Podcast appearances and mentions of rishi desai

“We're really heading to a cliff when it comes to those expressing interest in healthcare careers,” cautions today's Raise the Line guest Geoffrey Roche, director of Workforce Development in North America for Siemens Healthineers. Unfortunately, this drop-off in interest is happening as statistics on the current and future shortage of healthcare workers seemingly get worse by the day. One strategy the veteran hospital administrator and educator advocates is partnering with the K-12 system to provide early exposure to healthcare careers. “We have to show young people what the possibilities are. We've got to visually help an individual understand ‘this is what your career ladder could be.' It could also help, he tells host Rishi Desai, if young people understood how much healthcare technology is powered by the same type of systems as video games. Citing the concerns that other industries do a better job of recruiting young people, Roche urges all healthcare organizations to have deep working relationships with educators. “If you're not working with an academic institution to look at your needs of today and tomorrow proactively, strategically and tactically, then you're behind.” The good news is Roche sees examples of community partnerships and creative approaches to certification and apprenticeships that could yield results. Tune in to find out how bringing healthcare and education together at all levels can help fill the daunting gap in clinical and non-clinical staff that confronts our healthcare system. Mentioned in this episode: www.siemens-healthineers.com

Deploying community-based health workers has been a popular tactic to boost vaccination rates during COVID, but when the crisis ends, how can they stay engaged to help achieve other public health goals? That's the kind of question Maria Thacker-Goethe grapples with as CEO of the Atlanta-based Center for Global Health Innovation. “You have to have the respect to keep paying people and not leave them high and dry because that will just break down trust,” says Thacker-Goethe, who is also the President and CEO of Georgia Bio.  A key link in public health efforts in Georgia and beyond, she takes a ground-up approach to fostering collaboration among stakeholders in order to develop and share innovations, particularly those focused on health equity. A good example is a new “innovation district” the Center is building that will, in a unique twist, co-locate high tech health companies with public health organizations.  As she tells host Dr. Rishi Desai, Thacker-Goethe believes an underlying issue connecting all of this work is building trust through better communications, including more effective use of popular social media platforms, a tactic not yet fully embraced by the public health establishment. Don't miss this fascinating exploration of innovation in public health, and stay tuned to learn about a special project that shares the wisdom of public health pioneers.Mentioned in this episode:https://cghi.orghttps://www.9lessons.org

It was a decade after NY Giants great and Super Bowl champion Leonard Marshall retired when he first started to notice cognitive issues and a concerning change in attitude. Five years, many doctor visits and countless hours of research later, the two-time Pro Bowl defensive lineman received a diagnosis of CTE, or chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease that's common in former NFL players. He estimates taking over 30,000 blows to the head in his entire college and pro football career, which included 12 years in the NFL. “I knew what I signed up for when I started to play pro football. I knew there was a very strong chance I could end up getting a knee injury, back injury, neck injury, maybe a concussion or two.  But nowhere in that fine print did it say you could end up with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, and no one ever talked about it.” Today, Marshall is using his high profile to support CaringKind, New York City's leading expert on Alzheimer's and dementia caregiving with a forty-year history of working with community partners to help affected patients and families.  Join host Shiv Gaglani for this touching opportunity to hear a patient's perspective on a disease that is constantly in the headlines, and learn what Leonard Marshall is doing to support people facing the same reality.  Mentioned in this episode: www.caringkindnyc.org

“I knew I wasn't going to survive unless I found a drug that could save my life,” says Dr. David Fajgenbaum, who has almost died five times from the rare disorder idiopathic multicentric Castleman disease, which he developed while in medical school. Now a physician and assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania, Fajgenbaum has led research efforts into a cure for Castleman, discovering a drug that has kept him disease-free for eight years and is helping other patients. As he continues pursuing new therapies for Castleman, Fajgenbaum is also spearheading an effort to create a system for identifying alternate uses for existing drugs, something which could benefit millions in the rare disease community and beyond. “One of my favorite examples is tocilizumab, which was made for Castleman in the 1990's and is now the first drug you'll receive if you're admitted to the ICU with COVID,” he tells host Shiv Gaglani.The non-profit effort is being announced this month at a Clinton Global Initiative meeting. Don't miss this deeply inspiring conversation with many lessons on the importance of collaboration, laughter and hope, and the perspective gained from feeling like you are living on borrowed time.  Mentioned in this episode: www.chasingmycure.com

On this special episode of Raise the Line, we get an eyewitness account of how medical needs are being met in the midst of the war in Ukraine from Ukrainian-American anesthesiologist Dr. Oleg Turkot, who has been coordinating resources and treating patients since the war started. As he tells host Shiv Gaglani, one important focus for him has been working with the Butterfly Network to distribute hand-held ultrasound devices. “If you have an ultrasound that weighs sixty pounds, lugging that as you're fleeing from a rocket attack ends up not really being your best priority versus something that you have on your belt.” Dr. Turkot is not new to improving medical care in under-resourced countries. For years, he's been working with Kybele, an organization that creates healthcare partnerships across borders to improve childbirth safety.  Tune in to this fascinating and important conversation to hear more about that work, how Twitter can be a powerful resource in crowdsourcing medical devices, and about some of the unique differences between the healthcare systems in the United States and Ukraine. “I think the most important thing is to continue to support organizations that are doing the work on the ground because this is going to have to continue for years.”Mentioned in this episode: https://kybeleworldwide.org/https://www.butterflynetwork.com/ 

When Akiva Zablocki found out his infant son Idan had a one-in-a-million immune disorder, he and his wife Amanda were terribly worried, as all parents would be. But unlike most parents of children with rare diseases, Akiva could draw on the expertise in navigating the healthcare system he gathered when successfully overcoming his own rare and scary ordeal with a brain stem tumor. Thanks to that know-how, his wife's background in healthcare law, some amazing clinicians, the couple's tenacity, and Idan's spirit, he is now a healthy ten-year-old enjoying summer camp. On this episode of Raise the Line, Akiva shares the remarkable details of his family's journey with host Shiv Gaglani, and tells the story of how the Hyper IgM Foundation, which the Zablockis launched, is helping patients all over the world. Be sure to stay tuned for some heartfelt advice for current and future providers as they encounter patients and families with rare diseases. Mentioned in this episode: https://hyperigm.org/

In this super insightful conversation with host Shiv Gaglani, Dr. Karim Lakhani breaks down the difference between “strong” and “weak” artificial intelligence, and how the healthcare world can not only adapt to it, but harness its full potential. But, he stresses, the system has some important groundwork to do before that can happen. “Process change is the biggest work that has to happen in healthcare, from discovery to the clinic and beyond. Otherwise, we're basically pouring digital and artificial intelligence asphalt over old cow-paths." As professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, founding director of the Laboratory for Innovation Science at Harvard, and the Principal Investigator of the NASA Tournament Lab at the Harvard Institute for Quantitative Social Science, Lakhani is a powerful intellectual force in understanding AI, open-source software and crowdsourcing. He's also the author of the book Competing in the Age of AI. If you're curious about how artificial intelligence might transform the healthcare system, this is a can't miss opportunity to hear from a leading expert in the field.

As a young girl, Dr. Maria Guevara was inspired by her parent's volunteer medical missions in the Philippines where they helped repair cleft lips and palates. The deep impression that work created led her on a path to medicine and eventually to her role today as International Medical Secretary at Médecins Sans Frontières (aka Doctors Without Borders). In her eighteen years with the agency, Dr. Guevara has traveled the world tending to the needs of people who have been victimized by armed conflicts, natural disasters, and disease outbreaks such as Ebola. Founded in 1971 in the wake of the Biafra war in Nigeria, Médecins Sans Frontières now operates as an independent medical organization in over seventy countries with more than forty-six thousand members. Join host Shiv Gaglani for this riveting conversation with Dr. Guevara in which she shares her experiences in the field, provides her thoughts on global health as a discipline, and shares lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic with an eye on the looming challenge of climate change. “We're getting dress rehearsals on a regular basis to see how we can fix ourselves. It's like Mother Earth is saying, ‘We're going to teach you. Learn!'”

“From the beginning, my approach was that we need to challenge the system,” says Dr. Ronald Harden, General Secretary of the Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE). In the 1970's as a young medical professor in Scotland, this mindset led Harden to create the Objective Structured Clinical Examination, or OSCE, which dramatically improved the way medical students are evaluated. Many years and contributions later, he continues to push the field through AMEE, which is holding its popular annual conference starting August 27 in Lyon, France. As he tells host Shiv Gaglani, his latest focus is on the evolving role of the student, which will be described in a book being published by Elsevier next year. “The student has a changing role as a partner in the learning program. They're not just there as a client or consumer, but as a partner.” This partnership could extend to the area of helping to assess peers on resilience and problem-solving -- qualities newly recognized as important due to COVID -- and ones that students might be in a better position to observe than professors. Check out this inspiring wisdom drop from a veteran educator who has not lost even a wee bit of enthusiasm for his work.  “I think we have an exciting future ahead in medical education. There are so many things still to be done.”For more information on the AMEE conference, visit https://amee.org/Conferences/AMEE-2022

“So much of healthcare actually does have parallels to the business world, insofar as much of our job is to help align people to the next steps that are in their best interest,” Dr. Robert Lord tells host Shiv Gaglani.  Dr. Lord, who recently completed his medical degree at Johns Hopkins, understands the parallels between the business world and the healthcare world better than most. As a Partner at early-stage digital health venture capital firm LionBird Ventures, Dr. Lord works with all sorts of exciting companies focusing on elements of healthcare that can range from the back office of compliance, to front-end clinical devices. Prior to LionBird, Dr. Lord co-founded Protenus, which provides healthcare organizations with risk reduction solutions.  Robert's insights have been featured in Forbes, The Baltimore Sun, and many national conferences, and he has briefed the U.S. Senate on cybersecurity threats to our nation's healthcare systems.  Tune in to this insightful conversation to get an inside-look into some of the exciting new start-ups Dr. Lord and his team at LionBird are working with, as well as many take-aways for aspiring medical professionals and entrepreneurs alike.  (Dr. Lord's comments reflect his personal views and do not represent those of the organizations with which he is affiliated.Mentioned in this episode: https://www.lionbird.com/

“It's a strange odyssey being a rare disease parent. It sort of forces you to question everything about life,” says Philippe Pakter, whose daughter Lysiane was born with Pierre Robin Sequence, a condition that impedes normal breathing and feeding. In this compelling interview with Shiv Gaglani, he shares the wrenching details of his family's daunting emotional, medical and legal journey. “It's tough, but you just have to keep going and from the hardship can potentially come very beautiful things.” Among the brighter spots of their story are finding a non-surgical treatment that helped with part of Lysiane's condition, and connecting with a network of dedicated clinicians focused on improving treatments for Pierre Robin Sequence. (Pakter recently interviewed one of those doctors, Stanford's HyeRan Choo, about non-surgical approaches. Listen here.) Don't miss this opportunity to hear hard won wisdom about ways clinicians can approach their work to be mindful of rare diseases and how they can be a resource for patients and families who are often desperate for answers.  Pakter is a great example of how well-informed rare disease family members are, and why clinicians should listen closely to what they have to say.

Like many academics, Dr. Peter Decherney wears many hats, but in his case you can also add a virtual reality headset.  That's because in addition to being a professor of Cinema & Media Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, he's also a filmmaker working in both the traditional “flatty” format and virtual reality, with subjects ranging from artists in Puerto Rico to a Jewish community in Ethiopia. Choosing which medium to use to tell which story is a newer part of the process he enjoys. “Filmmaking is often about this kind of obsessive control. It's a challenge to be able to give up some control and create lots of different opportunities and learning experiences for audiences,” he tells host Michael Carrese in this episode of Raise the Line. Using technology to create learning experiences is also a big part of his job as the Faculty Director of UPenn's Online Learning Initiative, a role that put him at the center of perhaps the largest, quickest, and most significant change in higher education in modern times when the pandemic forced the universal use of remote learning. “The pandemic was a moment of reflection and it was kind of amazing to see people across campus just think about education and pedagogy in a really deep and new way.” Check out this wide-ranging conversation to find out what that new thinking is leading to, what he likes about online instruction himself and one of the most important things universities learned about themselves during the pandemic.Mentioned in this episode: Information on Film About Ethiopia: https://www.dreamingofjerusalem.orgKalobeyei Refugee Settlement Video: https://youtu.be/1y-FM5o1xdUPersonal Website: decherney.org

“Curriculum is at the heart of everything a university does, so it only makes sense to architect the solution we provide based on the core offering of the universities,” says Greg Vanclief, President & CEO of Elentra.  The tech industry veteran and his team are on a mission to transform the delivery of higher education and nurture life-long learners through an end-to-end platform featuring a wide range of tools to support everything from scheduling to curriculum mapping to testing and accreditation management. The global reach of Elentra's advanced education management system is growing in part because it allows universities to consolidate multiple existing software tools into one.  Join host Michael Carrese as Vanclief provides a peek into the tech support underpinning successful student journeys, and shares his passion for entrepreneurship and transforming higher education.Mentioned in this episode: https://elentra.com/

In the last decade, a projected physician shortage drove the establishment of new medical schools across the country. Among these was the Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine, where Dean Dr. Paula Termuhlen is working to forge an identity for the young institution. She says they've settled on “health equity” -- a vision that emphasizes teaching and practicing among the undeserved in the local community. This, she tells host Michael Carrese, doesn't just mean more people get care, but it also shores up public trust in doctors, and brings new potential populations into the medical education pipeline. “We've come to recognize that you really have to reach down into elementary school to inspire young people to continue their education,” she says. Tune in to hear about what it means to build a medical school from scratch, why communicating clearly with the public is among the great medical challenges of our time, and how the pandemic has opened up new possibilities for emerging health care professionals to shape the field for the better.

In medical school, when taught about differential diagnoses, students are often taught, "if you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras” says Rebecca Aune, the Director of Education Programs at National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD).NORD, she says, represents twenty-five million American zebras living with rare diseases every day, many of whom undergo a deeply frustrating and isolating odyssey as they seek an accurate diagnosis. The reasons for this are numerous, Dr. Edward Neilan, the organization's Chief Medical and Scientific Officer, tells host Michael Carrese. But NORD is working to address many of these problems at once, at the level of the patient, the doctor, the research, and the medical system as a whole. Tune in to hear how at 1980s law dramatically increased research into rare disorders, how the human genome project has revolutionized their treatment, and what a future of better diagnostics could look like.Mentioned in this episode: https://rarediseases.org/

The Student National Medical Association has been fighting for equity and diversity in the medical field for almost 60 years. Unfortunately, it's a need as pressing today as it was when the association began, with Black doctors making up only 5% of the physician workforce in the nation.  And beyond making sure Black Americans are aware of the path to, and through, medical school, SNMA Executive Director Bridgette Hudson also works closely with her team to make sure medical students have the opportunity to be great leaders as well. “We have an amazing pipeline of learners who are going to be primed to be physician leaders to make sure positions and influences are diversified not just on the floors of the hospital systems, but also in those decision-making suites and in our accreditation spaces.” On this episode of Raise the Line, Hudson joins host Michael Carrese to discuss the importance of maintaining support for the record number of first-year medical students who are Black to ensure they graduate, how SNMA supports diversity in medical research and the role of medical educators in breaking down stereotypes about race and health.Mentioned in this episode:https://snma.org/

One of the things that convinced Dr. Steve Riley to remain in Wales after leaving his native England as a youth to attend Cardiff University is what he calls its sense of citizenship and social accountability. It was a good fit with his own values, and when given the opportunity to help shape the curriculum at the University's School of Medicine, he wanted it to reflect those sensibilities. “For me, it's about trying to structure a course that recognizes the needs of the local population and seeing how a school of medicine can contribute back to make things better for the population,” he tells host Michael Carrese. Among the ways to achieve that are having students teach health literacy in local schools and aligning the School of Medicine's research strengths to positively impact local communities. Tune into this thoughtful look at medical education in the UK to find out why medical students were an asset, not a liability, to doctors in Wales during the COVID crisis, how to how to help students navigate the ever-increasing amount of evidence and data at their fingertips, and why Riley thinks being a doctor should be fundamentally enjoyable.

The current interest in using psychedelics for mental health treatment is a ‘back to the future' moment for Dr. Jim Fadiman, a pioneer in psychedelic research known as the father of microdosing. “The method that's been developed for administering high doses in a supervised environment is replicating exactly what we developed in the 1960s,” he tells host Shiv Gaglani.  At that time, the federal government approved his research, but when the Nixon administration criminalized this class of drugs for political reasons, all research stopped, creating a wide belief that they are unsafe when actually, he says, they're among the pharmacologically safest drugs. In the absence of government-sanctioned research, what Fadiman calls “citizen science” has been thriving.  Hundreds of thousands of people have self-reported through social media and other means that the drugs improve their functioning and have no serious side effects. Other countries are sponsoring research yielding the same results. In the context of a deepening mental health crisis, Fadiman believes it makes sense to integrate psychedelics into treatment, especially when the pharmaceuticals in use are only modestly effective for a minority of patients. Make sure to listen through to the end of the episode to learn about his new book, Symphony of Selves on harmonizing different aspects of our personalities to reduce stress and increase empathy for others. This is a deeply-informed, revealing and fun conversation you won't want to miss. Mentioned in this episode:https://www.jamesfadiman.com/

As a child, Dr. David Perlmutter developed an uncommon familiarity with the human brain. Exploring the surgical ward -- and eventually, the operating room -- with his neurosurgeon dad, he observed the possibilities of modern brain medicine, but also its limits. After becoming a neurologist himself, he grew dissatisfied with the medical status quo which he says tended to react to brain diseases like Alzheimer's after they took effect. The numerous bestselling books he has since written draw on the latest science to explain how the brain interacts with the rest of the body and give readers the tools to adapt accordingly. The latest example is Drop Acid: The Surprising New Science of Uric Acid - The Key to Losing Weight, Controlling Blood Sugar and Achieving Extraordinary Health. Dr. Perlmutter's work reflects a commitment to questioning the scientific status-quo. “I'm not saying to be iconoclastic day in and day out,” he tells host Shiv Gaglani. But he wants to “look at long-held tenants and recognize that nothing is sacrosanct. There's nothing there that can't be overturned.” Tune in to learn about a powerful new tool in everyone's toolkit for keeping our brains healthy, and how doctors can get patients to actually follow through on their lifestyle recommendations. Mentioned in this episode: https://www.drperlmutter.com/

For decades, science fairs have kindled young peoples' imaginations as they face down the conundrums of their time. Countless such fairs have been put on by the Society for Science, a century-old organization known for its science research competitions, its award-winning publication, Science News, and its outreach and equity programs that seek to help the young would-be-Einsteins living in “science deserts” to realize their potential. “We want to make sure every young person in this country can grow up to be a scientist or engineer if that's what they want to be,” Society for Science President and CEO Maya Ajmera tells host Shiv Gaglani. Ajmera sees effective science journalism and early scientific education as key strategies in the effort to combat rampant disinformation and scientific illiteracy. And she envisions new strategies for making sure more people have the chance to pursue a career in the sciences. Tune in to hear about Ajmera's work as a children's book author, how science fairs have launched so many successful careers, and why every medical professional should prioritize becoming a better communicator. Quote: “We want to make sure every young person in this country can grow up to be a scientist or engineer if that's what they want.”

“Our goal is to make things much more human,” says Dr. Vishal Punwani when speaking about the mission of SoWork, the company he co-founded to create virtual office environments that enhance the remote working experience. Recognizing that members of distributed teams experience a loss of self, SoWork allows people to customize their avatar and workspace in its virtual office environments. “When you have the ability to represent yourself authentically in terms of how your avatar looks and dresses and interacts with other avatars, you get to have some of your own representation back,” he tells host Shiv Gaglani. If virtual office environments improve employee satisfaction with remote work, Punwani predicts major improvements in quality of life – because people will be able to live wherever they want – and possibly a major contribution to fighting climate change due to reduced commuting, office construction, business travel and the like. “It sounds totally grand, and maybe a bit unbelievable, but there's a path to get there, and that's the one we're walking.” You won't want to miss this warm and fascinating conversation between these longtime friends and colleagues as they explore the pandemic's lasting changes on healthcare, education and work, and share advice about following an entrepreneurial path in healthcare.

Responding to the crisis of medical burnout, Punit Singh Soni, a former product manager at Google, launched the company Suki with a specific goal: leverage the burgeoning field of voice technology to lessen the growing administrative burden on clinicians. Soni says enterprise contexts, and healthcare in particular, are well-suited for the next generation of assistive voice-activated software. “Whatever you're going to do in medicine is going to be interwoven with technology in the near future,” he tells host Shiv Gaglani. But as the rickety state of so much current healthcare administrative technology suggests, the prevailing cultures in the tech and medical worlds do not easily mix. Rather than trying to reshape how doctors do their job, Soni seeks to meet doctors where they already are, seamlessly integrating a voice system into the fabric of their work so they can spend more time caring for patients. Tune in to hear about why “the biggest technology company ever built is going to be in healthcare,” and how a user-centric mindset can help you not just build a company, but craft a career.

More than twenty-five million people in the U.S. experience bladder leakage every day and while the problem is more common in women, millions of men also confront this challenge. Unfortunately, says Vanita Gaglani, support for men dealing with this issue is lacking, especially after prostate surgery. “Men have been ignored and they have an equal problem. They don't know who to go to. There is no structure. There are no guidelines for them to follow.” Gaglani recognized this gap not long after starting her physical therapy practice in Melbourne, Florida thirty years ago, and now 90% of her patients are men. In that time, she's treated thousands of people with a multipronged approach that resolves incontinence issues in a matter of weeks. “Kegels are not the end-all, be-all treatment. We have to have a complete approach,” she says, which includes nutrition, understanding body mechanics and lifestyle changes. Gaglani has detailed her protocol in a new book: Life After Prostate Cancer and Other Urological Surgeries: A Step-by-Step Guide to Stop Urinary Leakage in Ten Weeks, which is a follow-up to an earlier book that was geared more to an older population. Don't miss this deeply informative conversation about the special characteristics of the bladder, insights on how men approach medical treatments, and advice about helping patients overcome reluctance to speaking about embarrassing issues. And, make sure to listen to the end to discover Vanita's special connection to Raise the Line!Mentioned in this episode: http://vanitasrehab.com/

After more than a decade studying resuscitation science in the ICU, Dr. Stephen Trzeciak felt himself burning out. He was skeptical of “escapist” options, like more vacations. “I thought something had to fundamentally change at the point of care,” he tells host Shiv Gaglani. Inspired by empirical studies linking human connections with increased resilience, he decided to lean into relationships with those around him and focus on service towardothers. Through his books, research, and his work as Chair of Medicine at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University, Dr. Trzeciak has dedicated himself ever since to spreading the word about the often-overlooked importance of human connection. Amid a worker shortage in the healthcare professions, Dr. Trzeciak hopes a renewed emphasis on the bonds that connect us all will make the system, and the people who constitute it, stronger. Tune in to hear about his new book Wonder Drug: 7 Scientifically Proven Ways that Serving Others is the Best Medicine for Yourself, how people are increasingly opting for self-care strategies that isolate them further, and why medical conversations often stay with patients and their families for the rest of their lives.Mentioned in this episode: https://www.wonderdrugbook.com/

David Blake -- rattled in the wake of a tough standardized exam – was doing some independent research in his high school library when it dawned on him that while he was a top-notch student, he was a terrible learner. From then on, he committed to changing a system that had encouraged him to merely “jump through hoops.” Through his companies Degreed, and more recently, BookClub, Blake has sought to change how individuals and corporations alike perceive education and learning. Rather than helping employees become their best selves, he tells host Shiv Gaglani, companies historically saw education in terms of regulatory compliance, of “checking a box.” But Blake sees this as wholly inadequate in a world where people get more and more of their education outside of formal institutions, and where new technology develops at dizzying speed. Ultimately, Blake sees a paradox: “If you're willing to skill someone up in a way that actually makes it easier for them to leave, they're actually more likely to stay.” Tune in to hear why Blake thinks our current way of talking about education is absurd, the enduring role of the book in today's learning culture, and how a shot-in-the-dark email to Mark Cuban saved his company.

On this episode of Raise the Line, we're going to learn about a company that sits at the intersection of three huge trends in U.S. healthcare: the unending growth in the number of people with chronic conditions, the advent of new virtual healthcare technologies, and moving more care into the home. And that's just where the founder and CEO of Cadence, Chris Altchek, wants to be. “I'm very interested in how we can bring data from devices, wearables, and other sensors in the home and use it to help providers and health systems deliver world-class care outside the four walls of the hospital,” he tells host Shiv Gaglani. Coming from a family of physicians, and being married to one, he's sensitive to making sure the company's remote care management platform does not add to the heavy load clinicians are already carrying. “What we've tried to design is a model where Cadence can manage patients according to guidelines and protocols the physician approves and only escalate things that really require their attention. The routine day-to-day stuff can be handled by us.” Don't miss this informative look at new ways of harnessing health tech to create what could be the future standard of care for chronic conditions. Mentioned in this episode: https://www.cadence.care/

One night, Suzanne Peek was awoken by her son who thought he was having a heart attack. That began a drawn-out ordeal of misdiagnoses and ER visits until he was properly diagnosed with Median Arcuate Ligament Syndrome, a rare disorder which results from a constriction of blood flow to organs in the upper abdomen. Fortunately, Peeks had an easier time than most navigating our complicated medical system due to many years practicing as a certified massage therapist. As she worked diligently to get her son the appropriate treatment, she formed relationships with others in the MALS community. “Some of these people have had the condition for five years, ten years or longer because it was misdiagnosed,” she tells host Dr. Rishi Desai. She now leads the National MALS Foundation, which seeks to spread awareness among medical professionals about rare disorders. Tune in to hear how patient advocacy groups organize, what COVID has meant for people with rare disorders, and how to mitigate the forces that can hinder an accurate diagnosis. Mentioned in this episode: https://www.malsfoundation.org/

One of the most urgent issues Dr. Sanjay Desai sees in medical education is how to bring historically minoritized people into the physician workforce. “We need to have a physician workforce that resembles the patients that we care for,” he urges. In Dr. Desai's former role as program director of the prestigious Osler Medical Residency at Johns Hopkins University, he and his team more than doubled the number of minority recruits into their program. Tune in to this episode of Raise the Line with host Shiv Gaglani to learn about the data and research- based approach they took to achieve that aim, as well as improving student and resident well-being. Find out about Dr. Desai's route to medicine via consulting, and hear what he has seen change for the better in his time as a medical education leader. Plus, hear about the opportunity the current moment offers to use technology to personalize education, learn more about the American Medical Association's mission and impact, and discover why Dr. Desai thinks medical education needs to become more continuous.

The good news is researchers have established a tremendous amount about how human memory is acquired, organized, and deployed. The bad news, according to Dr. Stephen Kosslyn, is this information has pretty much stayed in technical journals and textbooks and not been applied in classrooms. Adding to the problem is that popular misconceptions about learning abound, so most of us are not learning nearly as effectively or efficiently as we could. Kosslyn, one of the world's leading researchers on the science of learning, has long been concerned by the inadequacies of our education systems. Through public-facing books, and institutions he helped create like Minerva University and Foundry College, he has dedicated much of his life to bringing what researchers understand about learning into real world practice. Tune in to this fascinating conversation with host Dr. Rishi Desai to hear how our education systems could be improved by applying active learning and by teaching critical thinking skills, among other changes.

“It's impossible to be a physician and not be able to speak the language of medicine, which really is anatomy,” says Dr. Marios Loukas, who, in addition to his current role as a medical school dean, has written several books on anatomy and is former president of the American Association of Clinical Anatomists. In this episode with host Dr. Rishi Desai, find out how Dr. Loukas became interested in the subject, and how the goal of making a bigger impact ultimately led to pursuing a career in administration. Learn about St. George's University School of Medicine -- the largest source of doctors in the United States healthcare system -- and what sets it apart, including its island setting, its investment in teaching ultrasound, and its vision to be an international hub for the development of primary care providers. Tune in to discover what Dr. Loukas thinks students get wrong about studying, and hear about best practices for learning, including what makes visualization so powerful. Plus, hear why Dr. Loukas thinks students should be exposed to medicine before they start medical school.Mentioned in this episode: https://www.sgu.edu/academic-programs/school-of-medicine/

Listening to veteran healthcare entrepreneur and investor Carly Stockdale, the Co-Founder and CEO of BestLife Holdings, you get the feeling she is living her best professional life.  With BestLife -- a platform of age management organizations, including the Foundation for Healthy Aging and Cenegenics -- Stockdale has created a perch from which she can blend her interests in healthy aging, women's health and hormone therapy, and have a national impact to boot. “Our north star metric is improving people's biological age through the education of other health care providers and through membership in our programs such as Cenegenics, and other programs that we're looking to start,” she tells host Shiv Gaglani. Cenegenics is a peak performance and longevity membership program with a 25-year history of developing personalized heath programs through deep analysis of biomarkers and other data it collects from members on a quarterly basis. The company plans to publish data later this year examining trend lines of improvement based on 3,500 patients who have gone through the program. Tune in to this informative conversation to learn about the unique path Stockdale has carved in healthcare, positive trends she's seeing in women's health, and addressing the persistent information asymmetry between doctors and patients.Mentioned in this episode: https://cenegenics.com

“You don't have to change yourself culturally to be brilliant,” asserts Dr. Russell Ledet, a Black U.S. Navy veteran who has earned an MD-MBA as well as a PhD in Molecular Oncology and Tumor Immunologyand now works to remove barriers for those who want to follow in his footsteps. In this fascinating interview with host Dr. Rishi Desai, learn how Dr. Ledet went from being a security guard in a hospital, to a medical student at that same hospital, to starting The 15 White Coats, an effort sparked by an unforgettable photo taken at a former slave plantation. The group, which provides funding and other support to aspiring Black physicians, has grown rapidly and garnered international attention in its short life. Tune in to learn how Ledet's 9-year-old daughter provided the spark for the project, marvel at his remarkable personal journey, and learn why having more Black physicians will improve health outcomes.Mentioned in this episode: https://www.the15whitecoats.org

Dr. Tom O'Callaghan thinks he's already seen the future of medicine in this tech-heavy age, and it looks a lot like the personal, trusted healthcare he saw his father providing in the small community in Ireland in which he was raised. As he tells host Rishi Desai, if you have a good family doctor “you're far more likely to have a better healthcare outcome to every illness you have in your life.” It's not that O'Callaghan is anti-technology. For one thing, he thinks wearables and remote monitoring will actually facilitate a needed transition from hospital-based to community-based care. But perhaps a greater proof point is he leads a specialty online medical education company called iHeed that leverages the latest technology, tools and educational approaches to make post graduate education for doctors, nurses and allied health professionals in 65 countries across Europe, Middle East, Asia and Africa more accessible and affordable. The company, part of the Cambridge Education Group, also develops national scale residency programs in countries including Malaysia and Saudi Arabia to spur the evolution of primary care in underserved communities. Tune into this revealing conversation for a global take on medical education, to hear why developing more nurses is key to tackling the gaping healthcare worker shortage, and for some wisdom he's drawn on in his own career as a family practitioner that he discovered on a slip of paper in the bottom of the doctor's bag his father carried for decades. Mentioned in this episode: https://www.iheed.org/

How can digital health benefit an ordinary patient? Today's guest, Tobias Silberzahn, enjoys taking a citizen perspective in his work in digital health—a field that, as he emphasizes, is far from a monolith, comprising over 25 categories from digital therapeutics to patient remote monitoring, to disease management. Tune in to this episode of Raise the Line with host Dr. Rishi Desai to learn how Silberzahn became interested in biochemistry and immunology and landed where he is today. Find out about the biohacking he did to uncover his own micro habits, learn what he's discovered about people's attitudes towards their personal data being used, and hear where he sees Europe and Asia in terms of digital health and well-being. Learn, too, about the phrase “digital health ecosystem” and what that model means for patients. Plus, discover how the city of Amsterdam created a multi-stakeholder alliance to achieve ambitious health and well-being goals, learn about the discussion that is currently being held in Germany about the public electronic patient record, and hear why Silberzahn is excited about digital health's future disease-prediction and interception possibilities.

Telehealth has become ubiquitous, but Andy Flanagan thinks the word telehealth will soon disappear. “It's just care,” said the CEO of the remote psychiatry service, Iris Telehealth. Flanagan anticipates that, just as concepts like “online banking” are now indistinguishable from what it simply means to use a bank, telehealth will soon be baked into the healthcare system. “The very best of it will be integrated, and the rest will be discarded,” he tells host Dr. Rishi Desai. In the process, he hopes to help revolutionize how medical systems are structured, how patients with the most challenging mental health conditions receive care, and help doctors establish a work-life balance that is all too rare today. Tune in to hear about how telehealth services can seamlessly augment a patient's medical team, and how Iris Telehealth works to empower its employees to take more personal initiative, and be less scared of failure.

With new medical products constantly entering the market, it can be difficult for doctors to keep up. Interventional radiologist Dr. Aaron Fritts has experienced this first hand in his career, and often found himself calling friends and former colleagues with questions about how to use new devices he encountered. Realizing doctors everywhere are in the same boat he launched BackTable, a podcast platform in which doctors from various specialties discuss the latest procedures, technologies, and conditions in their field of practice. As he tells host Dr. Rishi Desai, listenership shot up during the pandemic because for many physicians, podcasts supplanted the role of conferences where such matters are typically discussed. The still-expanding podcast network aims to connect different, sometimes-isolated aspects of the medical community and provide a new way for doctors to learn. Tune in to also hear about the power of interventional radiology, what it would mean for physicians to communicate in an open and responsible way with industry, and how to become a better communicator.Mentioned in this episode: https://www.backtable.com/

“The role we play in healthcare is so much bigger than I could have imagined, and it's just exciting to be a part of it,” says Kevonne Holloway, Managing Director for Global Content Partners at Elsevier, when reflecting on the work of her 300-person team. GCP is responsible for 2,500 publications and other content that health educators around the world rely on to provide the foundation for medical education across multiple professional roles, and that clinicians and researchers reference in their everyday work. “In the end, we're not only meeting the needs of our customers, but we're meeting the needs of society. It seems like such a grandiose mission, but when you boil it down it's really about community and taking care of each other in the best way possible.” Part of that best way includes making sure diversity, equity and inclusion are a part of the mainstream of Elsevier's products. “DEI is not a fad. It's not a trend. It is the solution to better healthcare,” she tells host Shiv Gaglani. Tune in to learn how Holloway's servant leader approach to management facilitates trust and engagement, about Elsevier's role in combatting the “infodemic” of healthcare misinformation, and much more.

There is approximately $266 billion in administrative waste in the U.S. healthcare system each year, and much of it is tied to the complexity of insurance. Our guest today, Syam Palakurthy, co-founded SamaCare to help solve this seemingly intractable problem. SamaCare builds software to make the often-burdensome process of prior authorization as quick and easy as a credit card swipe, improving outcomes for patients and reducing a major administrative burden for providers. Tune in to this interview with host Michael Carrese to learn how Palakurthy approaches the challenge of threading together disparate incentives in the healthcare system to produce change. Plus, find out why he believes technology can be both a cause of fragility and a source of resilience, and learn how the type of “defragmentation” SamaCare strives for can be applied to the rest of the healthcare system.

“I think I've learned as much by watching and observing and being mentored by people as I have from any formal classes I could ever take,” says Dr. Dele Davies. Dr. Davies credits his incredible role models for teaching him that handling people well is key to a harmonious and successful work life. In this episode of Raise the Line, learn how Dr. Davies, who was born in Nigeria, became interested in medicine, and specifically, pediatric infectious diseases. Find out about the extraordinary community that supports the University of Nebraska Medical Center, and other things that set UNMC apart and have helped them navigate the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, including being home to a leading healing arts program, a campus symphony, and the Global Center for Health Security's National Quarantine Unit. Tune in to discover why Dr. Davies believes it's so important to think not globally, not locally, but glocally, and to consider health a security issue. Plus, learn about the impact a master's in healthcare management had on his career, and hear why it's so important to find balance and never stop learning.

When a young Patrick McKeown had an important exam decades ago, he prepared as society had coached him: With big, deep breaths. He entered the testing room lightheaded and scatterbrained. “It was,” he tells host Shiv Gaglani, “the worst thing possible that I could have done. In fact, I should have done the opposite.” Long after his asthma and stress inflected youth, McKeown immersed himself in the ancient—but routinely overlooked—art of low, slow, nose breathing. That technique combined with others can achieve calm, better performance, and a simultaneous state of relaxation and alertness. In his writing and classes, McKeown draws on biochemistry, physiology, and other interconnected disciplines to demonstrate how healthy, day-to-day breathing can ground us in difficult moments.“There's not a day that I don't connect with my breathing, and it has given me a softer life.” Tune in to hear how to easily measure the quality of your own breathing, why proper breathing is the key to good sleep, and how breath can help you prepare for a big presentation or, yes, a looming exam.Mentioned in this episode:https://oxygenadvantage.com/https://myotape.com/https://www.youtube.com/user/Oxyathlete

“The biggest things I've learned about improving health equity are the importance of data and relationships,” says Dr. Aditi Mallick, who, in her role at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services counts that goal as a top priority. That knowledge was largely gained last year while she was director of North Carolina's COVID-19 Response Command Center.  Data on testing and vaccination rates by race and ethnicity allowed Mallick and her team to pinpoint where outreach efforts should be targeted.  Then it was a matter of communicating effectively with community organizations to drive turnout to free clinics. Those public-private partnerships are also vital to achieving progress on other priorities Dr. Mallick has related to advancing whole-person health.  As she tells host Dr. Rishi Desai, when clinics are closely connected with community social service agencies, a “closed-referral loop” can develop so all stakeholders know that patient needs are being addressed. “The more we can do to encourage that model will serve us well in meeting health-related social needs.” Check out this informative conversation to learn how the nation's largest insurance programs work and interconnect, why Dr. Mallick identifies with a “doctor plus” approach to her work, and what can help physicians get through the inevitable hard days in their profession. Mentioned in this episode: Link to Request for Information on Medicaid Accesshttps://cmsmedicaidaccessrfi.gov1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6EYj9eLS9b74Npk

On today's episode, we spotlight nursing education because trends in the profession and healthcare at large are making it more important than ever. "The job of nursing has become far more complex, and first-year nurses are being asked to make very complex decisions right away," says Brent Gordon, President of Nursing and Health Education at Elsevier. That underscores the urgency of developing clinical reasoning skills, and nursing educators have to evolve their programs in response. They are also preparing students for the updated NCLEX national licensing exam, which has been revised to assess clinical judgment skills. As Gordon tells host Shiv Gaglani, Elsevier is supporting institutions, faculty and students with these changes. Examples include newer offerings focused on skills assessment, and digital simulations solutions to augment clinical rotations. Always top of mind is the persistent shortage of nurses, with pandemic-induced burnout making the situation worse by the day. "I would argue it's a crisis, and we need governments and higher education institutions to really be innovative around how they can increase their enrollment," adds Gordon. Don't miss this deep dive into the evolution of nursing and Elsevier's partnership with the nursing education community in addressing the many challenges facing the field.

We've been fortunate to speak to many medical educators in the United States over the past two years on Raise the Line about the state of medical education and how learning has been impacted by the COVID pandemic. On today's episode, we happily broaden our scope on these topics to Central Asia with the help of two officials from Samarkand State Medical University in Uzbekistan. Mahzuna Nasretdinova, a deputy in the Vice-Rector's Office for Science and Innovation and Dr. Muzaffar Annaev, Leading Specialist of the Department of Scientific Research and Innovations, join host Shiv Gaglani to describe an exciting period of change and growth at the institution. From just recently achieving independent status, to a renewed focus on research and international collaboration, to greater government support for educators, hospitals, and healthcare providers, Annaev and Nasretdinova have much news to share. Looking forward, they are hoping to build on existing collaborations with external partners such as Elsevier, whose ClinicalKey Student offering has been easy to integrate into SSMU's learning system. Tune in for an interesting look at the challenges and opportunities of medical education in a critical part of the world.

“I want to be the home for the clinician in digital health,” says SteadyMD CEO and lover of complex business problems Guy Friedman. Taking care of clinicians by thinking about their needs and respecting their autonomy is key to the approach of Friedman's company, which he co-founded in 2016 as a way to improve primary care delivery. Tune in to this episode of Raise the Line with host Dr. Rishi Desai to learn how Friedman became a serial entrepreneur and what drew him into the telehealth sphere. Discover how SteadyMD acts as agent and partner to connect clinicians with digital health employment opportunities, using a technology that allows them to work for multiple companies. Learn how this approach differs from a traditional work model, hear Friedman's outlook on telehealth regulations in the U.S., and find out why he's bullish on the digital health industry in general. Plus, catch his valuable advice for digital health entrepreneurs.Mentioned in this episode: https://www.steadymd.com/

Hurricane Sandy struck New York City when now-Dr. Jason Reminick was in town, interviewing for residency programs to which he'd applied. The whole process, which would shape the coming years of his life, was a huge mess. Interviews were canceled. Anxiety ran high. He remembers a fellow applicant whose car was lost in the storm. Desperate, the applicant took a cab to one interview, at a cost of $600. Reminick sought a better way, and the result was Thalamus. The platform organizes applicant information for residency programs, while facilitating the scheduling so applicants can arrange their interviews in as straightforward a matter as possible, mitigating stress and travel expenses alike. This, he tells host Dr. Rishi Desai, is just the beginning of Thalamus's vision for making the residency application process better for applicants, programs, and the medical profession as a whole. Tune in to hear about common misconceptions about a fast-changing residency recruitment process, how programs adapted to Covid, and why doctors should not be afraid to become entrepreneurs.  Mentioned in this episode: https://thalamusgme.com

“One of the pieces of advice I like to give young people is to collect knowledge, interests and a network of people you want to know. You don't know yet how you are going to use it all, but later it will become obvious which pieces fit with which,” says Youngsuk ‘YS' Chi, Chairman of Elsevier. If you want a great example of how this approach works, you can look at Chi's own remarkable career which took him from banking, to helping enable Amazon's early growth, to being president of Random House to his current role at Elsevier and its parent company RELX, where he is Director of Corporate Affairs and Asia Strategy. Chi reveals to host Shiv Gaglani that what connects those disparate experiences are two people he “collected” at the start of his own career with whom he stayed connected in a mutually beneficial partnership. Seeing relationships as core to success explains why Chi makes time to be a mentor to dozens of people in a wide range of professions. Although wanting to help them on their career journeys is the prime motivator, Chi is quick to point out his mentees are a network he can tap for expertise as part of his commitment to continuous learning. The wisdom drop continues as they discuss how to help employees connect purpose to their work and how a post-COVID analysis needs to include “a humanistic re-questioning of what we do and why we do it.”

“I'm in a part of my life where I like to have an impact that disrupts an industry,” says famed entrepreneur Mark Cuban, and his new online pharmacy CostPlus Drugs is already showing signs of creating a major disruption, indeed. Here's just one example of what his no-frills operation is making possible: a 30-day supply of the cancer-fighting drug Gleevec is usually $2,500, but on CostPlusDrugs.com the same medication is $17.10 for a month's supply.  You probably have the same question as host Shiv Gaglani: how is this possible? Cuban says CostPlus Drugs sidesteps insurance companies and Pharmacy Benefit Managers to deal directly with manufacturers.  There's a standard 15% markup to cover operational costs, a $3 pharmacy fee and a $5 shipping fee. “That's it, period, end of the story.” Word of mouth over the last two months has pushed sales to levels not expected for two years. Cuban is quick to credit co-founder Alex Oshmyansky and his team, but obviously the business acumen he's displayed for years on the TV show Shark Tank plays a big role, as does his motivation to do something about a bedeviling problem. “The fact that people are having to choose between rent, food, or medication in this country is wrong in every which way.” Check out this fascinating analysis of the healthcare industry spiced with valuable advice for budding healthcare entrepreneurs, and find out what Cuban thinks the healthcare industry can learn from the NBA. Mentioned in this episode: https://costplusdrugs.com/

We've talked a lot on Raise the Line about the upsides of the telehealth boom, but our guest today, Dr. Mike Hoaglin, brings a new silver lining to light: it's one way to help with the physician burnout crisis. “I've certainly been in the trenches of burnout in the past, and having the flexibility to be able to see patients when I'm at my best and when I'm able to be at home with my family is just a great setup for me to be successful, and my patients benefit.” In fact, “Dr. Mike” was an early adopter of telehealth and other medical technologies as well. Best proof point? He and host Shiv Gaglani worked together a decade ago to develop the Smartphone Physical. Add that experience to his work in federal health policy, various start-ups and a stint as the clinical director on the Dr. Oz Show, and you can understand why “Dr. Mike” is full of revelations on many subjects including on a special focus of his, the microbiome. For instance, did you know your body has more foreign cells (bacteria, fungi, protozoa, etc) than human? As Dr. Mike shares with Shiv, intensifying interest in these trillions of microorganisms in recent years has led to a deeper understanding of the wide range of impact gut health has on overall health, from diabetes to mood disorders. Check out this lively excursion through a fascinating career, and be sure to listen all the way through for Dr. Mike's advice on the one thing you should eat more of for good gut health.