Massachusetts Medical Society Podcasts

Physician Focus, June 2009: Infectious Disease

Infectious diseases such as West Nile virus, Eastern Equine Encephalitis, rabies, and seasonal flu are annual challenges to public health. Whooping cough and measles are making comebacks in the US, while public health officials across the globe keep their eyes on bird flu, drug-resistant TB, new strains of viruses, and ‘superbugs.’

What’s the latest information on infectious disease? How serious are the threats in the US and Massachusetts? Are there new threats on the horizon? What are public health officials and infectious disease specialists doing about existing and future threats? And what’s the best course of action individuals can take to protect themselves and their families?

Host:  Bruce Karlin, M.D.
Guests: Alfred DeMaria Jr., M.D., Medical Director, Bureau of Infectious Disease, Commonwealth of Massachusetts; Thomas Treadwell, M.D., Director of the Infectious Disease Clinic and director of the HIV Clinic, MetroWest Medical Center in Framingham

 

Co-produced with Hopkinton Community Access Television, HCAM-TV, Hopkinton Mass.

Listen to the podcast (Length 26:33) (This will open your computer's default media player in a new window)

Download from iTunes

Physician Focus, May 2009: Sleep Disorders

Some 70 million people in the U.S. are affected by sleep disorders of one kind or another. Chronic or severe insomnia, narcolepsy, restless leg syndrome, and sleep apnea affect the health and safety of millions of people. Many people put themselves and others at risk – on the job, at home, or behind the wheel as a “drowsy driver” - for injury, health and behavioral problems, and worse because they’re not getting enough sleep. Just how prevalent are sleep disorders? Who is affected by them? What causes these disorders? And what can patients do about them?

Sanford Auerbach, M.D., Director, Sleep Disorders Center, Boston University School of Medicine
Robert Sokolove, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Assistant Professor of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston MA

Host: James Kenealy, M.D., MetroWest ENT Associates

 

Co-produced with Hopkinton Community Access Television, HCAM-TV, Hopkinton Mass.

Listen to the podcast (Length 24:49) (This will open your computer's default media player in a new window)

Download from iTunes

Physician Focus, April 2009: Hospice and Palliative Care

Some 90 million Americans now live with serious and life-threatening illnesses, such as cancer, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, and the number is expected to double in the next 25 years as our population ages. The medical specialty dedicated to relieving the pain and suffering of patients with serious illness and providing them with the best quality of life possible is called hospice and palliative care, a specialty practiced for more than a decade yet officially recognized by the medical community only a few years ago. How well do we meet the needs of the seriously ill? What should patients know about this kind of care? Just how accessible is it? And what sets this kind of care apart from other medical care?

Guests:  JoAnne T. Nowak, M.D., Medical Director, Partners Hospice
Lachlan Forrow, M.D., Director of Ethics and Palliative Care Programs, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Host: John Fromson, M.D., Associate Director, Postgraduate Medical Education, Massachusetts General Hospital

Co-produced with Hopkinton Community Access Television, HCAM-TV, Hopkinton Mass.

Listen to the podcast (Length 26:15) (This will open your computer's default media player in a new window)

Download from iTunes

Physician Focus, March 2009: Medicine's Superbugs

Drug-resistant infections are rising dramatically, from tuberculosis to MRSA to C.diff. The war against the “superbugs” continues. In Massachusetts in 2007, the Centers for Disease Control recorded 2,500 cases of MRSA – a bacterial strain that can be fatal. CDC estimates that half a million cases of C.diff – Clostridium difficile – occur every year in the U.S., contributing to between 15,000-30,000 deaths.

How prevalent are such infections?  Hospitals are known places of infection, but where else can they occur? What are the chances of such infections spreading? And what can hospitals, health officials, and patients do to reduce and even prevent these infections?

Guest: Ronald Goodspeed, M.D., M.P.H., President, Massachusetts Coalition for the Prevention of Medical Errors

Host: Bruce Karlin, M.D.

Co-produced with Hopkinton Community Access Television, HCAM-TV, Hopkinton Mass.

Listen to the podcast (Length 24:49) (This will open your computer's default media player in a new window)

Download from iTunes

Physician Focus, February 2009, Public Health Alert -- Domestic Violence

In Massachusetts, domestic violence deaths were three times higher in 2007 than in 2005. Nationally, a 2003 Centers for Disease Control study estimated that each year domestic violence involving an intimate partner results in 1,200 deaths, 2 million injuries among women, and 600,000 injuries among men – at a cost of $8.5 billion annually including direct medical and mental health costs. In June of 2008, with the passage of the Violence and Intervention Bill, Massachusetts became the first state in the nation to require health care providers to link victims of violence to counseling, housing, legal and educational and other services.

What will be the effect of this new effort? How will victims benefit? What role does - can - the health care provider now play? And what other steps can be taken, by physicians, public officials, and lawmakers, to address this public health problem of domestic violence?

Guests: Elaine Alpert, M.D., Senior Public Health Fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital's Division of Global Health and Human Rights, Department of Emergency Medicine. Liza Sirota White, Education Manager, Jane Doe Inc. 

Host: Barbara Herbert, M.D., Chair, Mass. Medical Society Committee on Violence Prevention and Intervention

Co-produced with Hopkinton Community Access Television, HCAM-TV, Hopkinton Mass.

Listen to the podcast (Length 17:15) (This will open your computer's default media player in a new window)

Download from iTunes

Worcester District Medical Society Forum: Retail Based Health Clinics

The Worcester District Medical Society's member forum on retail-based health clinics outlined the clinics' potential impact on physicians and some strategies that physicians can use to respond to their entrance in Massachusetts.

William Ryder, regulatory and legislative counsel for the MMS, summarized the two-year struggle by a coalition of concerned providers to ensure that retail clinics’ scope of practice was strictly limited, that the facilities are safe, and that visit records are efficiently transferred. Those efforts culminated with comprehensive DPH regulations in January 2008. Go to YouTube or watch the video below.

Peter Lindblad, M.D., a primary care physician and medical staff president at St. Vincent’s Hospital, noted that pharmaceutical companies are looking to get involved directly with retail clinics, raising conflict-of-interest concerns to a new level. He also said retail clinics will translate into missed opportunities for routine screenings and preventive care. Go to YouTube, or watch the video below.

Mary Philbin, Ed.M., director of faculty development at UMass Medical School, suggested that physicians respond to retail clinics proactively by:

• Adjusting office hours for more convenient patient access
• Improving communication with patients for better outcomes and higher patient satisfaction
• Coaching patients on the appropriate use of retail clinics

Go to YouTube, or watch the video below.

Physician Focus, January 2009, Stroke: The Brain Attack

Stroke: The Brain Attack

Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the U.S., after heart disease and cancer, and is the number one cause of adult disability. Each year about 700,000 people suffer a stroke, according to the Centers for Disease Control. A stroke can cause paralysis, speech problems, loss of sensation, difficulties with thinking and memory, coma, and even death. Recovery can be long and is often incomplete, creating great burden on loved ones as well as patients.

What, exactly, is a stroke and can it be prevented? What are the risk factors for stroke and how can they be reduced? What are the signs of a stroke? What should you do if you think someone is having a stroke? And what are the health implications for someone who has had a stroke?

Host: James Kenealy, M.D., MetroWest ENT Associates

Guests: Gigi Girgis, M.D., President, Massachusetts Neurologic Association; Staff Neurologist, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Needham, Thomas Mullins, M.D., Neurologist, Fallon Clinic Worcester; Past President, Massachusetts Neurologic Association

Co-produced with Hopkinton Community Access Television, HCAM-TV, Hopkinton Mass.

Listen to the podcast (Length 14:53) (This will open your computer's default media player in a new window)

Download from iTunes

Physician Focus, December 2008: Nutrition and Your Health

Nutrition and Your Health

The growing epidemic of obesity in America has refocused nationwide attention on nutrition. Schools have banned soda and snack machines; food manufacturers have reformulated many of their products, eliminating trans fats and reducing sugar content. The Department of Agriculture has re-created its food pyramid, recognizing that one size doesn’t fit all.

Just how does nutrition affect your weight and overall health? What, exactly, constitutes a "healthy diet"? Is organic really better? What role can or do vitamins play? Why should someone care about calories, carbohydrates or saturated fats? And what are the key items individuals should know about practicing good nutrition?

Host: Bruce Karlin, M.D.
Guests: Edward Saltzman, M.D., Chief of the Division of Clinical Nutrition, Tufts Medical Center, Denise Rollinson, M.D., Chairperson, Mass. Medical Society Cmte. on Nutrition and Physical Activity

Co-produced with Hopkinton Community Access Television, HCAM-TV, Hopkinton Mass.

Listen to the podcast (Length 14:49) (This will open your computer's default media player in a new window)

Download from iTunes

Physician Focus, November 2008: Young Athletes and Sports Injuries

Young Athletes and Sports Injuries

The proliferation of sports programs and opportunities for young people is a great boost to physical fitness and the fight against obesity. Yet, there's a downside as well: more and more very young athletes are coming down with injuries previously confined to only professional athletes. Estimates are that more than three and half million children 14 years old and under are receiving medical treatment for sports-related injuries each year.

What's behind the increase in these serious injuries? What can be done - by parents and coaches and physicians - to reduce their frequency? And how might these young athletes be affected in the future? 

Host: Bruce Karlin, M.D.
Guests: John C. Richmond, M.D., Chairman, Dept. of Orthopedic Surgery, New England Baptist Hospital, Luis Palacio, M.D., Director, Primary Care Sports Medicine, Malden Family Medicine/Tufts

Co-produced with Hopkinton Community Access Television, HCAM-TV, Hopkinton Mass.

Listen to the podcast (Length 14:58) (This will open your computer's default media player in a new window)

Download from iTunes

Physician Focus, October 2008: Healthy Minds: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Healthy Minds: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Psychiatry is the medical specialty of diagnosing, treating and preventing mental illness, including substance abuse and addictions. Between 7 and 12 Million American youth suffer from mental, behavioral, or developmental disorders at any given time, and the number of issues facing children can be vast: divorce, eating disorders, alcohol and drug abuse, depression, child abuse, grief, bullying, and violent behavior, just to name several. How does psychiatric treatment for children differ from that for adults? How should parents address these issues? What is their impact on families and siblings? What role, if any, should schools play? And what kinds of treatments are available? 

Guests: Don Condie, M.D., Psychiatrist, Massachusetts General Hospital
Virginia Merritt, M.D., Psychiatrist, Framingham Psychiatric Counseling
Host: John Fromson, M.D., Associate Director, Postgraduate Medical Education, Massachusetts General Hospital

Co-produced with Hopkinton Community Access Television, HCAM-TV, Hopkinton Mass.

Listen to the podcast (Length 14:55) (This will open your computer's default media player in a new window)

Download from iTunes