Podcasts about Patient advocacy

In 1987, Mary P. Lovato, a member of Kewa Pueblo in New Mexico, was diagnosed with acute leukemia. To receive a bone marrow transplant, she had to travel more than 800 miles from home because specialized cancer care was unavailable through the Indian Health Service. When she returned, she discovered another obstacle: many in her community feared cancer so deeply that they avoided speaking about it altogether.This episode examines how cancer survivorship exposed profound inequities in the American healthcare system. Long before health equity became a national priority, advocates from underserved communities were confronting disparities rooted in geography, poverty, racism, language, underfunded healthcare systems, and historical mistrust of medical institutions. Their work demonstrated that scientific advances alone cannot improve survival if patients cannot reach, afford, or trust the care available to them.The story follows pioneers including Mary P. Lovato, who built the first national Native-led cancer support and education program for Indigenous communities, and Maimah Karmo, founder of the Tigerlily Foundation, whose breast cancer diagnosis inspired a movement to improve early detection, clinical trial participation, and representation for Black women. Their advocacy challenged longstanding barriers to culturally competent care while highlighting persistent inequities in access to screening, fertility preservation, navigation, and innovative treatments.The episode also explores why diversity in clinical research matters. For decades, many cancer clinical trials disproportionately enrolled White patients, limiting both access to promising therapies and the scientific understanding of how treatments perform across different populations. Researchers, patient advocates, and community leaders responded by redesigning outreach, improving patient navigation, reducing logistical barriers, and insisting that affected communities help shape the research itself.Cancer survivorship cannot be measured solely by scientific breakthroughs. It also depends on whether every patient has a meaningful opportunity to benefit from them. The pursuit of health equity remains one of the defining challenges and enduring responsibilities of modern oncology.RELATED LINKSNational Cancer Institute | Cancer Health Disparities⁠Indian Health Service⁠Tigerlily Foundation⁠National Cancer Institute | Cancer Clinical Trials⁠American Indian Cancer Foundation⁠Abramson Cancer Center | University of Pennsylvania⁠FEEDBACKLike this episode? Rate and review The Cancer Mavericks: A History of Survivorship on your favorite podcast platform. For more information, visit CancerMavericks.com. Please send any questions to podcasts@matthewzachary.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Most people think occupational therapy is what happens after something goes wrong. Tyler Broome is here to tell you that's exactly the framing that's costing patients their independence. In this episode of the Your Health University Podcast, Jamie sits down with Tyler Broome, a Certified Occupational Therapist Assistant at Your Health, to explore what OT actually is, how it fits into a truly integrated care model, and why the therapy team often sees the earliest signs of decline — before anyone else on the care team does. Tyler brings a uniquely grounded perspective, shaped by a baseball career, a grandmother's fall, and years of working inside the homes of real patients. He articulates something most healthcare systems have yet to fully grasp: that medical outcomes and functional outcomes are deeply connected, and that a care team working in silos is a care team leaving gaps. In this episode: Why occupational therapy is defined by daily function — bathing, dressing, meal prep, medication management — not just physical recovery How OT's presence in the home gives the care team "functional health intelligence" no clinic visit can replicate The difference between saying your system is integrated and actually delivering integrated care Two real patient stories where early cross-disciplinary communication prevented a crisis from becoming a catastrophe Why the shift to value-based care makes therapy's role not just important — but essential If you work inside the Your Health system — or if you've ever wondered what the therapy team actually contributes — this conversation will change how you think about the care happening around your patients every day. www.YourHealth.Org

In 2000, Katie Couric underwent a live colonoscopy on national television following the death of her husband, Jay Monahan, from colorectal cancer at age 42. The broadcast demystified a procedure many Americans feared, led to an estimated 20% increase in colonoscopy screenings, and became one of the clearest examples of how public storytelling can change healthcare behavior.This episode examines how celebrities, journalists, filmmakers, and entertainers helped reshape the public conversation about cancer during a period when survivorship was becoming increasingly visible. As breakthroughs in targeted therapies, immunotherapy, and early detection allowed more people to live beyond cancer, public figures used their platforms to encourage screening, reduce stigma, and accelerate research. Their influence extended far beyond awareness campaigns, helping transform cancer from a private diagnosis into a national public health conversation.Central to this story is Laura Ziskin, the Hollywood producer behind Pretty Woman and the Spider-Man films, whose metastatic breast cancer diagnosis inspired the creation of Stand Up To Cancer. Working alongside Couric and leaders from entertainment, journalism, and biomedical research, Ziskin championed a new funding model that required multidisciplinary scientific collaboration, helping accelerate discoveries that contributed to multiple FDA-approved cancer therapies. The episode also highlights the advocacy of actor Patrick Dempsey, whose family's experience with ovarian cancer led to the creation of the Dempsey Center, expanding support for patients and caregivers beyond medical treatment.The story also asks what celebrity advocacy often leaves unsaid. Financial toxicity, caregiver burden, chronic pain, mental health, and the long-term effects of treatment rarely receive the same attention as dramatic diagnoses or breakthrough cures. As cancer survivorship continues to evolve, the greatest challenge may not be convincing people to care about cancer, but helping them understand what it truly means to live with and beyond it.RELATED LINKSStand Up To Cancer⁠Katie Couric Media⁠Dempsey Center⁠American Association for Cancer Research⁠National Cancer Institute⁠Dana-Farber Cancer Institute | Adult Survivorship Program⁠FEEDBACKLike this episode? Rate and review The Cancer Mavericks: A History of Survivorship on your favorite podcast platform. For more information, visit CancerMavericks.com. Please send any questions to podcasts@matthewzachary.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In 2006, a landmark report titled Closing the Gap: Research and Care Imperatives for Adolescents and Young Adults with Cancer confirmed what young survivors had been saying for years. While survival rates for children and older adults had steadily improved, adolescents and young adults had experienced decades of stalled progress. They had become cancer's lost generation.This episode explores how young adult survivors transformed their shared isolation into one of the most influential grassroots movements in cancer advocacy. Diagnosed during the years typically devoted to education, careers, relationships, and starting families, patients between the ages of 15 and 39 confronted challenges that extended far beyond treatment. Fertility preservation, sexual health, employment, financial toxicity, insurance, and long-term quality of life were rarely discussed in oncology clinics, leaving many to navigate survivorship alone.The episode follows advocates including Tamika Felder, Lindsay Avner, Heidi Adams, Doug Ulman, and Dr. Archie Bleyer, whose research and advocacy fundamentally changed how medicine understands adolescent and young adult cancer. Through organizations including Planet Cancer, Fertile Hope, the Lance Armstrong Foundation, and later Stupid Cancer, survivors built online communities, educational resources, conferences, and national partnerships that challenged long-standing assumptions about cancer care. Their work helped establish fertility preservation as a standard discussion before treatment, expanded research dedicated to adolescent and young adult oncology, and elevated quality of life as a critical clinical outcome alongside survival.The movement also demonstrated the power of lived experience to reshape medicine. Survivors became researchers, educators, nonprofit founders, and policy advocates, insisting that cancer care account not only for years of life saved, but for the lives patients hoped to build afterward.What began as a search for peers evolved into a national movement that permanently transformed adolescent and young adult oncology. Today, dedicated research programs, clinical fellowships, survivorship resources, and patient advocacy organizations continue to build on the foundation these young cancer mavericks created.RELATED LINKSNational Cancer Institute | Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Cancer Program⁠Closing the Gap: Research and Care Imperatives for Adolescents and Young Adults with Cancer⁠American Society of Clinical Oncology | Fertility Preservation Guidelines⁠Stupid Cancer⁠Livestrong Foundation⁠Journal of Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology⁠FEEDBACKLike this episode? Rate and review The Cancer Mavericks: A History of Survivorship on your favorite podcast platform. For more information, visit CancerMavericks.com. Please send any questions to podcasts@matthewzachary.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

There's a number attached to every patient's chart that quietly shapes the resources they receive, the care they're offered, and whether their health conditions are fully seen — and most providers don't fully understand it. In this episode, Jamie sits down with Ericka Bauman, Director of Quality Assurance at Your Health, to break down the Risk Adjustment Factor — better known as the RAF score. Ericka has spent years traveling across Georgia and South Carolina, walking into provider offices, sitting with care teams, and doing the work of turning confusing data into meaningful patient outcomes. What you'll hear in this episode: What the RAF score actually is — explained the way Erica explains it to every team she visits, from providers to front desk staff Why most RAF scores are too low — and how underdocumenting a patient's conditions leaves them exposed to missed care, hospitalizations, and unmet needs The biggest misconception providers have about RAF (hint: it's not another box to check) How RAF and quality measurement are really asking the same question from two different angles — and why treating them separately is a mistake What changes for patients when care teams show up prepared, proactive, and looking at the whole person — not just the reason for today's visit The numbers will follow when you take care of the patient. This episode will show you how. www.YourHealth.Org

Survivor: Africa winner Ethan Zohn joins Rev. Dr. Robin Swan for a powerful conversation about cancer, cannabis, resilience and finding purpose after a life-changing diagnosis. Ethan's life had already taken him from professional soccer to winning CBS's Survivor: Africa when, at age 35, he was diagnosed with a rare form of Hodgkin lymphoma. What followed was an intense medical journey involving chemotherapy, radiation, clinical trials and two stem cell transplants. In this episode, Ethan shares his personal experience with medical cannabis and how it became part of the way he managed some of the physical and emotional challenges surrounding cancer treatment and recovery, including nausea, pain, sleep difficulties and anxiety. Ethan and Robin also discuss the changing conversation around cannabis in professional sports, the importance of responsible education and advocacy, and why patients need honest information when making decisions about their health. The conversation goes far beyond cancer. Ethan explains how surviving a life-threatening illness reshaped his sense of purpose and strengthened his commitment to helping others. He discusses Grassroot Soccer, the nonprofit organization he co-founded that uses the power of soccer to improve the health and lives of young people around the world, as well as Kicking Back, his High Times series exploring the intersection of soccer, cannabis and community. In this episode: Ethan's journey from professional soccer to winning Survivor: Africa Being diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma at age 35 Chemotherapy, radiation, clinical trials and two stem cell transplants Ethan's personal experience using cannabis during cancer treatment and recovery Cannabis for nausea, pain, sleep and anxiety The emotional and psychological challenges of cancer survivorship How attitudes toward cannabis are changing in professional sports Cannabis education, responsible use and patient advocacy Turning personal crisis into purpose The story and mission behind Grassroot Soccer Ethan's Kicking Back series with High Times Soccer, cannabis and community Using lived experience to help others facing serious illness Learn more about Ethan Zohn Ethan Zohn:https://ethanzohn.com Grassroot Soccer:https://grassrootsoccer.org Cannabis Health Radio Visit:https://cannabishealthradio.com If this conversation could help someone you know, please share the episode. Subscribe to Cannabis Health Radio for more conversations with patients, advocates, researchers and others exploring cannabis, health and healing. Connect with Cannabis Health RadioVisit us at CannabisHealthRadio.comExplore products and resources from Swan ApothecaryFollow Cannabis Health Radio on Facebook and InstagramImportant DisclaimerThe views and opinions expressed by guests on Cannabis Health Radio (CHR) are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of CHR, its hosts, producers, affiliates, or sponsors. CHR is not responsible for statements or opinions expressed by its guests.Nothing presented in this episode constitutes medical advice, diagnosis, treatment, or a recommendation regarding what you should do. This content is provided for informational and entertainment purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional regarding your health, medical conditions, medications, or treatment decisions. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In 2006, the Institute of Medicine published From Cancer Patient to Cancer Survivor: Lost in Transition, concluding that millions of Americans were surviving cancer only to find themselves navigating a healthcare system unprepared for life after treatment. The report challenged oncology to recognize that curing cancer was not the end of care, but the beginning of survivorship.This episode explores how the growing cancer survivorship movement exposed the long-term consequences of cancer treatment that medicine had largely overlooked. As survival rates improved following the National Cancer Act of 1971, millions of survivors faced chronic fatigue, neuropathy, infertility, cognitive impairment, financial hardship, employment discrimination, anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress. These were not rare complications. They became defining features of survivorship for many patients.Drawing on the work of oncologist Dr. Patricia Ganz, survivor advocate Ellen Stovall, and researchers, clinicians, and survivors across the country, the episode examines how survivorship research expanded beyond recurrence and mortality to include quality of life, psychosocial care, rehabilitation, and long-term follow-up. Their efforts helped establish survivorship care plans, multidisciplinary survivorship clinics, and a broader understanding that cancer affects every aspect of a person's life long after treatment ends.The episode also confronts persistent inequities in survivorship care. Insurance coverage often ends when treatment stops, supportive services remain inconsistent, financial toxicity continues to drive medical hardship, and racial, geographic, and socioeconomic disparities still influence who receives comprehensive follow-up care. For many survivors, finishing treatment simply marks the beginning of another struggle.Modern oncology increasingly recognizes that surviving cancer is measured by more than years of life. It is also measured by quality of life, dignity, access to care, and the ability to rebuild a future after treatment. That evolution remains one of the most significant legacies of the cancer survivorship movement.RELATED LINKSNational Academy of Medicine | ⁠From Cancer Patient to Cancer Survivor: Lost in Transition⁠National Cancer Institute Office of Cancer Survivorship⁠American Society of Clinical Oncology | Survivorship Compendium⁠CancerCare⁠HopeWell Cancer Support⁠National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship⁠FEEDBACKLike this episode? Rate and review The Cancer Mavericks: A History of Survivorship on your favorite podcast platform. For more information, visit CancerMavericks.com. Please send any questions to podcasts@matthewzachary.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In 1967, breast surgeon Dr. Harold P. Freeman arrived at Harlem Hospital expecting to treat cancer. Instead, he confronted a healthcare system where poverty, racism, lack of insurance, and institutional barriers often determined who lived long enough to receive treatment. Patients frequently arrived with advanced disease, not because medicine lacked answers, but because access to care had failed them.This episode explores how cancer survivorship expanded beyond medical breakthroughs to include healthcare access, health equity, and organized advocacy. Building on the early work of the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship (NCCS), it examines the recognition that surviving cancer depended not only on research, but also on whether patients could navigate a fragmented healthcare system.Freeman responded by creating one of the nation's first patient navigation programs at Harlem Hospital in 1990. Community-based navigators helped patients overcome practical barriers including insurance, transportation, appointments, communication, and fear. The model dramatically improved timely diagnosis and treatment, increased breast cancer survival in Harlem, and ultimately inspired the Patient Navigator Outreach and Chronic Disease Prevention Act of 2005, establishing navigation as a cornerstone of modern oncology care.The episode also follows cancer survivor Ellen Stovall, whose leadership transformed survivorship into a national policy movement. Through the NCCS, she united advocates across cancer types, fought for insurance protections, expanded access to clinical trials, helped shape the creation of the Office of Cancer Survivorship at the National Cancer Institute, and organized the landmark 1998 National March for Cancer Survivorship in Washington, D.C. Her work reframed survivorship as a public policy issue rather than a personal experience.Together, Freeman and Stovall demonstrated that scientific progress alone could not eliminate disparities in cancer outcomes. Their work established two enduring principles that continue to shape oncology today: patients need someone to help them navigate care, and survivors must have a voice in the policies that govern it. Modern cancer survivorship depends on both.RELATED LINKSNational Coalition for Cancer Survivorship⁠Harold P. Freeman Patient Navigation Institute⁠National Cancer Institute Office of Cancer Survivorship⁠Patient Navigator Outreach and Chronic Disease Prevention Act of 2005⁠American Cancer Society⁠Tuskegee Study Timeline | Centers for Disease Control and Prevention⁠FEEDBACKLike this episode? Rate and review The Cancer Mavericks: A History of Survivorship on your favorite podcast platform. For more information, visit CancerMavericks.com. Please send any questions to podcasts@matthewzachary.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What happens when a patient can't communicate with the team caring for them? On this episode of the Elevate Care podcast, host Christin Stanford talks with Erin Dougherty Cieszynski, Manager of Guest Relations and Patient Experience at Main Line Health, about what language access looks like once a policy meets a patient in an exam room. This conversation is part two of a series with Main Line Health, following a leadership-level discussion on operational strategy with Suzanne Smith. Check out part one! Erin brings over 12 years of patient advocacy experience to a conversation grounded in real moments from the floor: emergency department visits, registration desks, and the quiet handoffs between nurse, patient, and family. She walks through how Main Line Health moved from reactive interpreter use to automatic activation, why a universal sign-on changed adoption rates among clinicians, and how something as simple as a badge buddy can close a communication gap before it becomes a safety risk. Erin also shares how an ASL interpreter helped identify a hearing-impaired patient as a victim of human trafficking, connecting the dots between language access, patient safety, and trust. Throughout, she reframes language services as a driver of stronger patient outcomes, better satisfaction scores, and increased community referrals, not just a regulatory requirement. Key Takeaways Language access should be automatic at the start of care, not a last resort. Reducing friction through universal app sign-on, badge buddies, and dual handsets drives faster clinician adoption. Patients who feel heard are more likely to return, refer others, and engage in preventive care. Language access touches the entire patient journey, from registration through discharge and follow-up. Strong interpreter access supports both patient safety and staff satisfaction. Health systems should expect deeper digital integration and a shift toward population-mapped language access strategy. Chapters 00:00 – Introduction to Language Access and Patient Experience 01:39 – Erin's Role in Guest Relations at Main Line Health 02:06 – Where Language Access Shows Up Most for Patients 03:05 – Why Communication Is the Foundation of Quality Care 04:42 – Closing the Gap Between Policy and Frontline Reality 05:38 – What Good Language Access Looks Like on the Floor 07:09 – How Providers Use Interpreter Services Under Pressure 08:30 – Building Adoption Across Clinical Teams 09:35 – Feedback That Shaped a Better Program 11:04 – Adapting Language Access to Rising Patient Volumes 12:00 – Connecting Language Access to Referrals and Revenue 13:07 – A Story of Language Access Saving a Life 16:40 – The Link Between Language Barriers and Preventive Care 18:09 – Small Changes with Outsized Impact 19:17 – Where Communication Breakdowns Still Happen 20:51 – Advice for Healthcare Leaders 21:49 – The Next Five Years of Language Access Meet Erin Dougherty Cieszynski Erin Dougherty Cieszynski works across the full continuum of care to help patients navigate the healthcare system, understand their treatment, and feel confident their voices are being heard. Known for her empathy and ability to bridge the gap between clinical teams and the patients they serve, Erin has led efforts at Main Line Health to expand interpreter access, streamline technology adoption among clinicians, and connect language access directly to patient safety and satisfaction outcomes. To hear more from the Main Line Health language access series, listen to part one of this conversation featuring Suzanne Smith's perspective on operational strategy and system-wide impact.  Explore Solutions for Smarter Workforce ManagementWe're proudly sponsored by AMN Healthcare, the leader in healthcare staffing and workforce solutions. Explore their services at AMN Healthcare.Learn how AMN Healthcare's workforce flexibility technology helps health systems cut costs and improve efficiency. Click here to explore the case study and discover smarter ways to manage your resources!Discover how WorkWise is redefining workforce management for healthcare. Visit workwise.amnhealthcare.com to learn more.About The Show: Elevate Care delves into the latest trends, thinking, and best practices shaping the landscape of healthcare. From total talent management to solutions and strategies to expand the reach of care, we discuss methods to enable high quality, flexible workforce and care delivery. We will discuss the latest advancements in technology, the impact of emerging models and settings, physical and virtual, and address strategies to identify and obtain an optimal workforce mix. Tune in to gain valuable insights from thought leaders focused on improving healthcare quality, workforce well-being, and patient outcomes. Learn more about the show here. Find Us On:WebsiteYouTubeSpotifyAppleInstagramLinkedInXFacebook Powered by AMN Healthcare Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Few things say “welcome to adulthood” quite like opening a medical bill and realizing you have absolutely no idea what you're looking at. There are billing codes, insurance adjustments, deductibles, coinsurance, and somehow a procedure that costs one amount on one line costs something completely different on another. In this episode of Grown-Up Stuff, Matt and Lea tackle the confusing world of medical bills and healthcare costs with patient advocate and healthcare transparency expert Cynthia Fisher. They break down how medical billing actually works, what all those codes and numbers mean, and why the amount a hospital says it charges isn't necessarily the amount you’ll pay. You'll learn how insurance-negotiated rates, deductibles, copays and coinsurance factor into your final bill, why it's worth asking for an itemized bill, and what to do when something doesn't look right. Cynthia also explains how to question charges, negotiate medical bills, and advocate for yourself when you're faced with a bill you can't, or don't think you should have to, pay. Because being a grown-up means knowing how to make a doctor's appointment. But apparently it also means knowing what to do when the bill arrives.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What actually happens to a patient a year into real, supervised peptide therapy? In the final episode of our peptides series, Dr. Melissa Jones and host Jamie Preston close the loop on the story that opened this whole series — and get honest about what changed, what didn't, and what every provider and patient still needs to know. This episode goes beyond the science into the human side of the story: what it actually feels like when chronic pain resolves, when weight loss becomes life-changing rather than cosmetic, and when a skeptical clinician becomes one of the most passionate advocates in the building. Jamie also shares his own journey — turning 50, managing diabetes, and reaching his goal weight — as a real example of what supervised, responsible care can look like over time. In this episode, you'll hear: An update on the chronic pain patient from Episode 1 — where he is now, and what's kept his results sustainable What the actual clinical data shows about supervised BPC-157 therapy, and where its limits are Why GLP-1 success is about far more than the number on the scale — confidence, mobility, and mental health The advice Dr. Jones gives new providers who feel nervous bringing up peptides with patients The single biggest myth about peptides she wants to put to rest for good The three things every patient should understand before they ever start a peptide This is the episode that ties the whole series together — not as a sales pitch for peptides, but as a case for doing this the right way, with the right people, for the right reasons. It's the last episode in this run, but it won't be the last time we talk about this. www.YourHealth.Org

Most nursing homes think they're measuring success by how many patients move through their building. What they're not measuring is how many of those same patients end up right back in the hospital — and who pays the price when they do. In this episode of The Disrupted Podcast, Scott Middleton — Owner of Your Health and Chief Disruption Officer — pulls back the curtain on the facility partnership model Your Health is rolling out across the Southeast. It's a model that doesn't just serve patients in skilled nursing facilities; it pays those facilities for the care coordination work their staff is already doing, while creating the kind of presence that actually moves the needle on outcomes. Scott and Jamie cover the mechanics, the competitive landscape, and the cultural shift required to make it all work: Why Your Health is contracting with nursing homes to pay up to $20,000 a month for care coordination — and what that's worth annually to a facility with 200 Medicare patients The difference between "popping in" and genuine presence — and why only one of them drives real cost savings and keeps patients from bouncing back to the hospital Why physicians working in isolation are the biggest liability in a team-based care model, and how a September 1st bonus restructure is designed to change that culture How 80% of what used to require an in-person visit can now happen via telehealth — and the one thing technology will never replace: the relationship that makes a patient actually follow through Scott's 10-year urgency: why Your Health is already three steps ahead of the competition — and why that lead only matters if the model scales fast enough If you work in a nursing facility, lead a care team, run a healthcare organization, or believe the system needs a fundamentally better architecture — this is what building it actually looks like. Press play. www.YourHealth.Org

Welcome to a very, very, very special bonus episode of Out of Patients, and one unlike anything published on this feed before. For nearly 20 years, Matthew Zachary has handed these microphones to patients, caregivers, doctors, advocates, troublemakers, and people with something worth saying. This time, he handed them to his daughter. Hannah Greenzweig grew up around this show, and now she has commandeered the studio with 3 of her wonderfully creative high school friends to talk about something they built entirely themselves. There is an enormous amount of Dad Pride baked into this episode, along with the strange and wonderful realization that sometimes your kid grows up, takes your chair, takes your microphone, and produces a better show without you.Hannah Greenzweig, Michael Aidinov, Gwendolyn Baldini, and Astronomy are student artists from the Roundabout Youth Ensemble at James Madison High School in Brooklyn. Working alongside teaching artists from Roundabout Theatre Company, they spent a school year creating an original play from the ground up, writing every scene, developing every character, and producing the performance themselves.Instead of discussing a Broadway production, they dissect one they invented.Their play, Subject Matter, began with a room full of improbable ideas. Murderous bounce houses, pirate family sagas, underwater adventures, courtroom dance battles, and birthday parties at math museums all competed before the group settled on an absurd rivalry between New York's fictional History Museum and Math Museum. From there, they built a fully staged comedy about institutional competition, sabotage, oversized personalities, and the unexpected discovery that history and mathematics need each other more than either side wants to admit.The conversation pulls back the curtain on a creative process most audiences never see. The students explain how scenes evolved through constant rewrites, how characters emerged from improvisation, how costumes came together with last minute ingenuity, and how rehearsals often collapsed into uncontrollable laughter. They recount cutting favorite ideas, solving production problems with limited resources, and trusting each other enough to keep rewriting until the story worked.The episode also captures something harder to script: teenagers speaking honestly about collaboration without adults translating their experience. They celebrate classmates who stepped into unexpected roles, teachers who quietly held the production together, and the strange joy of creating something that exists only because everyone showed up.It is a conversation about theater, friendship, education, creativity, and what happens when 4 young artists get the microphones and the adults get out of the way.RELATED LINKSRoundabout Theatre CompanyRoundabout Youth EnsembleJames Madison High SchoolFEEDBACKLike this bonus episode? Rate and review Out of Patients on your favorite podcast platform. For guest suggestions or sponsorship email podcasts@matthewzachary.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A man is struck by a car on the streets of Los Angeles. In the emergency department, a CT scan ordered to look for traumatic injuries reveals something nobody expected: a mass in his colon. Days later, sitting across from Dr. Belinda Waltman, he calls the accident “a blessing in disguise.” Then he changes the subject. He is less worried about cancer than about whether he can afford to miss another day of work. In this season finale of Standard Deviation, host Dr. Oliver Bogler explores what happens when biomedical science collides with the realities of the healthcare safety net. Dr. Waltman, a primary care physician in Los Angeles County, specializes in expedited cancer workups for uninsured and underinsured patients. Every diagnosis arrives carrying another set of questions about housing, transportation, food insecurity, wages, and survival that rarely appear in medical records or scientific literature. For years, Waltman carried those stories without knowing how to bring them into the academic record. As a full-time clinician without a research lab, grant funding, or publication pipeline, she faced barriers familiar to many working scientists and physicians whose most important observations happen outside traditional research settings. With support from the Life Science Editors Foundation's JEDI program, those experiences became The Margins Matter, a narrative medicine essay published in JAMA that argues the social realities surrounding cancer care are not background details. They are part of the disease itself. Bogler traces how editorial mentorship transformed lived clinical experience into published scholarship while asking a larger question about who gets to shape the scientific record. The conversation examines cancer care, Medicaid, health-related social needs, medical publishing, and the structural incentives that determine which stories become evidence and which disappear from view.The result is a conversation about documentation, visibility, and why the margins of medicine often determine who survives long enough to benefit from its advances.RELATED LINKSDr. Belinda Waltman⁠The Margins Matter | JAMA⁠The Margins Matter | PubMed⁠Life Science Editors Foundation⁠FEEDBACKLike this episode? Rate and review Out of Patients on your favorite podcast platform. For guest suggestions or sponsorship email podcasts@matthewzachary.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What happens when you know something is wrong, but no one believes you?In this heartfelt episode of Love Conquers Alz, Susie Singer Carter and Don Priess welcome Nancy Treaster, co-founder of  The Caregiver's Journey, to discuss her husband, Kim Treaster's battle with Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) and the long road to an accurate diagnosis. Nancy is a certified caregiving consultant and co-founder of The Caregiver's Journey, Nancy shares the subtle behavioral changes that first raised concerns, the frustration of being told it was "just anxiety," and why caregivers must trust their instincts when something doesn't feel right. Together, they explore the differences between Alzheimer's disease and Frontotemporal Dementia, the challenges of language loss (primary progressive aphasia), and the importance of advocating for a loved one when the medical system falls short.The conversation also dives into some of the most emotional aspects of caregiving:• Recognizing the early signs of FTD• Why spouses and family members often notice symptoms first• How to advocate for an accurate diagnosis• Protecting your loved one's dignity throughout the disease• Navigating aggression, incontinence, and difficult behaviors with compassion• What it means to become a "pragmatic caregiver" and find peace in the present moment• Why love can endure, even when memories fadeNancy's wisdom reminds us that while dementia changes relationships, it doesn't erase love.If you're caring for or walking beside someone living with FTD or any dementia diagnosis, this conversation will leave you feeling seen, supported, and inspired.* The short film mentioned in the podcast:  Love At First Sight starring British actors Sir John Hurt and Phyllida Law Send us Fan MailIf someone you love experienced neglect in a nursing home…Then you know how desperately the system needs to change.  History has shown us that It takes people power to change anything worthwhile. That's why we we're launching something that's never been done before. On September 27, communities across the country are coming together for the first-ever National Long-Term Care Reform Day.This is a peaceful national walk for dignity, accountability, and change in long-term care.We'rSupport the showNo Country For Old People; a Nursing Home Exposé is STREAMING NOW on Amazon Prime (https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0F7D1RR5X/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r) Visit the No Country For Old People Website for more information.Please watch. Review. Share.Be a ROAR-ior!! JOIN THE R.O.A.R. MOVEMENT (Respect, Oversight, Advocacy, Reform) for quality long term care! Visit the ROAR 4 LTC Website for more information and consider participating in the inaugural National National Long-Term Care Day, Sunday, September 27th The 1st ever ROAR 2026 National Walk for Long-Term Care Reform! Found out more here: https://www.roar4ltc.org/roar-2026-walkFollow us on Twitter, FB, IG, & TiK Tok

In 1986, 23 survivors, physicians, nurses, attorneys, and community organizers gathered in Albuquerque, New Mexico, for a weekend that would permanently change the language and politics of cancer. Working late into the night, they debated not only strategy, but identity, ultimately declaring that from the moment of diagnosis, every person with cancer is a survivor.This episode traces the social and political forces that gave birth to the modern cancer survivorship movement. As advances in early detection and treatment allowed more people to live beyond cancer, survivors discovered that finishing treatment did not mean returning to normal life. Many faced employment discrimination, loss of insurance, social stigma, infertility, chronic health complications, and a healthcare system that viewed survival as the end of care rather than the beginning of a new chapter.Against the backdrop of the civil rights, disability rights, and community health movements of the 1960s and 1970s, physicians, activists, and survivors challenged medicine's paternalistic culture and demanded a greater voice in decisions affecting their lives. Central to this story are physician and survivor Dr. Fitzhugh Mullan, whose landmark 1985 essay, Seasons of Survival, redefined survivorship as a lifelong continuum, and community organizer Katherine Logan, whose determination united dozens of grassroots organizations into what became the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship.The coalition's founding established principles that continue to shape oncology today. Survivors were no longer defined solely by disease or treatment outcomes. Their experiences became evidence. Their voices became essential to clinical research, healthcare policy, and patient advocacy. By redefining survivorship as an ongoing experience rather than a destination, the movement challenged medicine to recognize the lasting physical, emotional, financial, and social consequences of cancer.The ideas forged during that weekend in Albuquerque became the foundation of modern cancer survivorship. Nearly 40 years later, the coalition's defining principle, that survivorship begins at diagnosis, continues to influence cancer care, research, policy, and the way millions of people understand life after cancer.RELATED LINKSNational Coalition for Cancer Survivorship⁠National Cancer Institute Office of Cancer Survivorship⁠The New England Journal of Medicine⁠Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA.gov)⁠Library of Congress | Civil Rights History Project⁠White Coat, Clenched Fist by Fitzhugh Mullan⁠FEEDBACKLike this episode? Rate and review The Cancer Mavericks: A History of Survivorship on your favorite podcast platform. For more information, visit CancerMavericks.com. Please send any questions to podcasts@matthewzachary.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What if the biggest threat to your healthcare organization isn't competition or reimbursement rates — it's the moment one of your team members decided that the policy was more important than the person in front of them? In this episode, Jamie sits down with Matt Staub, CEO of Your Health, to explore the timeless "Give 'Em the Pickle" philosophy — born in a burger joint, but almost perfectly designed for healthcare. Matt and Jamie unpack the four pillars of the pickle framework — service, attitude, consistency, and teamwork — and trace each one directly into the reality of patient care, care team dynamics, and organizational culture. Video LinkGive Em The Pickle Youtube Video   What you'll hear in this episode: Why charging a loyal customer 75 cents for extra pickles is the same mistake healthcare makes every day — and how the Ritz Carlton's $2,500 employee empowerment policy points to a better way How attitude isn't just a soft skill — it's the infrastructure of every patient interaction, including the ones where you're already having a bad day Why mistakes in healthcare aren't failures — they're invitations, and the patients who complained and felt heard often become your fiercest advocates What real consistency looks like in care delivery: not doing the same thing robotically, but doing ordinary things extraordinarily well, every single time How teamwork in healthcare means every person in the organization — from the CEO to the community health worker — has a role in whether the patient feels seen and served This episode will challenge you to look at service not as a department or a satisfaction score, but as the very soul of what your organization stands for. Give 'em the pickle.

What if the peptide you just ordered online isn't wrong — it's just wrong for you? In Episode 2 of our peptides series, clinical pharmacist Dr. Melissa Jones takes us inside the actual decision-making process providers use to match a peptide to a patient, and why skipping that process is how people end up wasting money, or worse, hurting themselves. Host Jamie Preston and Dr. Jones dig into the real science: what a peptide is, how peptides signal the body, and why a healthy foundation — hormones and gut health — has to come before any peptide is even considered. From there, they cover the wide menu of options (tissue repair, skin and hair, sexual health, growth hormone support, metabolic health, sleep and stress) and what it actually means to “stack” or “cycle” peptides responsibly. In this episode, you'll hear: Why there isn't — and won't be — one peptide that does it all, and what that means for how providers build a plan How stacking and cycling actually work, and where cost becomes a real factor in the decision The difference between FDA-approved peptide uses (like Tesamorelin for visceral fat) and the anecdotal dosing happening across the wellness world The real danger in reconstituting and self-dosing peptides ordered online, explained in plain terms What responsible, supervised GLP-1 (Mounjaro, Ozempic, tirzepatide) therapy looks like — and what goes wrong with compounded, unregulated versions The specific list of patients who should avoid peptides or use extra caution, and why providers need to know it cold If you've ever wondered whether a peptide could actually help you — or wondered what your provider is really weighing before saying yes — this episode gives you the real answer, not the Instagram version. www.YourHealth.Org

In 1971, President Richard Nixon signed the National Cancer Act, transforming cancer research with an unprecedented federal investment and launching what became known as the War on Cancer. The legislation did not emerge from scientific discovery alone. It was the culmination of decades of relentless advocacy by researchers, philanthropists, journalists, and patients who believed cancer demanded the same national commitment that had put astronauts on the Moon.This episode traces the origins of the cancer survivorship movement by returning to a time when cancer was rarely discussed in public, many physicians withheld diagnoses from their patients, and surgery offered few lasting cures. It follows the pioneering work of pathologist Dr. Sidney Farber, whose early chemotherapy research challenged conventional thinking, and Mary Lasker, whose political strategy, fundraising, and public campaigns helped transform cancer from a private tragedy into a national public health priority. Together, they built the coalition that reshaped federal support for oncology research and forever changed the relationship between science, government, and the American public.The story then turns to journalist and breast cancer survivor Rose Kushner, whose refusal to accept the standard one-step radical mastectomy challenged nearly a century of surgical dogma. Working alongside surgeon Dr. Bernard Fisher, Kushner helped bring evidence-based medicine to breast cancer treatment through randomized clinical trials that demonstrated less invasive surgery could achieve equivalent outcomes. Their efforts changed clinical practice, strengthened informed consent, and helped establish the principle that patients should participate in decisions about their own care.The breakthroughs explored in this episode extended far beyond new treatments. They redefined the role of patients in medicine, accelerated clinical research, and laid the foundation for modern cancer survivorship. The movement that followed would not simply help more people live longer. It would change what surviving cancer meant.RELATED LINKSNational Cancer Institute⁠National Cancer Act of 1971⁠American Cancer Society⁠Dana-Farber Cancer Institute⁠National Library of Medicine⁠The New England Journal of Medicine⁠FEEDBACKLike this episode? Rate and review The Cancer Mavericks: A History of Survivorship on your favorite podcast platform. For more information, visit CancerMavericks.com. Please send any questions to podcasts@matthewzachary.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Long before cancer survivors organized into a movement, Hollywood had already shaped how Americans understood the disease. Films rarely used the word “cancer,” physicians often withheld diagnoses from patients, and the people who survived were almost nowhere to be found on screen.Recorded before The Cancer Mavericks: A History of Survivorship became a documentary series, this bonus conversation explores where the project first began. Matthew Zachary sits down with his mother, Roz Greenzweig, a retired educator and lifelong film enthusiast whose memories of classic cinema became an unexpected lens for understanding how cancer was portrayed throughout the twentieth century.Together, they revisit landmark films including Dark Victory, Love Story, and other iconic portrayals that reflected an era when cancer was treated as unspeakable, inevitable, and almost always fatal. Their conversation contrasts those carefully constructed Hollywood narratives with the lived reality of a family confronting a brain cancer diagnosis in 1995, revealing how popular culture both reflected and reinforced the fears surrounding the disease.The discussion also foreshadows many of the themes explored throughout the documentary series: the evolution of patient advocacy, the emergence of cancer survivorship, the role of caregivers, and the power of storytelling to influence public understanding. Before policy changed, before advocacy organizations grew into national movements, conversations like these were already challenging long-held assumptions about what cancer looked like and who had the right to tell its story.Consider this the prologue to The Cancer Mavericks. Before the movement found its history, it began with a family trying to make sense of the stories they had inherited.RELATED LINKSAmerican Cancer Society⁠National Cancer Institute⁠American Film Institute⁠ER (NBC)⁠50/50 (Official)⁠Chasing Life (ABC Family Archive)⁠FEEDBACKLike this episode? Rate and review The Cancer Mavericks: A History of Survivorship on your favorite podcast platform. For more information, visit CancerMavericks.com. Questions? Email podcasts@matthewzachary.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Behind every policy is a patient, caregiver, or family whose story helped make change possible. In this episode, we speak with Andrea Sanchez and Becki Chandler, volunteer advocates with Blood Cancer United, about the power of patient voices in shaping public policy. Drawing from their own family experiences with blood cancer, they discuss issues ranging from medical debt and insurance coverage to clinical trial access and research funding and explain how patients and caregivers can make their voices heard. Learn why sharing your story matters and how personal experiences help lawmakers see that patients are more than numbers on a page. Behind every statistic is a real person, a unique story, and a family impacted by blood cancer. DOWNLOAD TRANSCRIPT CLICK HERE to participate in our episode survey. Mentioned on this episode: Blood Cancer United Advocacy and Office of Public Policy – sign up for volunteer advocacy or sharing your voice here Medical Debt Case Management Program Financial support Accelerating Kids Access to Care Act Dare to Dream Blood Cancer United Scholarship program Blood Cancer Care Close to Home vlog episode National Institutes of Health (NIH) Advocating for Yourself: Insurance, Finances, and Your Rights podcast episode Additional Blood Cancer United Support Resources: Information Specialists Clinical Trial Support Center Young Adult Resources Young Adult Online Chat Free Nutrition Consultations Free telephone/web patient programs SHARE web series Online videos Free booklets Patient Community Caregiver support Caregiver Workbook Support groups Survivorship Workbook Mental Health Resources The post Making Your Voice Count: The Power of Patient Advocacy first appeared on The Bloodline with Blood Cancer United Podcast.

Dr. Kahn explains lipoprotein(a) testing units, its link to aortic disease, and the need to educate both patients and providers. #Lp(a)Testing #DoctorAwareness #AorticHealth #PreventiveCare

Excruciating pain after even brief sun exposure, years without answers, and a life-threatening liver crisis shaped Ashley's journey with erythropoietic protoporphyria (EPP), a rare genetic condition that causes severe photosensitivity. Although Ashley experienced symptoms beginning in early childhood, she wasn't diagnosed until after her 40th birthday, when she was hospitalized with advanced liver disease ultimately requiring a transplant. In this episode of On Rare, David Rintell, Head of Patient Advocacy at BridgeBio, and Mandy Rohrig, Vice President of Patient Advocacy at BridgeBio, speak with Ashley about her decades-long diagnostic journey, the emotional experience of waiting for a donor organ, and how finding a physician living with porphyria finally led to answers. Ashley reflects on the challenges of living in the shadows to avoid sunlight, navigating life after transplant, and why sharing her story has become one of her greatest purposes.  Dr. Pete Schmidt, Chief Medical Officer of GondolaBio provides a medical overview of EPP and X-linked protoporphyria (XLP). Both conditions are rare genetic disorders caused by the buildup of protoporphyrin IX, a molecule that becomes highly reactive when exposed to visible light. This reaction causes severe pain and inflammation in the skin after sun exposure and, in some people, can lead to progressive liver damage as protoporphyrin accumulates in the liver and bile ducts. Dr. Schmidt explains the underlying biology of EPP, why symptoms can be difficult to diagnose, and the challenges of managing both the painful photosensitivity and the risk of liver disease.

Rebecca Bloom is a former employee benefits and executive compensation attorney who spent more than 25 years helping women navigate cancer, work, insurance, disability coverage, and financial survival. She is the founder and author of When Women Get Sick, a book built from decades inside the legal, workplace, and patient advocacy systems most people only discover after diagnosis.Bloom started in Big Law at Simpson Thacher handling employee benefits and compensation work she originally chose to pay off student loans. Then her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. Suddenly the language she used in corporate law offices became the language of survival at home. Explanation of benefits forms. Coverage disputes. Second opinions. Disability protections. Medical leave. Bills no one could explain.That collision changed the direction of her life.In this episode, Bloom explains how serious illness quietly turns patients into unpaid administrators managing paperwork, logistics, financial risk, and emotional labor while trying to survive treatment. She breaks down how employer based health insurance shapes nearly every aspect of cancer care in America and why women often carry the invisible burden of protecting everyone else from discomfort while they themselves fall apart.The conversation digs into workplace power, the illusion of the healthcare “safety net,” caregiver exhaustion, and the class divide hiding underneath patient empowerment culture. Bloom explains why educated, insured women with resources still struggle to navigate healthcare bureaucracy and what happens to patients without those advantages.This episode explores cancer care, health insurance, employee benefits, patient advocacy, workplace protections, caregiving, and the structural incentives that force sick people to become project managers of their own survival.RELATED LINKSRebecca BloomWhen Women Get SickBay Area Cancer ConnectionsSimpson Thacher & BartlettFEEDBACKLike this episode? Rate and review Out of Patients on your favorite podcast platform. For guest suggestions or sponsorship email podcasts@matthewzachary.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Join host Myrna Young as she delves into cancer care and treatments with Dr. Rohit Gosain and Dr. Rahul Gisain, the Oncology Brothers, board-certified hematologists and medical oncologists from New York. This episode explores separating medical facts from media hype, understanding complex cancer research, and addressing treatment disparities. Learn about breakthrough treatments, the importance of personalized medicine, and how informed decisions can impact outcomes. Whether you're a patient, caregiver, or healthcare enthusiast, gain valuable insights into navigating the evolving landscape of cancer care.The Oncology Brothers share their professional journey and why they chose to specialize in oncology and hematology. They discuss how fast-evolving cancer treatments are being communicated and documented at medical conferences and highlight the significance of unbiased perspectives when selecting the best treatment options. Myrna and the doctors also emphasize the importance of understanding screening guidelines and genetic mutations for personalized cancer treatment, discussing various cancer advances like targeted therapies and immunotherapy. This episode serves as an enlightening resource for anyone affected by cancer, offering both hope and practical advice.Key Takeaways:The Oncology Brothers emphasize the explosion of cancer research and development, pointing out the annual approval of new treatments, which brings hope despite the challenges of keeping up with this data.Conferences serve as vital platforms for cancer education, yet the reality of financial and bias conflicts in the healthcare industry necessitates informed and independent patient advocacy.Treatment personalization through genetic profiling and understanding patient-specific mutations are pivotal in tackling cancers more effectively and improving patient outcomes.Listeners are encouraged to seek knowledge on the available cancer treatments, understand screening guidelines, and engage in shared decision-making with healthcare providers for optimal cancer care.Despite disparities in healthcare access due to geographical and financial constraints, efforts are ongoing to make cutting-edge cancer treatments more widely available.Timestamp Summary0:00 Welcome & Introduction2:09 Understanding Cancer Education5:20 Conversations Around Cancer Treatments10:14 The Role of Medical Conferences15:09 Recent Advancements in Cancer Treatment24:39 Patient Advocacy and Treatment Questions31:09 Disparities in Cancer Treatment Access42:31 Closing Remarks and ResourcesResources:OncBrothers WebsiteOncBrothers Podcast on YouTube | Spotify | Apple PodcastsSocial Media: @ONCBrothers on X/TwitterSponsors for this Episode SquareSquare brings payments, POS, inventory, staffing, and online sales together in one system – so business owners don't have to juggle a bunch of tools. Right now, listeners can get up to $200 off Square hardware when you sign up at square.com/go/transformQuinceQuince is not just apparel. Quince also offers elevated essentials for your home, from bedding and bath, to kitchen essentials and furniture.Make your summer wardrobe feel easier. Go to Quince.com/tym for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns Link to Transcript https://www.buzzsprout.com/1761155/19533950-oncology-advances-inside-the-latest-breakthroughs-in-cancer-treatment/transcriptSee this video on The Transform Your Mind YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@MyhelpsUs/videosTo see a transcripts of this audio as well as links to all the advertisers on the show page https://myhelps.us/Follow Transform Your Mind on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/myrnamyoung/Follow Transform Your mind on Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063738390977Please leave a rating and review on iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/transform-your-mind/id1144973094Feedspot Top 100 Mental Health Podcast For sponsored Brand interviews and sponsorship inquires please visit Partner With The Transform Your Mind Podcast | Myrna Young Life Coach

In 2020, Tim McDonald went to an urgent care for a pain in his side. He left knowing he had stage IV colorectal cancer that had already spread to his liver. A second oncologist told him he had three years to live. Almost six years later, after a liver transplant and a long stretch of treatment, Tim is still here, still working, and still traveling with his wife every year. Chris Anderson sits down with Tim to talk about the mindset that carried him through it, the symptoms he brushed off for months, and what it actually looks like to stop planning your life and start living it. Tim is a healthcare advocate and the host of the Advocacy at Work podcast and blog. He has gone to Capitol Hill to push for colorectal cancer research funding and sits on research panels that bring the patient voice into how new treatments get built. This one is for the man who keeps putting off the checkup, the hard conversation, and the trip he says he will take someday. What we get into: The moment Tim heard the words "you have cancer" and why his reaction worried his own doctor Why he told his wife "that's your story, not mine" after a doctor handed him a three year timeline The count to 10 practice that got his temper under control, and why most men quit before it works The journaling exercise he uses to talk back to fear so it stops running his decisions The symptoms he explained away for months: weight loss, back pain, night sweats, and never feeling warm Why colorectal cancer screening dropped from age 50 to 45, and why it may drop again to 40 Cologuard versus the newer blood tests, and what to do if you are too young for insurance to cover it How one positive blood test six years later sent him back into the what ifs, and how he got out What changed in his marriage when his wife became the rock instead of him Why he stopped trying to be the hardest worker in the room and started working smarter The question he left in the Upgrade Log for the next guest Connect with Tim McDonald: Website and podcast: advocacyatwork.com LinkedIn: Tim A. McDonald If this one helps you, send it to a man who needs it. Follow the show so we can keep putting them out. Stay upgraded. This episode may or may not be sponsored. Some product links are affiliate links, meaning we'll receive a small commission if you buy something.===========================⚡️ PODCAST: Subscribe and listen on all major platforms⚡️ Want to be a guest on The Upgraded Man? Apply here ➡ https://upgraded-man.com/guest⚡️ For support or business inquiries, email us ➡ chris@upgraded-man.com Our mission at The Upgraded Man is simple — help men upgrade every area of their life through real conversations, honest stories, and actionable insight from men who have done the work.The content on The Upgraded Man is for informational and entertainment purposes only. The views expressed by the host and guests are their own and do not constitute professional legal, financial, medical, or therapeutic advice. Always consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on information discussed on this podcast. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

“I saw the light, and the light won.” Born with cataracts and living with visual impairment for most of her life, Sage Amdahl never imagined that one unexpected experience would completely change the direction of her life. In this milestone 500th episode of Cannabis Health Radio, Sage shares her remarkable journey of discovering cannabis, learning to trust her own body, and finding healing where traditional approaches had fallen short. What began as a personal path toward wellness soon became something much bigger. Combining her passion for cannabis with her lifelong love of cooking, Sage created a business focused on crafting delicious infused treats designed with both care and purpose. Episode 500 celebrates not only an important milestone for Cannabis Health Radio, but also the power of resilience, curiosity, and following a path that can change lives. Connect with Sage: https://www.facebook.com/sage.amdahl.3 https://www.facebook.com/420sageadvice Cannabis Health Radio shares real stories from patients, caregivers, healthcare professionals, researchers and advocates exploring the therapeutic potential of cannabis and other plant medicines. Visit our website: CannabisHealthRadio.comDiscover products and get expert advice from Swan ApothecaryFollow us on Facebook.Follow us on Instagram.Find us on Rumble.Keep your privacy! Buy NixT420 Odor Remover Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Vasanta Pundarika built her career inside healthcare investment banking before launching Lotuspring, an advisory firm focused on women's health and behavioral health. She spent nearly 20 years advising healthcare systems, treatment providers, and growth stage companies on mergers, financing, and operational strategy while watching the industry repeatedly misunderstand the people it claimed to serve.The conversation starts unexpectedly with anthropology, bread, and language. Vasanta explains how she spent years changing the pronunciation of her own name to make other people comfortable before eventually reclaiming it. That thread opens into a much larger discussion about adaptation, identity, and what institutions quietly train people to tolerate.From there, the discussion moves into behavioral health, women delaying care, and the invisible labor that healthcare business models routinely ignore. During COVID, Vasanta noticed men's behavioral health units refilled faster than women's units. The reason had nothing to do with demand. Women were still home managing caregiving responsibilities, children, aging parents, and households while their own mental health collapsed in the background.The episode examines what happens when healthcare companies become “snazzy big brands” before building real clinical substance underneath. Vasanta describes the tension between mission and margin inside healthcare startups, private equity backed care models, and behavioral health expansion. The conversation pushes on who benefits when healthcare scales aggressively, who absorbs the operational pressure, and how patient trust erodes long before executives notice it on a dashboard.They also discuss patient advocacy culture, anthropology as systems analysis, healthcare capitalism, prior authorization, investor language, and why some clinically excellent companies never survive long enough to scale.RELATED LINKSVasanta PundarikaLotuspringWomen's Health HorizonsSakhi for South Asian SurvivorsNACDPrinceton University Anthropology DepartmentFEEDBACKLike this episode? Rate and review Out of Patients on your favorite podcast platform. For guest suggestions or sponsorship email podcasts@matthewzachary.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Doctors often follow guidelines not because of evidence, but due to quality metrics. Hear how patient advocacy can shift the conversation. #DoctorPressure #StatinDebate #GuidelineFatigue #HealthTalks

TODAY ON THE ROBERT SCOTT BELL SHOW: Jonathan Emord, CDC Nominee, "The Science, "Fauci Probe, COVID Injury Reform, Medicare Overhaul, Kimberly Overton & Amy Whitlock, Patient Advocacy, Iridium Metallicum, Lyme Disease Options, Cholesterol Triglycerides, and MORE! https://robertscottbell.com/jonathan-emord-cdc-nominee-fauci-probe-regarding-covid-covid-injury-reform-medicare-overhaul-kimberly-overton-amy-whitlock-iridium-metallicum-lyme-disease-caller-of-the-day-cholesterol-ques/ Purpose and Character The use of copyrighted material on the website is for non-commercial, educational purposes, and is intended to provide benefit to the public through information, critique, teaching, scholarship, or research. Nature of Copyrighted Material Weensure that the copyrighted material used is for supplementary and illustrative purposes and that it contributes significantly to the user's understanding of the content in a non-detrimental way to the commercial value of the original content. Amount and Substantiality Our website uses only the necessary amount of copyrighted material to achieve the intended purpose and does not substitute for the original market of the copyrighted works. Effect on Market Value The use of copyrighted material on our website does not in any way diminish or affect the market value of the original work. We believe that our use constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you believe that any content on the website violates your copyright, please contact us providing the necessary information, and we will take appropriate action to address your concern.

In 2008, bankers made reckless bets with your money, burned the economy to the ground, and kept their bonuses while you paid the bill. Economists call it moral hazard: when the person making the decision never suffers the consequences of being wrong, they get careless. They get greedy. And they stop caring whether what they're selling you actually works.We swore never again. We were lied to. Right now, there's an industry embedded in your doctor's office, your child's school, and your own family that runs the exact same scam — except the losses aren't measured in foreclosures. They're measured in your kids. It knows things about its product it will never tell you. It gets paid whether you improve or deteriorate. And when it fails you, that failure doesn't trigger accountability. It generates the next invoice. You've probably already been a customer. You may be one right now.Dr. Roger McFillin builds the case one brick at a time — and by the end, you'll understand why the worst outcomes in American life keep getting rewarded with more money, more power, and more access to your children.Once you see it, you can't unsee it.

Brad Power spent years advising major corporations on systems design, process engineering, and decision making before lymphoma shoved him into the patient side of American healthcare. Instead of accepting the experience at face value, he started reverse engineering the machinery around cancer itself. Brad is the founder of Cancer Patient Lab and Open Cancer AI, two projects built around a blunt reality most patients discover too late: the healthcare system rewards people who know how to navigate it. Everyone else risks getting steamrolled by information asymmetry, insurance barriers, administrative friction, and institutional incentives designed around efficiency instead of human survival.The conversation starts with Harvard Business Review and Tumblr blogs before moving directly into the darker architecture underneath modern cancer care. Power explains how hospitals optimize for throughput, how insurance companies reward operational consistency over personalized medicine, and why many patients quietly end up needing a crash course in oncology, reimbursement policy, and behavioral psychology while fighting for their lives.The discussion digs into CAR-T therapy, functional testing, AI assisted decision support, and the growing collision between personalized medicine and standardized care pathways. Power argues that engaged patients often get better outcomes because they learn how to push for off guideline treatments, contest denials, and ask smarter questions. The counterpoint lands hard: patients should never have needed to become experts in the first place.The episode also explores the cultural consequences of AI entering cancer care. OpenAI advertising, data privacy, trust erosion, pharmaceutical influence, and “agentic AI” all collide inside a healthcare economy already drowning in distrust. Power sees artificial intelligence as a force multiplier for patient literacy and access. The larger system still decides who gets approved, who gets delayed, and who gets left behind.By the end, the conversation lands exactly where modern healthcare keeps forcing people to land: survival increasingly depends on learning how the machine works before the machine works on you.RELATED LINKSBrad PowerCancer Patient LabOpen Cancer AIHarvard Business ReviewResearch to the PeopleCAR T Cell TherapyFEEDBACKLike this episode? Rate and review Out of Patients on your favorite podcast platform. For guest suggestions or sponsorship email podcasts@matthewzachary.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Some of you may know that I'm a Board Certified Patient Advocate. I don't currently do a lot of individual advocacy because my speaking schedule doesn't allow for the necessary time availability so I typically either work on complex or emergency cases, or on cases that are not strictly timebound - most of these are people who are dealing with a BMI-based denial of care, meaning that their healthcare is being held hostage for a weight loss ransom. This is one of those situations and I am, as always, sharing this story with permission and anonymously by request. Get full access to Weight and Healthcare at weightandhealthcare.substack.com/subscribe

A rushed discharge. A chart that does not match reality. A loved one with Alzheimer's or Parkinson's dementia who cannot explain what hurts. If you have ever felt bullied by a system that moves too fast, this conversation is for you.Susie and Don talk with Laura Finnelly, a registered nurse with 25+ years in healthcare, a certified senior care manager, an Air Force veteran, and the founder of Guided Care RN Advocates. Laura lays out what families need to know about patient advocacy, navigating hospital stays, preventing medical errors, and protecting dignity in dementia care. She also shares why she calls herself a “neighborhood healthcare cop” and why that mindset helps caregivers ask better questions, document the right details, and stop feeling “crazy” when something is off. All things that motivated her to write RN on Duty, a practical guide gives families the tools, structure, and confidence they need to navigate today's healthcare system more effectively.Rather than focusing on medical advice, RN on Duty teaches you how to navigate the system itself—from preparing for appointments and organizing medical information, to understanding hospital processes, discharge planning, and care transitions.Susie and Don connect those practical tools to the bigger fight for long-term care reform, including their first-ever synchronized National Walk for Long-Term Care Reform on September 27. They also get real about caregiver stress, nurse burnout, staffing shortages, and the harsh reality that people who cannot speak up are often the first to be overlooked unless someone is there to advocate.  Laura will be leading one of the walks in Illinois. So if you live in Illinois - you'll want to sign up to be a part of this historic event! One key takeaway you do not want to miss: how to challenge an unsafe discharge, including the Medicare Notice of Medicare Non-Coverage and how an appeal can pause the process long enough to get answers. We also cover Medicare-funded advocacy and navigation options and where to find qualified patient advocates,Connect with Laura: info@guidedcare1.comSubscribe, share this with a caregiver, and leave a review so more families can find these tools when they need them most.Send us Fan MailIf someone you love experienced neglect in a nursing home…Then you know how desperately the system needs to change.  History has shown us that It takes people power to change anything worthwhile. That's why we we're launching something that's never been done before. On September 27, communities across the country are coming together for the first-ever National Long-Term Care Reform Day.This is a peaceful national walk for dignity, accountability, and change in long-term care.We'rSupport the showNo Country For Old People; a Nursing Home Exposé is STREAMING NOW on Amazon Prime (https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0F7D1RR5X/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r) Visit the No Country For Old People Website for more information.Please watch. Review. Share.Be a ROAR-ior!! JOIN THE R.O.A.R. MOVEMENT (Respect, Oversight, Advocacy, Reform) for quality long term care! Visit the ROAR 4 LTC Website for more information and consider participating in the inaugural National National Long-Term Care Day, Sunday, September 27th The 1st ever ROAR 2026 National Walk for Long-Term Care Reform! Found out more here: https://www.roar4ltc.org/roar-2026-walkFollow us on Twitter, FB, IG, & TiK Tok

By the time the paper hit version 71, Dr. Nirosha Murugan had already done the hard part. The data were real. The experiment had worked. A team of researchers had used a wearable bioreactor to trigger limb regeneration in frogs, a result with obvious implications for regenerative medicine. But the science still wasn't getting over the line. The problem wasn't the work. It was the translation.On this episode of Standard Deviation, host Oliver Bogler talks with Dr. Nirosha Murugan, a biophysicist and Tier II Canada Research Chair in Tissue Biophysics at Wilfrid Laurier University, about what happens when a scientist working at the edges of quantum biology, bioelectricity, and tissue regeneration runs headfirst into the unwritten rules of academic publishing. Murugan's research asks biologists to think beyond molecules and chemistry alone, and to consider the physical signals, electromagnetic fields, and invisible forces that shape development and healing. It is ambitious science. It is also exactly the kind of work that can make gatekeepers nervous.Bogler follows Murugan through the less glamorous part of discovery: the hidden curriculum of getting a paper published, securing scientific credibility, and learning that data do not simply “speak for themselves.” Murugan describes how jargon buried the pitch of her own work, how a lack of editorial support left her at a disadvantage, and how the JEDI program at the Life Science Editors Foundation paired her with a former journal editor who taught her how to structure a manuscript, write a cover letter, and survive peer review.The result was publication in Science Advances, but the larger story is about power. Who gets taught the rules of biomedical research. Who has access to grant writers, editors, and institutional polish. Who is left to brute-force their way through the maze. And how one scientist, having finally found the map, now makes sure her own trainees do not have to learn it the hard way.RELATED LINKSDr. Nirosha Murugan⁠Wilfrid Laurier University⁠Life Science Editors Foundation⁠JEDI Program⁠Science Advances paper on limb regeneration⁠FEEDBACKLike this episode? Rate and review Out of Patients on your favorite podcast platform. For guest suggestions or sponsorship email podcasts@matthewzachary.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

For many families navigating chronic illness, it's hard to imagine what the future might look like for their child. This week on Inside the Children's Hospital, Katie Taylor sits down with Vincent Rosche, a patient advocate, fitness enthusiast, and survivor who has spent most of his life navigating complex medical challenges. Diagnosed with chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction (CIPO) at just 9 months old, Vincent grew up with feeding tubes, central lines, frequent hospitalizations, and even battled thyroid cancer as a teenager. Today, Vincent works as the Community Engagement Coordinator for the Oley Foundation, connecting patients and families receiving home nutrition support with resources, education, and peer support. In this inspiring conversation, Vincent shares: • His earliest memories of growing up in the hospital • The profound impact Child Life Specialists and therapy dogs had on his experience • What his parents did that made the biggest difference during difficult times • Navigating school while managing complex medical needs • Learning to advocate for himself as a patient • How fitness transformed his health and confidence • Becoming a bodybuilding competitor despite lifelong health challenges • The importance of community, connection, and peer support • Resources available through the Oley Foundation for pediatric and adult patients ⏰ Timestamps 00:00 Introduction 00:50 Vincent's diagnosis and medical journey 02:52 Life today: advocacy, fitness, and dogs 04:02 Therapy dogs and Child Life memories 05:43 Earliest hospital experiences 07:14 The role of family and support 10:21 Advice for parents navigating chronic illness 17:34 School and growing up medically complex 23:24 Learning self-advocacy 28:20 Discovering fitness 32:59 Becoming a personal trainer 36:15 Competitive bodybuilding 37:59 Joining the Oley Foundation 40:23 Peer support and patient advocacy 45:12 Resources for families 49:49 How to connect with Vincent 51:05 Lessons learned and proudest accomplishments 58:47 A message of hope for parents 01:00:00 Closing Vincent offers a powerful message to parents who are in the thick of it right now: you're doing better than you think, and your child remembers your love more than your mistakes. Whether you're a parent, caregiver, healthcare professional, or someone living with a chronic condition, this conversation is filled with hope, perspective, and practical wisdom. Learn more about the Oley Foundation at https://oley.org Connect with Vincent: Instagram: @chronically_fit_life Facebook: Vincent Rosche Connect with us! Instagram: @childlifeoncall + @insidethechildrenshospital Subscribe: Never miss an episode on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Visit insidethechildrenshospital.com to search stories and episodes easily Leave a Review: It helps other families find us and access our resources   Medical information shared in this episode is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult your care team for guidance specific to your child and family. Keywords:  Chronic Illness, Rare Disease, Patient Advocacy, Medical Parenting, Pediatric Healthcare, Feeding Tube, TPN, Chronic Intestinal Pseudo-Obstruction, Child Life Specialist, Resilience    

Dr. Jess Peatross trained in conventional medicine and worked as a hospitalist before she started questioning why so many chronically ill patients kept getting worse inside the healthcare system she trusted. Her perspective carries weight because she spent years following every protocol exactly as taught before walking away from hospital medicine entirely.Raised in Huntington, West Virginia during the opioid crisis, she entered medicine believing the system existed to heal people. Instead, she found hospitals driven by billing codes, liability management, and pharmaceutical dependence while patients with chronic illness, autoimmune disease, mold exposure, and chronic pain cycled endlessly through appointments and prescriptions.Dr. Peatross explains what pushed her toward functional medicine, cannabis therapy, and prevention focused care after watching patients improve only after leaving conventional treatment pipelines behind. The conversation tackles physician burnout, chronic illness stigma, healthcare incentives, and the growing collapse of trust between patients and institutions.The discussion also moves into supplements, environmental toxins, ultra processed food, and the uncomfortable economics behind keeping people permanently sick but continuously billable. Dr. Peatross describes the professional backlash that comes with challenging medical orthodoxy while Matthew connects her experience to the broader erosion of public trust across American healthcare.Together they unpack what happens when patients stop believing the system can help them and start searching elsewhere for answers.RELATED LINKSDr. Jess PeatrossInstagramMarshall UniversityBrave New WeedFEEDBACKLike this episode? Rate and review Out of Patients on your favorite podcast platform. For guest suggestions or sponsorship email podcasts@matthewzachary.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode of MENO with Jacqueline Buckingham, we sit down with Board-Certified Urologist and Sexual Medicine Specialist Dr. Rachel Rubin to discuss why hormone therapy is a fundamental element of women's healthcare. Dr. Rubin challenges the historical stigma surrounding hormones, explaining that past concerns were often based on flawed data from synthetic products that are no longer standard practice. She advocates for an individualized approach to hormone therapy where patients are empowered with information to make the best decisions for their specific goals, whether they are seeking relief from hot flashes, prevention of osteoporosis, or improvement in libido and sexual function. The conversation delves into the specific benefits of various hormone treatments: ➡️ Vaginal Hormone Therapy: Dr. Rubin describes low-dose local vaginal hormones (estrogen or DHEA) as highly effective, evidence-based treatments for symptoms like dryness, pain, and urinary urgency. She notes these treatments are safe for most women and can reduce urinary tract infections (UTIs) by more than half. ➡️ The "Female Viagra": Dr. Rubin refers to vaginal hormones as the equivalent of "female Viagra" because they improve blood flow to sexual organs, enhancing arousal and making orgasms better. ➡️ Systemic Hormone Therapy: The discussion covers whole-body hormone therapy—including estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone—which can be administered via patches, rings, or creams to address a broader range of menopausal symptoms. ➡️ Mental Health Connection: Dr. Rubin highlights the "amazing benefit" of hormone therapy in managing anxiety and depression that often emerges during perimenopause. ➡️ Bioidentical Hormones: She clarifies that there are FDA-approved bioidentical hormones available that are both safe and often covered by insurance. ➡️ Jacqueline and Dr. Rubin also discuss pelvic floor rehab, the neurological connection between the spine and sexual organs, and how patients can find knowledgeable specialists to build their own "medical pit crew". RESOURCES The Menopause Society: menopause.org ISSWSH (International Society for the Study of Women's Sexual Health): isswsh.org American Physical Therapy Association (for Pelvic Floor Therapy): apta.org ABOUT MENO MENO is the definitive platform for menopause and perimenopause care — connecting women to trusted experts, solutions, and support https://joinmeno.com/ https://www.instagram.com/join.meno https://www.tiktok.com/@join.meno Follow our Founder/CEO on Instagram @jacquelinebuckingham Disclaimer: MENO is for general information and entertainment purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine in any way. MENO does not constitute professional health care services or medical advice. No doctor/patient relationship is formed as a result of this podcast. The use of information on this podcast or materials linked from this podcast is at the user's own risk. The content of MENO is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard getting medical advice for any such medical condition they may have and should seek the assistance of their healthcare professionals for any conditions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are your blood markers telling you and your doctor the whole story? Chronic inflammation is the silent driver behind nearly every major disease, and the good news is that your lifestyle choices decide the outcome. Don't wait for a life altering diagnosis to take action.In this episode of Salad With a Side of Fries, host Jenn Trepeck breaks down how blood markers move, how preventable diseases develop, and why epigenetics means your genes are not your fate. If you have ever felt like your health was out of your hands, this episode will change the way you think about your daily choices.What You Will Learn in This Episode:✅ Why chronic inflammation is considered the root cause of virtually every major illness and how oxidative stress accelerates disease progression in the body.✅ How epigenetics reveals that your lifestyle choices, not just your genetics, impact disease-related genes.✅ What specific blood markers to track for heart disease, type 2 diabetes, liver disease, and kidney disease, and realistic timelines for improving them.✅ How to advocate for yourself in a medical system still rooted in a prescription-first approach, and how to ask your doctor for the time and space to make disease prevention changes first.The Salad With a Side of Fries podcast, hosted by Jenn Trepeck, explores real-life wellness and weight-loss topics, debunking myths, misinformation, and flawed science surrounding nutrition and the food industry. Let's dive into real-life wellness and weight loss, including drinking, eating out, and skipping the grocery store.TIMESTAMPS:00:00 Preventable diseases don't have to be your story and what blood markers can and cannot tell you05:55 The most common diseases: heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer and how they are linked to lifestyle choices06:46 Epigenetics explained: how your daily habits turn disease risk genes up or down17:21 Lifestyle choices, from gut health to the brain to the endocrine system, impact every organ system20:10 Oxidative stress and free radicals explained: the science behind chronic disease25:01 Lifestyle choices that support overall health rather than disease and healthcare 3.0, being your own advocate32:12 Discussion of food with no labels; vegetables, fruit and lean meat36:19 Movement as disease prevention: why sitting all day quietly drives chronic illness more than we realize41:06 Longevity, community, connection, sleep, and stress management as overlooked pillars of health42:05 Blood marker timelines: how fast insulin, A1C, cholesterol, and blood pressure respond to lifestyle changesKEY TAKEAWAYS:

SummaryFaye Perez discusses her journey into independent patient advocacy, the importance of community support for those with chronic illnesses, and the launch of her new magazine, the Good News Gazette. The discussion highlights the need for safe spaces in healthcare, the role of art in healing, and the impact of generative AI on creativity. Faye emphasizes the significance of lifting each other up and fostering a supportive community for individuals navigating the complexities of chronic illness and disability.Chapters00:00 Reconnecting with Faye: New Beginnings02:49 The Role of Independent Patient Advocacy05:57 Navigating the Healthcare System08:49 Creating Safe Spaces for Patients11:46 The Butterfly Guild: Affordable Advocacy Services14:34 The Good News Gazette: A Positive Spin17:46 Reflections on Society and Healthcare18:54 Creating Joy Through Community and Art20:41 Surprising Artistic Talents in the Community22:26 The Importance of Real Art Over AI23:57 Embracing Age and Authenticity25:49 The Role of Universal Income in Supporting Artists27:42 The Value of Community in the Disability Space29:44 The Need for Societal Support for Artists32:06 The Uniqueness of Human Creativity33:48 The Impact of Stories and Community36:08 Building a Supportive Community for All

Farla Efros is a senior retail executive and former CEO who built and sold companies before facing her own breast cancer diagnosis. She brings that same operational mindset into a healthcare system that expects patients to manage complexity while they are at their most vulnerable.She was on a client call in Spain when the diagnosis came through. A clear mammogram had missed it. An MRI caught it. Within hours, she was ordering binders, building a plan, and structuring her treatment like a turnaround strategy. Every appointment became a meeting. Every doctor faced an agenda with dozens of questions. She paid out of pocket for PET scans that were denied and hired a third party firm to validate her treatment path when her own doctors resisted outside input. The conversation tracks what happens when a high-functioning executive enters a system built on delay, denial, and fragmentation. Efros describes negotiating for tests, managing physician relationships, and assembling an “executive board” of advisors across conventional and alternative care. She calls the experience “the worst client I ever had,” exposing how administrative burden shifts onto patients and families.The tension sits between what worked for her and what is inaccessible to most. Her approach requires confidence, time, and fluency in navigating power. The system rewards that behavior while quietly failing patients who cannot replicate it. Insurance coverage still left her paying out of pocket. Doctors pushed standard protocols over precision medicine. Survivorship offered little support once treatment ended.This episode examines how cancer care operates as a series of incentives rather than a coordinated system, and why patients are forced to become operators just to get through it.RELATED LINKSFarla EfrosFarla Efros on LinkedInF*ck CancerF*ck Cancer on AmazonAccentureCTOAMPULL QUOTES“I treated cancer like the worst client I ever had.”“They wouldn't approve the test, so I paid for it myself.”“Every appointment was a negotiation.”FEEDBACKLike this episode? Rate and review Out of Patients on your favorite podcast platform. For guest suggestions or sponsorship email podcasts@matthewzachary.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In 2020, Emily Mendenhall drove from Washington, DC to Okoboji, Iowa, a town of 800 that swells to 200,000 every summer, and walked into a pandemic that looked nothing like the one dominating national headlines. Inside gas stations and bars, masks marked you as an outsider. In one stop, a man told her family they would not be served if they kept theirs on. Her 6 year old daughter cried, confused. Mendenhall, a medical anthropologist at Georgetown University, did what she always does. She started asking questions. Over months, she interviewed neighbors, former classmates, and local officials, including her own brother in law who helped lead the local COVID response. The result became Unmasked, a case study in how community identity, economics, and politics shaped public health decisions in real time. That work led directly into her latest book, Invisible Illness: A History, from Hysteria to Long COVID, where she tracks a much older problem. Patients with chronic illness, especially women, often fail to meet medicine's demand for proof. Without a clear diagnosis, they lose access to care, insurance coverage, and legitimacy. Mendenhall argues that long COVID did not create this failure. It exposed it.This conversation centers on how healthcare systems reward certainty and punish complexity. Long COVID clinics send patients to 17 specialists without resolution. Insurance structures require diagnoses that many conditions cannot provide. Medical training still struggles to integrate trauma, mental health, and chronic disease into a coherent model of care.Mendenhall brings lived experience into the conversation. After COVID, she dealt with months of fatigue and escalating anxiety that altered her baseline health. She does not claim the label of long COVID, but she understands how quickly the system becomes harder to navigate once symptoms stop fitting clean categories. The stakes are not theoretical. In the United States, access to healthcare, disability benefits, and treatment still depends on whether a condition can be measured, coded, and reimbursed. For millions living with invisible illness, the burden of proof becomes the illness itself.RELATED LINKSEmily MendenhallInvisible Illness: A History, from Hysteria to Long COVIDScience PoliticsGeorgetown UniversityFEEDBACKLike this episode? Rate and review Out of Patients on your favorite podcast platform. For guest suggestions or sponsorship email podcasts@matthewzachary.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

At 25, Jace Yawnick was building a career in health and wellness sales, chasing growth, status, and the usual young adult fantasy of getting somewhere fast. Then his body stopped cooperating. Fatigue turned into chemotherapy. The diagnosis was primary mediastinal B cell non Hodgkin lymphoma, and the rest of his life split into before and after. Now in remission, he talks about cancer the way people actually live it, not the way nonprofits package it. He gets into survivorship, mental health, young adult isolation, and the deadening absurdity of prior authorization. One of the sharpest parts of the conversation lands on a simple American insult disguised as policy: treatment innovation means very little when insurance can still deny the scan, the drug, or the next step. Jace has seen that firsthand, including during routine monitoring after active treatment. This episode tracks what happens when a young cancer patient becomes a public voice and refuses to play mascot. It covers oncology, insurance, remission, advocacy, and the long mental hangover that follows survival. It also names the part too many institutions dodge: the system works great right up until it doesn't, and when it fails, patients get handed the bill, the panic, and a camera if they want anyone to care. RELATED LINKSJace Beats CancerJace Yawnick on LinkedImConquer Cancer ArticleCURE Today ArticlePyure BrandsFEEDBACKLike this episode? Rate and review Out of Patients on your favorite podcast platform. For guest suggestions or sponsorship email podcasts@matthewzachary.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

At 20 years old, newly arrived from Puerto Rico and trying to build a future in science, Benjamin Suarez Jimenez found himself sitting in front of two senior faculty members accused of plagiarism. He knew the material. He had done the work. His mistake came from failing to cite class notes during an exam because nobody had told him that was expected. In a matter of minutes, he watched what felt like his entire career flash before him.On this episode of Standard Deviation, host Oliver Bogler examines the hidden architecture of academic science through the experiences of Dr. Benjamin Suarez Jimenez, Assistant Professor at the University of Rochester and a neuroscientist studying PTSD, anxiety, trauma, and spatial cognition through virtual reality and video game environments.Benjamin traces his path from Puerto Rico to the mainland United States, through the NIH, Columbia University, and eventually to leading his own laboratory. Along the way, he encountered a series of barriers that had little to do with scientific ability and everything to do with access to unwritten rules. From academic gatekeeping to grant writing expectations, he learned that success in biomedical research often depends on knowledge that never appears in a textbook.Oliver explores how those invisible obstacles shape careers, influence research funding, and determine who gains access to opportunity. The conversation also examines the Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Program at the Life Science Editors Foundation, which pairs scientists from underrepresented backgrounds with experienced scientific editors. Through that mentorship, Benjamin transformed a critical grant proposal into a successful pilot award that helped launch an NIH R01 application.The discussion extends beyond one scientist's experience. Benjamin describes helping a former mentee navigate dissertation roadblocks that threatened her graduation, illustrating how institutional bureaucracy can delay careers and discourage talented researchers. Together, they explore the hidden administrative burden, cultural barriers, and bias that many scientists carry alongside their research, and what happens when someone who receives support turns around and opens the door for others.RELATED LINKSLife Science Editors FoundationBenjamin Suarez Jimenez LabDr. Benjamin Suarez JimenezBenjamin Suarez JimenezFEEDBACKLike this episode? Rate and review Out of Patients on your favorite podcast platform. For guest suggestions or sponsorship email podcasts@matthewzachary.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode of Healthcare Happy Hour, host David Saltzman sits down with Dr. Efrat LaMandre ("Dr. E"), nurse practitioner, author, and healthcare advocate, to discuss the growing issue of medical gaslighting and why so many patients feel dismissed by the healthcare system. Dr. E explores how medical training, system incentives, and communication gaps can contribute to these experiences, while offering practical strategies to help patients advocate for themselves, build the right care team, and navigate healthcare more effectively. The conversation also highlights the role benefit advisors can play in helping consumers find answers and achieve better health outcomes.

Dr. Sarah Matt trained as a burn surgeon, working in a field where patients arrive with catastrophic injuries and survival depends on speed, skill, and resources. She left the bedside after confronting a limit that medicine does not like to admit. One physician can only see so many people in a day. The system surrounding those patients decides the rest. She moved into health technology, held leadership roles in startups, and built global infrastructure at Oracle to scale care across populations. Then she watched billions of dollars in digital health and AI initiatives stall out when they hit real clinical environments.This episode follows that pivot from surgeon to strategist and back into direct patient care in rural New York, where she now treats uninsured patients, migrant workers, and communities pushed to the margins. The conversation centers on a persistent failure across healthcare systems. Products get built for regulators, executives, and investors instead of the people who use them. The result shows up in failed adoption, broken workflows, prior authorization delays, and rising physician burnout.The discussion cuts through health policy language and lands on lived consequence. The system rewards speed over usability, scale over trust, and compliance over care. Patients absorb the fallout. Physicians carry the liability. The incentives remain intact.RELATED LINKSDr. Sarah MattThe Borderless Healthcare RevolutionThe Clinical RealistJessica FedererSovatoFEEDBACKLike this episode? Rate and review Out of Patients on your favorite podcast platform. For guest suggestions or sponsorship email podcasts@matthewzachary.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What happens when your body starts to heal, but your mind is still trapped in survival mode? In this episode of hol+, Dr. Taz sits down with Amy Kurtz, certified health coach, patient advocate, speaker, and author "But You Look Fine", for a powerful conversation about chronic illness, Lyme disease, medical gaslighting, nervous system trauma, and what it really means to heal.Together, they explore Amy's 20+ year journey through unexplained pain, chronic symptoms, misdiagnosis, and the search for answers that finally led to a diagnosis of late-stage neurological Lyme disease and co-infections. Amy shares what it was like to be told her labs were normal while knowing something was deeply wrong in her body, and how years of invalidation shaped her relationship with her health, her identity, and her trust in herself.Dr. Taz and Amy also discuss why so many people live in the “gray zone” between sick and well, especially when symptoms are invisible, complex, or hard to explain. They unpack why normal labs do not always mean optimal health, why Lyme disease can be missed for years, and how chronic illness can impact relationships, career, emotional safety, and the nervous system.This conversation offers a grounded and hopeful look at what happens after illness, when the body may be improving but the mind and nervous system are still bracing for the next crash. Amy introduces her concept of Medical Trauma Brain, or MTB, which describes the anxiety, hypervigilance, fear, and survival patterns that can remain after chronic illness, cancer, stroke, chronic pain, or any major health crisis.If you're listening to this and thinking, “I know something is off in my body, but I don't know where to start,” join the Circle here:

In the late 1980s, a child exposed to fallout from the Chernobyl disaster lay in a hospital bed while doctors told his family there were no clear answers and no reliable path forward. Decades later, that same child, Yan Leyfman, walks into exam rooms as a hematology oncology fellow, expected to deliver clarity inside a system that still runs on delay, uncertainty, and institutional self preservation.This episode traces the throughline from early life shaped by radiation exposure and hospice level uncertainty to a career inside academic medicine, translational research, and oncology media. Yan built his identity around survival and usefulness, moving from patient to physician while carrying the memory of what it feels like to sit on the other side of the table. He helped launch MedNews Week during the COVID crisis to push back on misinformation and expand access to medical knowledge, stepping into a public role while still in training.The conversation stays grounded in the friction between personal narrative and system reality. Clinical training demands efficiency, hierarchy, and emotional distance. Cancer care demands time, clarity, and human connection. Those forces collide in real patient encounters where prior authorization delays, insurance barriers, and fragmented care pathways shape outcomes as much as any treatment protocol.Yan speaks openly about mentorship, belonging, and the drive to make meaning out of survival. The discussion pushes further into what the healthcare system actually rewards, what it quietly strips away, and how quickly empathy can erode under institutional pressure. The episode also examines the role of medical media, where education, industry influence, and narrative control often blur together.This is a conversation about identity under construction, about what happens when someone who remembers powerlessness steps into a role that carries authority, and about whether that memory can survive long enough to change anything.RELATED LINKSYan Leyfman on LinkedInYan Leyfman on InstagramSurviving ChernobylFEEDBACKLike this episode? Rate and review Out of Patients on your favorite podcast platform. For guest suggestions or sponsorship email podcasts@matthewzachary.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Matthew Zachary is a brain cancer survivor, healthcare advocate, founder of Stupid Cancer and We the Patients, and host of Out of Patients. In April 2026, he returned to the stage at Merkin Hall near Lincoln Center for his first solo public piano concert in almost 22 years while launching his debut book, We the Patients: Understanding, Navigating, and Surviving America's Healthcare Nightmare.What unfolded became far larger than a concert.Over 2 hours, survivors, clinicians, advocates, nonprofit founders, journalists, pharmaceutical sponsors, and healthcare insiders gathered in one room to reflect on 30 years of survivorship, institutional failure, accidental advocacy, and the emotional afterlife of cancer. The evening moved through original piano performances, live chapter readings, and deeply personal conversations about infertility, disability, financial toxicity, insurance denials, grief, burnout, and what happens when patients spend decades navigating systems designed around transactions instead of continuity.Guests including Wendell Potter, Maimah Karmo, Craig Lustig, Shelly Fuld Nasso, Tamika Felder, and others reflected on how the modern cancer advocacy movement emerged largely because patients built parallel systems where healthcare infrastructure failed to meet human needs. The conversation explored how prior authorization, reimbursement incentives, administrative fragmentation, and institutional distrust continue shaping the patient experience across oncology and survivorship.The performance also marked a deeply personal milestone. After brain cancer compromised his left hand at age 21, Zachary spent 6 months rehabilitating both hands to return to public performance for the first time in over 2 decades. The result became part concert, part civic gathering, and part historical record of a generation of survivors who refused to disappear quietly.RELATED LINKSMZLIVE Official WebsiteMZLIVE YouTube VideoFEEDBACKLike this episode? Rate and review Out of Patients on your favorite podcast platform. For guest suggestions or sponsorship email podcasts@matthewzachary.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.