Raise the Line

If you like this podcast, please share it on your social channels. You can also subscribe to the series and check out all of our episodes at www.osmosis.org/podcast

Dr. Chuck Cairns enjoyed practicing emergency medicine early in his career, but he soon realized he could have a bigger impact by focusing on how clinical care, education and medical research is organized, and how advancements in all three can be applied to benefit patients, especially those from underserved populations. That started him on a leadership path that wound its way around the country at several prestigious institutions culminating in his current role at Drexel University College of Medicine. It’s a good fit because Drexel has a longstanding commitment to serving populations in need, and Dr. Cairns finds working among students and researchers who share that mission to be very rewarding. He and his team are devoted to proactive approaches to healthcare that address social determinants of health. In fact, Drexel recently purchased a bankrupt hospital in North Philadelphia and partnered with the City to provide COVID-19 testing to that economically challenged community. In this conversation with Dr. Rishi Desai, Dr. Cairns reflects on his work partnering with local governments to bring the best of academic medicine into communities, how his school is addressing the challenge of staying connected across multiple locations, and shares his three key pieces of advice for medical students. If you like this podcast, please share it on your social channels. You can also subscribe to the series and check out all of our episodes at www.osmosis.org/podcast

As a young professional in Chicago in the early 1990’s, Tim Barry happened upon a poster in a store one day that simply stated, “You just can’t fake love, man”— and it was at that moment he realized he would focus only on things he was passionate about moving forward. After trying his hand as a tech entrepreneur, a friend convinced him to take a job in healthcare insurance, and he got hooked on the opportunity to impact the lives of others. Fast forward to seven years ago when he helped found VillageMD, which now provides thousands of primary care physicians with technology, staffing, and other support to help them provide better patient care. Village MD has also developed primary care clinics of its own, and announced this summer Walgreens is investing over $1 billion to build hundreds of clinics next to its pharmacies over the coming years. In this revealing episode, Tim is joined by host Shiv Gaglani to discuss his vision for transforming primary care and what the Walgreens partnership signals about how healthcare delivery in the U.S. is changing. Tim also shares his advice for anyone considering a career in healthcare, including the importance of diving into the data you have at your fingertips. If you like this podcast, please share it on your social channels. You can also subscribe to the series and check out all of our episodes at www.osmosis.org/podcast

Dr. Jerry Balentine thinks a lot about the qualities successful medical students and physicians need. “I think all medical schools wish there was a way of testing who's going to be a great physician, but there's just no such test, so we use markers such as the MCATs to make sure that they're successful academically.” But he knows those markers don’t capture aspects of a person’s competence, character or experience that would make them a good fit for the profession. Qualities such as empathy, passion and grit are high on his list. In fact, he believes empathy is so important to practicing medicine that it’s both a research interest and something he builds into the learning experience at New York Institute of Technology’s College of Osteopathic Medicine from “day one.” Join Balentine and host Shiv Gaglani as they explore the growth of DO programs, the challenges of COVID, and NYIT’s success in building provider capacity in rural Arkansas. If you like this podcast, please share it on your social channels. You can also subscribe to the series and check out all of our episodes at www.osmosis.org/podcast

“Science transcends politics,” says Dr. George Daley. “My hope is that physicians and scientists will, in fact, be a force for global harmony, and that will be a silver lining to come out of the pandemic.” In this important conversation with Shiv Gaglani, Dr. Daley, who is an internationally recognized leader in stem cell science and cancer biology, describes his collaboration with recent Nobel laureate Jennifer Doudna and others to call for restraint in experimentation with stem cell technology, and decries the current tension between the U.S. government and the scientific community. He also shares how, in response to COVID-19, he and his team were able to connect and mobilize disparate research communities -- including Chinese and European colleagues -- to develop the Massachusetts Consortium on Pathogen Readiness. Tune in to hear more about these critical topics and discover Dr. Daley's circuitous path to medicine and his perspective on COVID as a defining experience for this generation. If you like this podcast, please share it on your social channels. You can also subscribe to the series and check out all of our episodes at www.osmosis.org/podcast

Kids without regular access to healthcare are obviously at higher risk for developing health issues, but it also makes them more likely to face long-term consequences such as dropping out of school, having trouble finding work and ending up in jail. What’s the connection? Poor health access can lead to chronic school absenteeism, which can start a downward spiral. That’s where Hazel Health fits in, a medtech start-up which uses telehealth to connect kids on demand to providers during the school day. The company currently serves 60 districts nationwide with 1.5 million students, focusing on the underinsured and those from disadvantaged communities, many of whom have no steady arrangements for primary care. Students can also access Hazel Health while at home, extending the reach of school health services. Like many companies in the telehealth space, Hazel Health has experienced turbocharged growth due to COVID. In this episode of Raise the Line, CEO Josh Golomb and Jeannie Chen, the Head of Clinical Operations and People, describe to host Shiv Gaglani what it’s been like to scale at that pace, the importance of building trust with schools and families, and the special combination of qualities and experience they seek in their providers. If you like this podcast, please share it on your social channels. You can also subscribe to the series and check out all of our episodes at www.osmosis.org/podcast

If you like this podcast, please share it on your social channels. You can also subscribe to the series and check out all of our episodes at www.osmosis.org/podcast

“I think it's an enormous gift to pursue medicine and particularly academic medicine,” says former philosophy major Dr. Steven Scheinman, a distinguished researcher in the genetics of inherited kidney disease and dean of the Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine. The school in its current form is only a few years old, having not had a clinical system partner prior to 2017 when it aligned with the highly-ranked Geisinger Health System. Scheinman is thrilled with the learning opportunities the partnership is providing due to the health system’s emphasis on prevention and primary care. Forward-thinking programs in home care, geriatrics, whole genome screening and pharmacy innovation provide a rich grounding in population health for learners, and a generous scholarship program aimed at boosting primary care underscores the school’s commitment to a health management approach. But, as Scheinman enthusiastically says to host Shiv Gaglani, “Wait, there’s more!” Their expansive conversation also includes an overview of COVID’s impact on learning -- including a new “e-ICU” program and how med students will make better use of their 4th year. Speaking of which, Scheinman also shares valuable insights from his perch as Board Chair of the National Residency Match Program. If you like this podcast, please share it on your social channels. You can also subscribe to the series and check out all of our episodes at www.osmosis.org/podcast

If you like this podcast, please share it on your social channels. You can also subscribe to the series and check out all of our episodes at www.osmosis.org/podcast

If you’re wondering why the U.S. has had such a hard time during the pandemic keeping frontline health workers supplied with the protective equipment they need, or what is being done to improve the situation, Mike Alkire has some answers for you. He is president of Premier, Inc. which helps more than 4,000 hospitals and health systems improve efficiency and clinical outcomes through supply chain management and other strategies. He’s intimately familiar with the global medical supply chain and where the breakdowns and problems are that need to be addressed. Perhaps the most important change needed, he says, is manufacturing more of these critical items in the U.S. In this episode, Alkire and host Shiv Gaglani also discuss the use of AI in the health system, standardization of care to improve quality and safety, and the potential to share best practices across industries. Discover, too, why the key words for Alkire are humility, courage, and humanity. If you like this podcast, please share it on your social channels. You can also subscribe to the series and check out all of our episodes at www.osmosis.org/podcast