The Lasting Impact

This episode of Radio Rounds — the SEASON SEVEN PREMIERE — aired on Sunday February 19. Check out streaming audio of this episode on WYSO.org and the free podcast download on our iTunes page! Also (coming soon): FULL RECAP!

Featured Guest: On this episode of Radio Rounds, physician Edward O’Neil explains the uniquely lasting impact that his international medical service organization, OmniMed, has made in Uganda and other impoverished global communities. Dr. O’Neil’s innovative Village Health Team (VHT) model is both reproducible and extraordinarily effective. Dr. O’Neil recently published a new book, Awakening Hippocrites, which is available online and at book stores nationwide.

Remember: All Past Episodes are on iTunes!

Triumph After Tragedy – 11 Seconds, 15 Years Later

Episode 414 aired on November 14, 2010, and the podcast is now available as a free download on our iTunes page!

In this episode, the Radio Rounds team speaks with special guest Travis Roy, author of a book entitled Eleven Seconds, which chronicles his life-altering accident in 1995, in which he became paralyzed from the neck down, just 11 seconds into his first varsity hockey game with the then-reigning NCAA champion Boston University.

Travis’s story is about hope and perseverance in the face of tragedy. As a followup to this episode — and for bonus audio excerpts of our interview with Travis — be sure to check out Radio Rounds host Avash Kalra’s article on College Hockey News. Travis describes his accident in further detail, as well as the incredible response from the college hockey community.

In addition, learn more about Travis and the Travis Roy Foundation, which provides generous research support and individual grants for spinal cord injury survivors.

Remember that, as always, the free-to-download podcast of this episode (and all past episodes) can be found on our iTunes page!

Moving Mountains – An Inspired Effort to Eradicate Disease

This episode — the SEASON THREE FINALE — aired on March 7, 2010 and is now available on iTunes!

This episode closes Season Three in style, featuring perspectives on medicine from two ends of the medical career spectrum — a physician who has devoted his work to public health efforts abroad, and medical students working to effect change on Capitol Hill.

First, joining the program is Dr. Jon Andrus, Deputy Director for the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), part of the World Health Organization (WHO). In 2000, he received the Distinguished Service Medal, the highest award of the United States Public Health Service, for his leadership in working to eradicate polio in the Americas and Southeast Asia. Dr. Andrus discusses the importance of global health work, as well as his own experiences — the obstacles he has faced abroad, the unimaginable challenge of serving as the sole physician for a district of 210,000 people in Africa, and his inspired leadership in eradicating a disease on two continents.

We also feature a field report from Washington D.C., where Radio Rounds lead correspondent John Corker interviews a fellow medical student in the midst of the American Medical Association’s ‘Lobby Day’ event. We hear about the importance of medical student involvement and advocacy in health care reform.

Finally, the weekly residency segment in this episode features valuable career advice from Dr. Alex Macario, the Director of the Anesthesiology Residency Program at Stanford University.

On behalf of Avash Kalra, Lakshman Swamy, Shamie Das, and John Corker, thanks for listening to Season 3. Feel free to contact the Radio Rounds team by email, contact@radiorounds.org .

A Real WHO’s Who

The free podcast of this episode, which aired on August 30, 2009, is available on our iTunes page!

This episode features regular CNN medical correspondent Dr. Martin Makary (left), the Chair of Gastrointestinal Surgery and Director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Surgical Outcomes Research. He speaks with the Radio Rounds hosts about the work he has done with the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO), with regard to maximizing patient safety and quality of care.

Dr. Makary has in fact authored a number of books about those topics and public health and offers some great insight into the work he does — including the importance of a simple (but potentially life-saving) “checklist” used in surgeries.

Tracy Kidder – Beyond Mountains Beyond Mountains

The Season Two Finale aired Sunday, December 6, 2009, and the free podcast is available to download on our iTunes page!

This episode features Pulitzer Prize winner Tracy Kidder(left), the author of Mountains Beyond Mountains — an acclaimed nonfiction account of international health icon Dr. Paul Farmer — and also the recently released Strength in What Remains.

Kidder’s Strength in What Remains tells the astounding true story of a young man from Burundi who escapes genocide, only to arrive in New York City with only $200 in his pocket and no knowledge of the English language. The man, named Deo, sleeps on park benches in Central Park… until he manages to attend Columbia University, complete a medical degree, and go back to his native country to found a clinic.

In this episode, Kidder joins Radio Rounds as part of his book tour for Strength in What Remains. Kidder describes his experiences with Dr. Farmer and Deo — specifically, what it was like to immerse himself in their lives, their worlds and then write his best-selling books about them. He comments on the process of being with Deo as he returned to the country, Burundi, where he at one time had lost almost everything he had.

Global Health

You can hear a clip from this episode on our BEST OF SEASON ONE file, available as a free podcast download on iTunes.

In this episode, we enjoyed a riveting discussion about global health concerns, as well as the elaborate connections between medicine and nutrition. Our feature guest was Dr. Diklar Makola (left), a gastroenterologist in Dayton, Ohio, who has extensive experience in practicing medicine both in the United States and abroad. Dr. Makola also has a PhD in nutrition, and his perspectives on medicine and global health have been further enhanced by his research work, which he also discussed on the program.

In the second half of the show, we were joined by Matias Iberico and Jonathan Slaughter, who are second-year medical students at the Boonshoft School of Medicine at Wright State University, in the Class of 2011. Matias and Jonathan are also co-chairs of the School of Medicine’s ‘Global Health Initiative.’ Both have had valuable experience working in medical settings abroad, and they were able to share their insights regarding the importance of global health care efforts. Visit the Global Health Initiative website here!