Reimagine Medicine Podcast

Head injuries are common in children and teens. They can be mild — like a bump on the head — or more serious — like a concussion. It can be hard to tell the difference between a mild head injury and one that is more severe.

Head injuries are more common in the spring and summer months, when children are active in outdoor activities and playing sports. Parents and children alike are excited about the return of youth sports after a hiatus due to the pandemic.

Lois Sayrs, PhD, specializes in child health and injury. Dr. Sayrs will help answer the question, “If your child experiences a head injury, how do you know when it is time to see the doctor?”

Guest

Lois Sayrs, PhD, is a senior research scientist in child health and injury, specializing in trauma and surgical studies.

She serves as a research assistant professor with the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix and program director with Arizona State University’s Center for Applied Behavioral Health Policy.

Physicians are trained to deal with medical emergencies, but COVID-19 thrust hospitals in Phoenix — and around the world — into crisis mode for nearly a year. Phoenix was a COVID hotspot, as were other cities like New York. There have been 30 million cases and more than 540,000 deaths in the US, nearly 17,000 of whom were Arizonans.

This was a tremendous test of crisis leadership as medical teams worked to understand the disease, identify treatment protocols and share valuable information. Marilyn Glassberg, MD, shares insights from her experience leading frontline teams and how a tweet led to a new predictive model for COVID lungs.

Guest

Dr. Glassberg is the inaugural division chief of Pulmonary Medicine, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine; the vice-chair for Diversity and Inclusion; as well as senior director of Clinical Research for Strategy and Growth for the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix and Banner – University Medical Center Phoenix.

February is American Heart Month, and this year the theme is, Heart Disease: It Can Happen at Any Age. Heart disease doesn’t happen just to older adults. It is happening to younger people more often, partly because the conditions that lead to heart disease are happening at younger ages. It is important to learn about your risk of heart disease and the steps necessary to have a healthy heart.

Wayne Franklin, MD, shares advancements that are improving outcomes for pediatric cardiac patients.

Guest

Dr. Franklin is a graduate of Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, and UCLA School of Medicine. He did his residency training in internal medicine and pediatrics at Duke University, where he first was exposed to Adult Congenital Heart Disease (ACHD). He then did two simultaneous fellowships in adult cardiology and pediatric cardiology at St. Luke’s/Texas Heart Institute and at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM)/Texas Children’s Hospital (TCH) in Houston. 

After a lengthy career — that included founding the Texas Adult Congenital Heart Program in 2004, as well as being appointed chief of Cardiology at the TCH Pavilion For Women in 2013, amongst other notable achievements — Dr. Franklin came to Phoenix in 2018 to join Phoenix Children’s Hospital as the co-director of the Heart Center; the director of the ACHD Program; and the chair of the Department of Adult Medicine. 

In addition, he is a full professor in three University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix Departments — including the Medicine, Child Health and Obstetrics and Gynecology.

What drives people to pursue careers in medicine? Physicians are definitely Type A personalities who want to be the ones in charge, finding solutions to complex issues. But they are motivated by a commitment to serve. 

Guest

Haig Aintablian, MD, is committed to serving patients in urgent need, whether they present at the emergency department or an under-resourced hospital in Armenia. Dr. Aintablian is a PGY3 resident in Emergency Medicine at UCLA and a graduate of the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix. He recently traveled to Armenia — amid a pandemic and a war — to donate $100K in medical supplies, ultrasound supplies and medical training.

For older adults, a hospital stay can create challenges beyond the medical condition that caused them to be hospitalized. As "Baby Boomers" age, it is estimated that twenty percent of the U.S. population will be retirement age by 2030. 

Building age friendly health care systems is crucial to serving the health care needs of older adults. Nimit Agarwal, MD, developed the Mind, Mobility, Medication program to look at components of care during hospitalization and build independence for patients post-hospitalization.

Guest

Dr. Nimit Agarwal is a geriatrics and internal medicine physician leading the Division of Geriatric Medicine at Banner – University Medical Center Phoenix and the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix. He leads the Center for Healthy Aging at Banner – UMC Phoenix and is the associate program director of the Geriatric Medicine Fellowship Program.

Algorithms are moving out of the lab and into society, where they are asked to answer tough questions: Which inmates to release? Which job applicants to hire? Which patients to treat? These types of questions cause algorithms to stumble — not so much because they are hard to answer, but because they are hard to ask.

Guest

Ziad Obermeyer, MD, is an associate professor of Health Policy and Management at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health, where he does research at the intersection of machine learning, medicine and health policy. He previously was an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School.

An emergency physician by training, he researches the intersection of algorithms and emergency medicine. By focusing on how machine learning can improve diagnoses, Dr. Obermeyer seeks to help doctors make more accurate predictions about patients’ conditions and quickly identify optimal treatment.

Students are going back to school in virtual and in-person learning modalities adapted for a pandemic. We will discuss the risk/reward of sending children to school while keeping them healthy.

Guest

Gary E. Kirkilas, DO, is a pediatrician at Phoenix Children’s Hospital, an assistant professor at the College of Medicine – Phoenix and a father of three. He also operates the Mobile Health Unit, a 40-foot medical R.V. that travels from shelter to shelter providing free health care to homeless and disadvantaged youth in Phoenix-area communities.

Precision medicine takes a big-data approach to disease prediction, prevention, detection and treatment designed to benefit both individual health and public health.

The promise of precision medicine is to enhance our knowledge of disease and identify treatment, as well as medication that is best-suited to the patient.

Advancements in technology are rapidly expanding the possibilities. In this episode, we are exploring the role that big data, machine learning and AI play in precision medicine.

Guests

Will Heise, MD, is the research director for the Division of Clinical Data Analytics and Decision Support. He also serves as an assistant professor in the Division of Medical Toxicology and Precision Medicine at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix.

Dr. Heise is a medical toxicologist and family physician. His teaching and research interests include critical care toxicology, precision medicine and clinical decision support.

Hamed Abbaszadegan, MD, MBA, FACP, is an informaticist and internist with the Phoenix Veterans Affairs Health Care System.

He also serves as a clinical associate professor in Biomedical Informatics, as well as residency program director of Clinical Informatics at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix.

Each of us inherit genetic material that forms who we are and that guides our way through life. Experiences throughout life can modify the genome and the genetic transcripts that constitute us.

In one way, genetics are a determinant of health. However, social determinants of health can overshadow, highlight or coincide with genetics to increase vulnerability or resilience to disease.

We have brought together interdisciplinary thought leaders to discuss the contribution of inherited genes to health and disease. We will explore the capabilities, future trends and challenges of genetic knowledge, counseling and interventions.

Guests

In 2017, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey declared a public health state of emergency as more than two Arizonans were dying each day from opioid overdoses. The Arizona Opioid Epidemic Act was introduced in response to the opioid epidemic. It is the most comprehensive package any state has passed to address this issue and crisis to date.

As a result, undergraduate and graduate health education and practitioner programs in Arizona have developed a first-of-its-kind statewide curriculum that calls on all provider types to address the public health emergency.

We are talking with leaders who are at the forefront of helping solve America’s biggest public health issue.

Guests

A recent report published by the Association of American Medical Colleges confirms the United States will experience a shortage of over 121,000 physicians by 2032. Our nation’s population is growing older and living longer. The demand for physicians continues to grow faster than medical schools and residencies can prepare new doctors.

Guests

Rural communities in Arizona (and across the U.S.) continue to experience a chronic shortage of physicians and health care professionals, as well as limited access to medical facilities. Economic factors, cultural and social differences, limited facilities and geographic isolation are among the many obstacles that contribute to health care disparities and impede efforts to lead healthy lives. We will talk with physicians who are working with communities to improve rural health.

Guests

Behavioral and developmental issues are tremendous stressors for children and families. Students who have struggled in school will likely be under additional stress in the next school year. Families want to know what they can do to prepare for the next academic year. We will explore best practices in diagnosis and treatment through a well-rounded discussion, leveraging our partnership with Phoenix Children’s Hospital.

Guests

Resources

• Arizona Legislature.
• Arizona American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA).
• Arizona Department of Education Office of Exceptional Students.
• Arizona Early Intervention Program (AZEIP).
• Arizona Psychological Association.
• Autism Society of Greater Phoenix.
• Community Information and Referral.
• Effective Child Therapy.
• Healthy Children – American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).
• LD Association of America.
• LD Online.
• Phoenix Children's Hospital Family Center.
• Special Education Law.
• Books:
  • ​Grit by Angela Ducksworth (2016).
  • Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck (2006).
  • Building Resilience by Kenneth Ginsburg (2015).

Heart disease is the #1 killer of both women and men in the United States. The latest statistics indicate 1-in-2 Americans will develop some form of cardiovascular disease. What is being done to change this trend? We have brought together leading experts who are taking on heart disease.

Guests

What are the barriers for those with disabilities to access health care? We focus on the intersection of disability and medicine to identify how to teach, deliver and advance health care for patients with access challenges. We have brought together experts who are championing exciting initiatives to overcome these challenges. By engaging physicians, patients, caregivers, policymakers and communities, they are empowering “abilities.”

Guests

What if:

• Your insulin pump suddenly overdosed?
• A patient’s bedside medication pump malfunctioned?
• A children’s hospital lost internet access from a cyber attack?

These aren't just examples; they've actually happened.

Medical devices and hospitals have been the targets of cyber attacks from hackers. The CyberMed Summit brings together the leading minds in cyber security to develop solutions to keep patients safe and medical technology secure.

Guests

The holiday season is not a time of joy and celebration for everyone. For many, preparing for the holidays brings elevated levels of stress, anxiety, loneliness and depression. This discussion centers on the philosophy that we teach our students, “If you do not first take care of yourself, then you will not be able to care for others.” This philosophy is applicable to anyone with responsibilities of caring for or guiding others, be they parents, physicians, patients, caregivers or leaders.

• Counseling resources (PDF).
• Transcript of the episode (PDF).

Guests

Through evidence-based medicine approaches and process improvement, our partners at the Phoenix Veterans Affairs Health Care System are striving to improve the timeliness of health care delivery, early diagnosis and intervention, as well as disease prevention and healthy lifestyles. Learn more about the challenges they are experiencing — and the advancements they have made.

• Transcript of the episode (PDF).

Guests