXU/    Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/MyParentMD/   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/parentmd/ 

Michael Connors, Chairman, Cumberland Board of Canvassers joins Dan to discuss an issue at a Cumberland precinct on this primary Election Day See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Michael Connors enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2006, but after ten years of service and two deployments to the Middle East, his military career came to an abrupt end when he was critically wounded in Iraq. After being medically evacuated from the Middle East due to his injuries and arriving at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Michael's wife served him divorce papers and he fell into a major depression. Over his 18-month treatment and recovery that included a staggering 180 failed pharmaceutical medications and therapy programs for his PTSD, Michael had given up hope, until he was introduced to a product called Restore Patch. Restore Patch is an incredible, drug and chemical-free, discrete patch which provides support and healing by harnessing the body's own energetic and electrical pathways to treat anxiety, migraines, sleep issues and more.   TAKEAWAYS Use discount code TINA at checkout at RestorePatch.com to receive 10 percent off your order Michael experienced anxiety relief after just three days of Restore Patch use There are six different types of Restore Patch products: Anxiety Relief, Sleep, Migraine-Headache, Got Your Six (PTSD), Clarity-Focus and Energy Restore Patch is risk-free and offers a 100 percent, 60 day money-back guarantee  

This week, the Xagility podcast has the pleasure of welcoming the amazing Bruce McCarthy. Bruce has authored Product Manager versus Project Manager and co-authored Product Roadmaps Reloaded: how to set direction while embracing uncertainty along with C Todd Lombardo, Evan Ryan, and Michael Connors. In this episode, Bruce and John discuss the definition of product, product vs project management, probabilistic forecasting, and the importance of using roadmaps right. Bruce McCarthy's linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brucemccarthy/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/xagility/message

This week, the Xagility podcast has the pleasure of welcoming the amazing Bruce McCarthy. Bruce has authored Product Manager versus Project Manager and co-authored Product Roadmaps Reloaded: how to set direction while embracing uncertainty along with C Todd Lombardo, Evan Ryan, and Michael Connors. In this episode, Bruce and John discuss the definition of product, product vs project management, probabilistic forecasting, and the importance of using roadmaps right. Bruce McCarthy's linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brucemccarthy/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/xagility/message

Why did leading historians in both Indonesia and the Philippines become involved in projects to write national histories during the 1970s? How far were these projects essentially political undertakings to legitimate the Suharto and Marcos regimes respectively? In conversation with Duncan McCargo, Rommel Curaming discusses how he managed to interview key protagonists behind these controversial history-writing endeavors, many of whom were initially rather reluctant to talk about their roles. Examining two state-sponsored history writing projects in Indonesia and the Philippines in the 1970s, Power and Knowledge in Southeast Asia: State and Scholars in Indonesia and the Philippines (Routledge, 2019) illuminates the contents and contexts of the two projects and, more importantly, provides a nuanced characterization of the relationship between embodiments of power (state, dictators, government officials) and knowledge (intellectuals, historians, history). Known respectively as Sejarah Nasional Indonesia (SNI) and the Tadhana Project, these projects were initiated by the Suharto and Marcos authoritarian regimes against the backdrop of rising and competing nationalisms, as well as the regimes' efforts at political consolidation. The dialectics between actors and the politico-academic contexts determine whether scholarship and politics would clash, mutually support, or co-exist parallel with one another. Rather than one side manipulating or co-opting the other, this study shows the mutual need or partnership between scholars and political actors in these projects. This book proposes the need to embrace rather than deny the entwined power/knowledge if the idea is for scholarship to realize its truly progressive visions. Analyzing the dynamics of state-scholars relations in the two countries, the book will be of interest to academics in the fields on Southeast Asian history and politics, nationalism, historiography, intellectual history and the sociology of knowledge. Rommel A. Curaming is Senior Assistant Professor at the Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD). His areas of research include comparative historiography, history and memory of violence, historical theory, and knowledge politics in Southeast Asia, mainly Indonesia and the Philippines.  Eighteen books have appeared to date in the Routledge Rethinking Southeast Asia series, which was launched in 2000. The series includes a number of ground-breaking monographs by scholars including Bob Hadiwinata, Jun Honna, Michael Connors, David Streckfuss and Jess Melvin.  Duncan McCargo is an eclectic, internationalist political scientist and literature buff: his day job is directing the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies at the University of Copenhagen. Learn more here, here, here, and here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Why did leading historians in both Indonesia and the Philippines become involved in projects to write national histories during the 1970s? How far were these projects essentially political undertakings to legitimate the Suharto and Marcos regimes respectively? In conversation with Duncan McCargo, Rommel Curaming discusses how he managed to interview key protagonists behind these controversial history-writing endeavors, many of whom were initially rather reluctant to talk about their roles. Examining two state-sponsored history writing projects in Indonesia and the Philippines in the 1970s, Power and Knowledge in Southeast Asia: State and Scholars in Indonesia and the Philippines (Routledge, 2019) illuminates the contents and contexts of the two projects and, more importantly, provides a nuanced characterization of the relationship between embodiments of power (state, dictators, government officials) and knowledge (intellectuals, historians, history). Known respectively as Sejarah Nasional Indonesia (SNI) and the Tadhana Project, these projects were initiated by the Suharto and Marcos authoritarian regimes against the backdrop of rising and competing nationalisms, as well as the regimes' efforts at political consolidation. The dialectics between actors and the politico-academic contexts determine whether scholarship and politics would clash, mutually support, or co-exist parallel with one another. Rather than one side manipulating or co-opting the other, this study shows the mutual need or partnership between scholars and political actors in these projects. This book proposes the need to embrace rather than deny the entwined power/knowledge if the idea is for scholarship to realize its truly progressive visions. Analyzing the dynamics of state-scholars relations in the two countries, the book will be of interest to academics in the fields on Southeast Asian history and politics, nationalism, historiography, intellectual history and the sociology of knowledge. Rommel A. Curaming is Senior Assistant Professor at the Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD). His areas of research include comparative historiography, history and memory of violence, historical theory, and knowledge politics in Southeast Asia, mainly Indonesia and the Philippines.  Eighteen books have appeared to date in the Routledge Rethinking Southeast Asia series, which was launched in 2000. The series includes a number of ground-breaking monographs by scholars including Bob Hadiwinata, Jun Honna, Michael Connors, David Streckfuss and Jess Melvin.  Duncan McCargo is an eclectic, internationalist political scientist and literature buff: his day job is directing the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies at the University of Copenhagen. Learn more here, here, here, and here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

Why did leading historians in both Indonesia and the Philippines become involved in projects to write national histories during the 1970s? How far were these projects essentially political undertakings to legitimate the Suharto and Marcos regimes respectively? In conversation with Duncan McCargo, Rommel Curaming discusses how he managed to interview key protagonists behind these controversial history-writing endeavors, many of whom were initially rather reluctant to talk about their roles. Examining two state-sponsored history writing projects in Indonesia and the Philippines in the 1970s, Power and Knowledge in Southeast Asia: State and Scholars in Indonesia and the Philippines (Routledge, 2019) illuminates the contents and contexts of the two projects and, more importantly, provides a nuanced characterization of the relationship between embodiments of power (state, dictators, government officials) and knowledge (intellectuals, historians, history). Known respectively as Sejarah Nasional Indonesia (SNI) and the Tadhana Project, these projects were initiated by the Suharto and Marcos authoritarian regimes against the backdrop of rising and competing nationalisms, as well as the regimes' efforts at political consolidation. The dialectics between actors and the politico-academic contexts determine whether scholarship and politics would clash, mutually support, or co-exist parallel with one another. Rather than one side manipulating or co-opting the other, this study shows the mutual need or partnership between scholars and political actors in these projects. This book proposes the need to embrace rather than deny the entwined power/knowledge if the idea is for scholarship to realize its truly progressive visions. Analyzing the dynamics of state-scholars relations in the two countries, the book will be of interest to academics in the fields on Southeast Asian history and politics, nationalism, historiography, intellectual history and the sociology of knowledge. Rommel A. Curaming is Senior Assistant Professor at the Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD). His areas of research include comparative historiography, history and memory of violence, historical theory, and knowledge politics in Southeast Asia, mainly Indonesia and the Philippines.  Eighteen books have appeared to date in the Routledge Rethinking Southeast Asia series, which was launched in 2000. The series includes a number of ground-breaking monographs by scholars including Bob Hadiwinata, Jun Honna, Michael Connors, David Streckfuss and Jess Melvin.  Duncan McCargo is an eclectic, internationalist political scientist and literature buff: his day job is directing the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies at the University of Copenhagen. Learn more here, here, here, and here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/southeast-asian-studies

Why did leading historians in both Indonesia and the Philippines become involved in projects to write national histories during the 1970s? How far were these projects essentially political undertakings to legitimate the Suharto and Marcos regimes respectively? In conversation with Duncan McCargo, Rommel Curaming discusses how he managed to interview key protagonists behind these controversial history-writing endeavors, many of whom were initially rather reluctant to talk about their roles. Examining two state-sponsored history writing projects in Indonesia and the Philippines in the 1970s, Power and Knowledge in Southeast Asia: State and Scholars in Indonesia and the Philippines (Routledge, 2019) illuminates the contents and contexts of the two projects and, more importantly, provides a nuanced characterization of the relationship between embodiments of power (state, dictators, government officials) and knowledge (intellectuals, historians, history). Known respectively as Sejarah Nasional Indonesia (SNI) and the Tadhana Project, these projects were initiated by the Suharto and Marcos authoritarian regimes against the backdrop of rising and competing nationalisms, as well as the regimes' efforts at political consolidation. The dialectics between actors and the politico-academic contexts determine whether scholarship and politics would clash, mutually support, or co-exist parallel with one another. Rather than one side manipulating or co-opting the other, this study shows the mutual need or partnership between scholars and political actors in these projects. This book proposes the need to embrace rather than deny the entwined power/knowledge if the idea is for scholarship to realize its truly progressive visions. Analyzing the dynamics of state-scholars relations in the two countries, the book will be of interest to academics in the fields on Southeast Asian history and politics, nationalism, historiography, intellectual history and the sociology of knowledge. Rommel A. Curaming is Senior Assistant Professor at the Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD). His areas of research include comparative historiography, history and memory of violence, historical theory, and knowledge politics in Southeast Asia, mainly Indonesia and the Philippines.  Eighteen books have appeared to date in the Routledge Rethinking Southeast Asia series, which was launched in 2000. The series includes a number of ground-breaking monographs by scholars including Bob Hadiwinata, Jun Honna, Michael Connors, David Streckfuss and Jess Melvin.  Duncan McCargo is an eclectic, internationalist political scientist and literature buff: his day job is directing the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies at the University of Copenhagen. Learn more here, here, here, and here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/political-science

Why did leading historians in both Indonesia and the Philippines become involved in projects to write national histories during the 1970s? How far were these projects essentially political undertakings to legitimate the Suharto and Marcos regimes respectively? In conversation with Duncan McCargo, Rommel Curaming discusses how he managed to interview key protagonists behind these controversial history-writing endeavors, many of whom were initially rather reluctant to talk about their roles. Examining two state-sponsored history writing projects in Indonesia and the Philippines in the 1970s, Power and Knowledge in Southeast Asia: State and Scholars in Indonesia and the Philippines (Routledge, 2019) illuminates the contents and contexts of the two projects and, more importantly, provides a nuanced characterization of the relationship between embodiments of power (state, dictators, government officials) and knowledge (intellectuals, historians, history). Known respectively as Sejarah Nasional Indonesia (SNI) and the Tadhana Project, these projects were initiated by the Suharto and Marcos authoritarian regimes against the backdrop of rising and competing nationalisms, as well as the regimes' efforts at political consolidation. The dialectics between actors and the politico-academic contexts determine whether scholarship and politics would clash, mutually support, or co-exist parallel with one another. Rather than one side manipulating or co-opting the other, this study shows the mutual need or partnership between scholars and political actors in these projects. This book proposes the need to embrace rather than deny the entwined power/knowledge if the idea is for scholarship to realize its truly progressive visions. Analyzing the dynamics of state-scholars relations in the two countries, the book will be of interest to academics in the fields on Southeast Asian history and politics, nationalism, historiography, intellectual history and the sociology of knowledge. Rommel A. Curaming is Senior Assistant Professor at the Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD). His areas of research include comparative historiography, history and memory of violence, historical theory, and knowledge politics in Southeast Asia, mainly Indonesia and the Philippines.  Eighteen books have appeared to date in the Routledge Rethinking Southeast Asia series, which was launched in 2000. The series includes a number of ground-breaking monographs by scholars including Bob Hadiwinata, Jun Honna, Michael Connors, David Streckfuss and Jess Melvin.  Duncan McCargo is an eclectic, internationalist political scientist and literature buff: his day job is directing the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies at the University of Copenhagen. Learn more here, here, here, and here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/intellectual-history

The Untold Civil War goes to the movies! The podcast welcomes Vice President of the Civil War Roundtable of New York, Michael Connors, as we discuss John Wayne’s Horse Soldiers. How accurate is the movie? Is it worth watching? What was the real story behind the screenplay? Learn this and more! Support the show:(The podcast receives monetary compensation from these options.)Use the code untoldcivilwar when downloading the smartphone app, Gettysburg: A Nation Divided.Instructions in the link below:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmMJ2SuTMZsAlready downloaded the app? Check out Gentleman’s Box! Get all the tools you need as a gentleman delivered to your door! From cuff links, to cologne, to fitness gear, they have it all! http://imp.i121497.net/KaPv7You can also support us by using Instacart! Hauling groceries can be a thing of the past! Have all your groceries delivered to your doorstep. Use the link below to start an account and you will be supporting this show at no extra cost to you!https://instacart.oloiyb.net/PPVYzCheck us out on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube:https://www.facebook.com/untoldcivilwar/ https://www.instagram.com/untold_civil_war/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMMWxeF5zojtN8_NeWtyULw?view_as=subscriber

Check out the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYh6hkmb1xA

The writers of a new song titled, 'Stand Our Ground' join us to talk about how this song came about. If you haven't listened to check out the link below: https://youtu.be/SYh6hkmb1xA

This week, members of our news team are paired up to share their favorite articles from each other. Produced by Michael Connors. Edited by Will Mallas.

This week, our news team talks about the announcement of Gov. Charlie Baker as the 2019 UMass commencement speaker, a PETA lawsuit filed against UMass, the Office of Emergency Management and a student who testified in support of two sexual assault-related bills. Produced by Michael Connors. Edited by Will Mallas.

This week, our news team talks about the increase to the Student Activities Fee, the Smart About Money Cash Cab, the March on Whitmore and Game of Thrones. Produced by Michael Connors. Edited by Will Mallas.

Swedish clinical social workers Keilah Pomeroy and Brittney Neidhardt discuss occupational wellness with host Michael Connors.  They talk about what caregiver fatigue and burnout looks out, how to combat it, and how to get help if you need it.

This week, our news team talks about the RAPM Union's contract settlement, TEDx Amherst, cultural centers on campus and Jordan Peele's film "Us." Produced and edited by Michael Connors.

Licensed Independent Clinical Social Workers Brittney Neidhardt and Keilah Pomeroy discuss the stigma around mental health with host Michael Connors.  Topics include how to notice stigma, how to combat it, and how to get help.

This week, our news team talks about Porta in Amherst, a crime update released to the UMass campus, new developments at Hampshire College and the the lineup for the upcoming Spring Concert. Produced by Michael Connors. Edited by Will Mallas.

This week, our news team talks about Sen. Ed Markey and Rep. Jim McGovern's Green New Deal town hall, Tarana Burke's lecture, regional transit authorities, the SGA and the Amherst Police Department's K9 unit.   Produced and edited by Michael Connors.

Michael Connors hosts a discussion with Psychologist Dr. Susie Weber and Licensed Independent Social Worker Alison Taylor about anxiety.  On this episode we will discuss causes and treatment of anxiety and how you can get help if it's affecting you.

This week, our news team talks about the high school walkout on climate change, the SGA presidential controversy and Tan France's visit to Smith College. Produced by Michael Connors. Edited by Michael Connors and Will Mallas.

This week, our news team talks about an uneventful Blarney Blowout, contract negotiations for the RA/PM Union, a new UMass Poll and the Jonas Brothers revival. Produced by Michael Connors. Edited by Michael Connors and Will Mallas.

This week, our news team talks about the undecided SGA presidential election, top-paid state employees, updates on Hampshire College and Magic Tree House book series author Mary Pope Osborne's visit to Amherst. Produced and edited by Michael Connors.

F. Scott Feil chats with Mike Connors, Mark Milligan, & Dana Tew regarding the upcoming opportunity for the state of Texas to have Direct Access passed along with how PTs in Texas can get involved and contribute to making this a reality. Texas Physical Therapy Association Website: https://www.tpta.org/  TPTA Capital Area District Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/CapitalAreaDistrictTPTA/  APTA Direct Access Page on Website: http://www.apta.org/StateIssues/DirectAccess/  APTA Action App on APTA Website: http://www.apta.org/ActionApp/   Texas House Bill 29: https://legiscan.com/TX/bill/HB29/2019  Evidence: 1. Texas Department of State Health Services. (2018) Texas Projections of Supply and Demand for Primary Care Physicians and Psychiatrists, 2017 – 2030. Austin, TX: Texas Health and Human Services https://dshs.texas.gov/chs/hprc/default.shtm  2. Timing of physical therapy consultation on 1-year healthcare utilization and costs in patients seeking care for neck pain: a retrospective cohort ME Horn, JM Fritz BMC health services research 18 (1), 887 https://bmchealthservres.biomedcentral.com/track/pdf/10.1186/s12913-018-3699-0    3. Physical Therapy as the First Point of Care to Treat Low Back Pain: An Instrumental Variables Approach to Estimate Impact on Opioid Prescription, Health Care Utilization, and Costs. Frogner et al Health Serv. Res. 2018  https://www.researchgate.net/publication/325319327_Physical_Therapy_as_the_First_Point_of_Care_to_Treat_Low_Back_Pain_An_Instrumental_Variables_Approach_to_Estimate_Impact_on_Opioid_Prescription_Health_Care_Utilization_and_Costs    4. Denninger TR, et al. The influence of patient choice of first provider on costs and outcomes: analysis from a physical therapy patient registry. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. 2018;48(2):63–71. http://pt-cpr.com/images/jospt.2018.7423.pdf    5. Rhon, D. I., Snodgrass, S. J., Cleland, J. A., Sissel, C. D., & Cook, C. E. (2018). Predictors of chronic prescription opioid use after orthopedic surgery: derivation of a clinical prediction rule. Perioperative medicine (London, England), 7, 25. doi:10.1186/s13741-018-0105-8   https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6249901/        Biographies:    Michael Connors, PT, DPT, OCS, PhD received his Master of Physical Therapy degree from University of Medicine and Dentistry of NJ-Rutgers University in May 2003 with honors.  Dr. Connors obtained his post professional Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from Temple University in December 2008.  He became a board certified specialist in Orthopaedic Physical Therapy by the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties in June 2011. He completed a PhD degree in Physical Therapy from Texas Woman's University in August 2017. Dr Connors is the current President of the Texas Physical Therapy Association. He also is an assistant professor within the UNT Health Science DPT Program.   Email: mjconnorspt@gmail.com     Mark Milligan PT, DPT, Cert TPS, OCS, FAAOMPT Mark Milligan is an orthopedic manual therapist that specializes in the evaluation and treatment of musculoskeletal and spinal conditions, both acute and chronic. He is Certified in Therapeutic Pain Science, Applied Prevention and Health Promotion and dry needling, Board Certified in Orthopedics and a Fellow of the American Academy of Orthopedic Manual Therapy.  He earned his Doctorate of Physical Therapy at the University of the Colorado School of Medicine in Denver, Colorado.  He went on to complete an Orthopedic Physical Therapy Residency and Orthopedic Manual Physical Therapy Fellowship with Evidence in Motion (EIM). He is a full-time clinician and Founder of Revolution Human Health, a non-profit physical therapy network and he also founded a continuing education company specializing in micro-education. He is currently a physical therapist with Encompass Home Health in Austin, Texas. Dr. Milligan serves as adjunct faculty for the Doctor of Physical Therapy Programs at South College and The University of St. Augustine.  Dr. Milligan is also primary faculty for Musculoskeletal Courses for EIM. Mark has presented and spoken at numerous state and national conferences and has been published in peer reviewed journals. He is an active member of the TPTA, APTA, and AAOMPT and is current the Capital Area District Chair for the Texas Physical Therapy Association and has great interest in public health and governmental affairs.   Revolution Human Health is a non-profit physical therapy network in Austin, TX that transforms the healing experience by offering access to treatment, education, and movement based therapy for all.  Continuing education division specializes in customized, micro-education for physical therapists across the country. Customizable options of courses include manual therapy, spinal and extremity manipulation, dry needling, clinical reasoning, and preventative care and population health. Please contact us about customizing a course for you and your team! Email: markmilligandpt@gmail.com     Dana Tew PT, DPT, OCS, FAAOMPT CEO/ Program Director of OPTIM Physical Therapy and OPTIM Fellowship Program. Dana specializes in orthopaedic physical therapy. His experience includes clinical management of patients with both acute and chronic orthopedic injuries in the outpatient environment. His practice is focused on integration of manual therapy and exercise into a holistic, evidence-based and biopsychosocial approach to physical therapy treatment. He is the residency manager of Harris Health System’s Orthopedic Physical Therapy Residency Program. He was honored by the Texas Physical Therapy Association Southeastern District, as clinical instructor of the year in 2013. He is also a guest lecturer at Texas Woman’s University and has presented at multiple conferences. Dana earned his APTA Board Certification in Orthopedic Physical Therapy and is also a Fellow, in the American Academy of Orthopedic and Manual Physical Therapists. He has served locally for the Southeastern District, as a delegate for the TPTA, and nationally on the American Board of Physical Therapy Residency and Fellowship Education credentialing council for the APTA.   Email: danatew@gmail.com  

F. Scott Feil chats with Mike Connors, Mark Milligan, & Dana Tew regarding the upcoming opportunity for the state of Texas to have Direct Access passed along with how PTs in Texas can get involved and contribute to making this a reality. Texas Physical Therapy Association Website: https://www.tpta.org/  TPTA Capital Area District Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/CapitalAreaDistrictTPTA/  APTA Direct Access Page on Website: http://www.apta.org/StateIssues/DirectAccess/  APTA Action App on APTA Website: http://www.apta.org/ActionApp/   Texas House Bill 29: https://legiscan.com/TX/bill/HB29/2019    Evidence: 1. Texas Department of State Health Services. (2018) Texas Projections of Supply and Demand for Primary Care Physicians and Psychiatrists, 2017 – 2030. Austin, TX: Texas Health and Human Services https://dshs.texas.gov/chs/hprc/default.shtm  2. Timing of physical therapy consultation on 1-year healthcare utilization and costs in patients seeking care for neck pain: a retrospective cohort ME Horn, JM Fritz BMC health services research 18 (1), 887 https://bmchealthservres.biomedcentral.com/track/pdf/10.1186/s12913-018-3699-0    3. Physical Therapy as the First Point of Care to Treat Low Back Pain: An Instrumental Variables Approach to Estimate Impact on Opioid Prescription, Health Care Utilization, and Costs. Frogner et al Health Serv. Res. 2018  https://www.researchgate.net/publication/325319327_Physical_Therapy_as_the_First_Point_of_Care_to_Treat_Low_Back_Pain_An_Instrumental_Variables_Approach_to_Estimate_Impact_on_Opioid_Prescription_Health_Care_Utilization_and_Costs    4. Denninger TR, et al. The influence of patient choice of first provider on costs and outcomes: analysis from a physical therapy patient registry. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. 2018;48(2):63–71. http://pt-cpr.com/images/jospt.2018.7423.pdf    5. Rhon, D. I., Snodgrass, S. J., Cleland, J. A., Sissel, C. D., & Cook, C. E. (2018). Predictors of chronic prescription opioid use after orthopedic surgery: derivation of a clinical prediction rule. Perioperative medicine (London, England), 7, 25. doi:10.1186/s13741-018-0105-8   https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6249901/    The PT Hustle Website: https://www.thepthustle.com/  Schedule an Appointment with Kyle Rice: www.passtheptboards.com    HET LITE Tool: www.pteducator.com/het    Anywhere Healthcare: https://anywhere.healthcare/ (code: HET)         Biographies:    Michael Connors, PT, DPT, OCS, PhD received his Master of Physical Therapy degree from University of Medicine and Dentistry of NJ-Rutgers University in May 2003 with honors.  Dr. Connors obtained his post professional Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from Temple University in December 2008.  He became a board certified specialist in Orthopaedic Physical Therapy by the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties in June 2011. He completed a PhD degree in Physical Therapy from Texas Woman's University in August 2017. Dr Connors is the current President of the Texas Physical Therapy Association. He also is an assistant professor within the UNT Health Science DPT Program.   Email: mjconnorspt@gmail.com     Mark Milligan PT, DPT, Cert TPS, OCS, FAAOMPT Mark Milligan is an orthopedic manual therapist that specializes in the evaluation and treatment of musculoskeletal and spinal conditions, both acute and chronic. He is Certified in Therapeutic Pain Science, Applied Prevention and Health Promotion and dry needling, Board Certified in Orthopedics and a Fellow of the American Academy of Orthopedic Manual Therapy.  He earned his Doctorate of Physical Therapy at the University of the Colorado School of Medicine in Denver, Colorado.  He went on to complete an Orthopedic Physical Therapy Residency and Orthopedic Manual Physical Therapy Fellowship with Evidence in Motion (EIM). He is a full-time clinician and Founder of Revolution Human Health, a non-profit physical therapy network and he also founded a continuing education company specializing in micro-education. He is currently a physical therapist with Encompass Home Health in Austin, Texas. Dr. Milligan serves as adjunct faculty for the Doctor of Physical Therapy Programs at South College and The University of St. Augustine.  Dr. Milligan is also primary faculty for Musculoskeletal Courses for EIM. Mark has presented and spoken at numerous state and national conferences and has been published in peer reviewed journals. He is an active member of the TPTA, APTA, and AAOMPT and is current the Capital Area District Chair for the Texas Physical Therapy Association and has great interest in public health and governmental affairs.   Revolution Human Health is a non-profit physical therapy network in Austin, TX that transforms the healing experience by offering access to treatment, education, and movement based therapy for all.  Continuing education division specializes in customized, micro-education for physical therapists across the country. Customizable options of courses include manual therapy, spinal and extremity manipulation, dry needling, clinical reasoning, and preventative care and population health. Please contact us about customizing a course for you and your team!   Email: markmilligandpt@gmail.com     Dana Tew PT, DPT, OCS, FAAOMPT CEO/ Program Director of OPTIM Physical Therapy and OPTIM Fellowship Program. Dana specializes in orthopaedic physical therapy. His experience includes clinical management of patients with both acute and chronic orthopedic injuries in the outpatient environment. His practice is focused on integration of manual therapy and exercise into a holistic, evidence-based and biopsychosocial approach to physical therapy treatment. He is the residency manager of Harris Health System's Orthopedic Physical Therapy Residency Program. He was honored by the Texas Physical Therapy Association Southeastern District, as clinical instructor of the year in 2013. He is also a guest lecturer at Texas Woman's University and has presented at multiple conferences. Dana earned his APTA Board Certification in Orthopedic Physical Therapy and is also a Fellow, in the American Academy of Orthopedic and Manual Physical Therapists. He has served locally for the Southeastern District, as a delegate for the TPTA, and nationally on the American Board of Physical Therapy Residency and Fellowship Education credentialing council for the APTA.   Email: danatew@gmail.com  

Mike Connors and Ricardo Fernandez come onto HET Podcast to discuss their experiences and perspectives serving overseas as physical therapy clinicians and educators. Mike & Ricardo provide tremendous and helpful insight and this is a must listen to anyone interested in pursing international service opportunities.   Ricardo's Email Address: fernandez23@usa.net   Ricardo's Twitter Page: https://twitter.com/fernandez23_  Mike's Email Address: mjconnorspt@gmail.com   Mike's Twitter Page: https://twitter.com/mconnorspt  Health Volunteers Overseas Website: https://hvousa.org/ourwork/programs/physical-therapy/ Stand: The Haiti Project Website: http://www.standhaitiproject.org/ APTA's List of Pro Bono International Opportunities & Organizations: http://www.apta.org/ProBono/International/ U.S. Department of State Travel Advisories: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories.html/ U.S. Department of Travel Information: https://www.state.gov/travel/ Ricardo Fernandez's 1st episode on the Healthcare Education Transformation Podcast talking about being an Item Writer for the NPTE/OCS Exams and being on a PT State Disciplinary Board: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ricardo-fernandez-npte-ocs-question-creator-disciplinary/id1244609366?i=1000392329303&mt=2 Mike Connor's interview with Karen Litzy on the Healthy, Wealthy & Smart Podcast discussing advocacy, preventative care & burnout: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/235-dr-mike-connors-advocacy-preventative-care-burnout/id532717264?i=1000377046452&mt=2   The PT Hustle Website: https://www.thepthustle.com/  Schedule an Appointment with Kyle Rice: www.passtheptboards.com    HET LITE Tool: www.pteducator.com/het    Anywhere Healthcare: https://anywhere.healthcare/ (code: HET)   Biographies:   Michael Connors, PT, DPT, OCS, PhD received his Master of Physical Therapy degree from University of Medicine and Dentistry of NJ-Rutgers University in May 2003 with honors.  Dr. Connors obtained his post professional Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from Temple University in December 2008.  He became a board certified specialist in Orthopaedic Physical Therapy by the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties in June 2011. He completed a PhD degree in Physical Therapy from Texas Woman's University in August 2017. Dr Connors is the current President of the Texas Physical Therapy Association. He also is an assistant professor within the UNT Health Science DPT Program.       Ricardo Fernandez has been working as a physical therapist for the past 28 years. He quickly rose in the healthcare profession and has worked in a variety of settings including acute care, out-patient clinics, private practice clinics and in education. He has also been an adjunct instructor at Governors State University, Morton College, Northwestern University and Oakton Community College. He has served as a clinical instructor for 87 students during their clinical affiliations throughout his career. Ricardo has been involved with protecting the public and has written physical therapist licensure exam questions and orthopedic specialty exam questions for physical therapists sitting for board certification in orthopedics. He was re-appointed to serve on the Illinois Physical Therapy Licensing and Disciplinary Board in 2012 and served as the chairperson until 2016.  Ricardo has generously donated his time to community based organizations and has presented over 150 physical therapy/health related lectures to various groups. Additionally, he has presented over 150 professional presentations across the country to physical therapists and other health care professionals for continued education. He is a licensed physical therapist and certified strength and conditioning specialist and he is currently enjoying clinical practice.  

Michael Connors and Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker Cathyln Fraguela-Rios have a conversation about advance directives, advance care planning, death, and how to have these uncomfortable discussions.

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Audio of APS Story

In this Pacific Newsbreak, a fuels department in Iwakuni receives top honors, and the Navy Marine Corps Relief Society helps Sailors and Marines.

In today's Pacific Newsbreak, Andersen Air Force Base hosts an Open House and Air Show in conjunction with ‪‎Cope North 2016‬, and U.S. Marines train on fastroping techniques with the Royal Thai Marines and the Republic of Korea Marine Corps during Exercise Cobra Gold 2016.

Travel with The Halli Casser-Jayne Show when Halli takes you on a tour of Cuba. Joining Halli at her table are photography collector, author of CUBAN THEN Ramiro A. Fernandez; Cecilia M. Fernandez, author LEAVING LITTLE HAVANA; food blogger and author of THE CUBAN TABLE Ana Sophia Pelaez; writer, photographer, dissident and author of CUBA IN SPLINTERS, Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo; and Caribbean design expert and historian and author of HAVANA MODERN Michael Connors.Ramiro A. Fernandez's CUBA THEN: RAREAND CLASSIC IMAGES FROM THE RAMIRO A. FERNANDEZ COLLECTION offers a celebration of the intensely colorful culture that was the pre-Castro Cuba, a dynamic collage of images, experiences and memories that presents the glamour and the grit of the island's tumultuous history.Cecilia M. Fernandez tells the story of growing up a Cuban refugee in her heart wrenching memoir LEAVING LITTLE HAVANA: A MEMOIR OF MIAMI'S CUBAN GHETTO.Ana Sophia Pelaez grew up in a famous Cuban family, was raised in Miami and transplanted to New York. Her blog Hungry Sophia catapulted her to culinary fame. With photographer Ellen Silverman, her new book THE CUBAN TABLE is a visual as well a gastronomic pleasure.Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo was born and raised under the thumb of the Castro Regime in Havana, Cuba. After obtaining a degree in biochemistry, he began to voice his differences with the government founding VOCES, a dissident e-magazine. He won awards for his book BORING HOME, banned in Cuba. He currently is a Visiting Fellow at the International Writers Project, Department of Literary Arts, BrownUniversity. He is the editor of CUBA IN SPLINTERS, ELEVEN STORIES FROM THE NEW CUBA and the photographer of AVANDONED HAVANA.Caribbean design expert and historian Michael Connors takes readers on an unprecedented tour of some of the most architecturally significant private homes and buildings that remain in Cuba in his new book HAVANA MODERN: 20TH CENTURY ARCHITECTURE AND INTERIORS.The politics, art and culture of Cuba on The Halli Casser-Jayne Show always bringing you Talk Radio for Fine Minds http://bit.ly/hcjblog

The Total Tutor and panel will interview Michael Connors, author, Splendor of Cuba" Also, I will interview interview Geoffrey Children's book author who wrote the book Marcus and the Amazons. In addition, we will interview Justin Torres. He will discuss his book We the Animals, and we will interview best selling author Sterling Watson author of Fighting In The Shade. He will discuss his book. All of these authors will be attending the Miami Book Fair. I will be broadcasting live at the fair powered by Life Improvement Radio.