Dave Berke is a retired Marine fighter pilot and Top Gun instructor who now is a part of the leadership team at Echelon Front. He is back for a fourth time on Explore The Space to continue our exploration of team based culture. Every time we have these conversations, I’m fired up for the next one.
Key Learnings
We start off with another round of Quick Hitters!
When work spills over into life
Why excelling at work is a recipe to do well elsewhere
Keeping friends and family informed as a cornerstone of work-life balance
Communication skills as a hard-won lesson in maintaining relationships and building a successful career
Lizzie Johnson is a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle who covers wildfires in California. She joins us on the eve of the one-year anniversary of the Wine Country Wildfires of 2017 to reflect on what happened, how the community has rallied, and the challenges still facing the recovery.
Key Learnings
Becoming the “Fire Girl”
Arriving in Santa Rosa after the fires started
Reporting from the ruins of Coffey Park
How this wildfire impacted the sense of safety for people across the world
Being a reporter and allowing people speak their truth about their experience
How communities respond to a disaster and how it evolves over time
Impressions of the recovery in Sonoma County at one year
Global perceptions of the wildfire, climate change and an international “voyeuristic sense of horror”
Emily Silverman is a Hospitalist and the creator of “The Nocturnists” podcast and live show. If you love stories from the dark corners of medicine, and the light and lively corners as well, “The Nocturnists” is an amazing place to spend some time. We cover the origins of the show, how stories humanize physicians and healthcare, and the amazing growth of her project.
Key Learnings
How her love of storytelling, writing and “The Moth Podcast” led to “The Nocturnists”
The first live event of “The Nocturnists” in January, 2016
How her project is helping satisfy the public demand for powerful medical stories
Thoughts on the power differential between doctors and the public and how stories can help humanize physicians
Why doctors put up emotional shields and the “hidden curriculum” of medical training
Themes that are emerging in the stories being told
The coaching process being used by the storytellers she works with and how to incorporate into clinical practice
Maureen Bisognano is a nurse who has held many roles over her extraordinary career in healthcare, most recently as President of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. She now serves as Chair of the Advisory Board for the Well-Being Trust, which is a national foundation dedicated to advancing the mental, social, and spiritual health of the United States. She joins us for a remarkable conversation about the origins of the Well-Being Trust, the work done thus far to address “diseases of despair”, some truly amazing program ideas, and the first steps forward.
Please note, at the top of the episode we share a few words upon hearing of the suicide of Dr. Bongani Mayosi.
Key Learnings
What are the diseases of despair?
The challenge laid out by Providence-St. Joseph Health in helping found the Trust
Getting a foothold on mental health at a national level
Initial goals: improving access to care, determining social determinants of health, & focusing on children
The invention of a socialance instead of an ambulance to address access to mental health care upstream
Creating #bewell, #beheard, #bethere as a part of a youth campaign on social media
Sourcing and harvesting programs and ideas on a global level
A revolutionary Call & Check program to address social isolation in Jersey, England using the postal service
Strategic goals of the Well-Being Trust
Parallels with the opioid epidemic
Taking care of yourself while taking care of other people
The Badwater 135 is one of the toughest footraces on the planet, Michelle West is preparing to run it for the third time. We caught up with her less than 24 hours before she starts running 135 miles through Death Valley, CA and had an amazing conversation with someone on the cusp of an extraordinary challenge. This is an incredibly unique discussion just before she embarks on one of the hardest physical tests that exists.
Key Points
On the eve of the Badwater 135, one of the toughest footraces on the planet
Preparing in a place of extremes
How Michelle is readying her body and mind the night before the race
Facing heat, thunderstorms, and sleep deprivation
Finding motivation and inspiration in the face of a profound challenge
The impact of experience at Badwater and in life when “you know what’s waiting for you.”
The hardening that comes with difficulty and challenge
Experiencing joy and euphoria after coming through hardship.
Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha is a Pediatrician who brought the epidemic of lead exposure in the water supply of Flint, Michigan to national exposure in 2015. She has become an example for physicians and scientists of how and why they can and must stand up on social issues. She joins us to discuss her incredible work, the importance of courage and how to build it, and her wonderful new book “What The Eyes Don’t See.” She reminds us too, that the strength she displays “is in all of us. This is all of our jobs.”
Key Points
Advocacy as a path into the profession of medicine
Using her megaphone and the power of “What The Eyes Don’t See”
Doctor as renegade and as detective
How did she think of lead exposure in water in the first place
Building the resources to speak truth to power as a physician
Where Dr. Hanna-Attisha’s courage comes from
The tools needed for physicians to leverage the impact they can have on society
Dealing with the onslaught of pushback by building a team around you
What could happen if doctors rallied en masse around social issues
Teaching others to be both renegade and physician
Creating a comprehensive clinic to address social determinants of health.
What Dr. Hanna-Attisha is most proud of and what she regrets through her journey to date
Sarah Sellers is a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist who shocked the world this past April when she came out of nowhere to finish in 2nd place at the Boston Marathon. She joined us to discuss her remarkable achievement, the importance of being in the moment, and how her work in healthcare and her marathon training are bound together.
Key Topics
What does a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist do?
Finding time to run amidst a full work schedule
The discipline and value of “being in the moment.”
Qualifying for the Boston Marathon by winning her first marathon
Setting goals for Boston
The epic weather during the race
The value of camaraderie amongst the competitors
The famous picture and the smile
Going back to work
Maintaining focus and being able to adapt to change
Lessons from her success at the Boston Marathon that connect to working with patients
Can hospital food be part of a nutrition plan for marathon training?
Dr. Colleen Kraft is the President of the American Academy of Pediatrics and she has been a pivotal voice in helping us understand the scope of the immigrant child separation crisis. She joins us to discuss the physical, emotional, and developmental harm these children are exposed to as well as where things stand with reuniting them with their families.
Key Topics
How and when the issue of child separation came to Dr. Kraft’s attention
Images from the detention centers as a national Rorschach test
Is infrastructure in place to provide proper nutrition, healthcare, hygiene and basic care?
The lack of knowledge around what is going on in detention centers
The triggers and effect of Toxic Stress on children
Key steps in mitigating Toxic Stress and the importance of being reunited
Has there been pushback to Dr. Kraft and the AAP’s efforts?
Sam Quinones is an investigative journalist who wrote an extraordinary book about the opioid epidemic in America called “Dreamland.” He joins us to talk about the tremendous challenges he found in writing the book, how the book helped break the story of the opioid epidemic, and his brilliant insights on the road forward in this epidemic. In parts frightening and inspiring, this is an amazing discussion
Key Points
Starting his investigation into the opioid epidemic
The collision of opioid prescribing and heroin marketing
The spread of “the horror story monster”
Why prison is the best place to interview a drug dealer
Finding people with a story to tell about opioid addiction
Why so many addicts hid their story for so long
The darkest moments in “Dreamland”
Constructing the book so the story takes life
Importance of pain strategies that don’t rely solely on opioids
Novel approaches at the community level to tackling the epidemic
How an isolating drug is prompting Americans to work together
Finding inspiration in the ways communities can and are rebuilding
Pamela Wible is a Family Practice physician who has taken on the cause of physician suicide. We discuss the acuity of the problem and the disconnect between public understanding and the reality of the problem. Sadly, Dr Wible is probably correct when she surmises that almost every physician in America knows someone in medicine who killed themselves. The conversation also moves through how the problem can begin to move towards improvement.
Key Learnings
Why Dr. Wible took on the issue of physician suicide
951 physicians dead by suicide
How do non-physicians understand the idea of physician suicide
Why physicians are at high risk for suicide
The SOAP note approach to the issue of physician suicide as a societal issue
Why the issue is so difficult to discuss
The impact of “sucking it up”
Dealing with tragedy as part of the solution
Where physicians go to cry
Suicide awareness & prevention as a recruiting & retention tool
Vivek Wadhwa is a Silicon Valley futurist, renaissance man, & raconteur. He joins us for an provocative & rollicking discussion of artificial intelligence in healthcare, the current and future...
Christina Farr covers digital health for CNBC and, between her scoops, her writing, and her epic Twitter feed, is the clear leader in this work. She is back for her 4th visit to Explore The Space; we ...
This episode contains adult language Garth Mullins is the host and executive producer of Crackdown Podcast. He also has opioid use disorder and a long struggle with heroin. He joins us for a unvarnish...
Whether you’re in healthcare or seeking healthcare, the electronic medical record will impact your experience. We are joined by the anonymous creator of the viral and hilarious @EPICparodyEMR Tw...
Adam Rodman is a Hospitalist, a podcaster, and host of Bedside Rounds. His podcast is the most wonderful journey into the history of medicine, connecting all of us in and out of medicine with our shar...
Des Shapiro is a physician with a 40-plus year career in medicine and an incredible legacy under his belt. He’s also my Dad and I’m delighted to have him join me for the 100th episode. We ...
Nick Watts is a physician & Executive Director of Lancet Countdown. He joins us to discuss a defining issue for humanity: climate change. We discuss how climate change is a threat multiplier to hu...
I’ve been waiting for the right time and person to discuss the importance of coffee to our daily lives. Larry Istrail is a Hospitalist and a coffee aficionado (like your faithful podcast host) w...
Shoshana Ungerleider is a Hospitalist, founder of End Well & an educator focusing on end-of-life care. She joins us to discuss the evolution of her career, changing the narrative around how we tal...
