Clinician's Roundtable

Host: Lisa Dandrea Lenell, PA-C, MPAS, MBA Guest: Gail Curtis, PA-C The research is yet to be written on the number of physician assistants that face substance abuse issues. Gail Curtis, an assistant professor of PA studies at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, joins host Lisa D'Andrea Lenell to discuss the reasons PAs may abuse controlled substances, how to get proper treatm...

Host: Lisa Dandrea Lenell, PA-C, MPAS, MBA Guest: Rear Admiral Michael Milner, PA-C You may understand what PAs do in the five armed services of the military, but do you know about their role in the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, the largest public health program in the world? Rear Admiral Michael Milner joins host Lisa Dandrea Lenell to talk about the role of the Corps an...

Host: Bruce Japsen Guest: Bruce Crowther The hospital report card is a much talked-about effort to provide transparency about quality information. It's becoming a more important tool for consumers, just as President Obama and Congress prepare to initiate healthcare reforms that demand such information. Bruce Crowther is president and chief executive officer of Northwest Community Hospital in the C...

Host: Bruce Japsen Guest: Nancy Nowak As President Barack Obama travels the country talking about the need for health care reform, hardly a week goes by when you don't hear the Commander in Chief talk about Intermountain Healthcare and its low costs when compared to the rest of the country. What makes this this large healthcare system an example? Nancy Nowak, vice president of clinical operations...

Host: Bruce Bloom, DDS, JD Guest: David Pearce, PhD Mucopolysaccharidosis I, or MPS I, often presents initially as a child's failure to thrive, and is a diagnosis with devastating effects. How is new research able to help children with this lysosomal storage disorder? Host Dr. Bruce Bloom talks with Dr. David A. Pearce, director of the Sanford Children's Health Research Center in Sioux Falls, Sout...

Host: Bruce Bloom, DDS, JD Guest: David Pearce, PhD How is the immune system involved in lysosomal storage disorders, including juvenile Batten disease, Niemann-Pick type C disease and Krabbe disease? Host Dr. Bruce Bloom welcomes Dr. David A. Pearce, director of the Sanford Children's Health Research Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to discuss research into the immune response in these patien...

Host: Bruce Bloom, DDS, JD Guest: Gregory Pastores, MD What are the musculoskeletal signs and symptoms in children with MPS I? How can we test for MPS I? And how does the disease present in patients as they grow up? Dr. Gregory M. Pastores, associate professor of neurology and pediatrics at the New York University School of Medicine in New York, and director of the neurogenetics laboratory in the...

Host: Bruce Bloom, DDS, JD Guest: Emil Kakkis, MD, PhD Host Dr. Bruce Bloom welcomes Dr. Emil Kakkis, an advisor at BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. and author of numerous published articles on mucopolysaccharidosis I, or MPS I, to discuss current treatment options. They discuss the benefits and risks of enzyme replacement therapy with laronidase. Don't miss these other programs on MPS I, with host Dr...

Host: Michael Greenberg, MD Guest: J. James Rohack, MD If you've been following the health care reform debate as closely as we have, you may be suffering from a case of whiplash, with so many proposals and so little time to wade through all the back-and forth on each of them. As Congress heads into its customary August recess, we'll take a step back to examine the issues that could make or break t...

Host: Bruce Japsen Guest: Alfred Casale, MD As President Barack Obama touts what is right and wrong with the nation's healthcare system, hardly a week goes by when you don't hear him or one of this surrogates mentioning Geisinger Health System. So what does Mr. Obama see in this large Pennsylvania based medical care provider? Dr. Alfred Casale, director of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Geisinger Healt...

Host: Bruce Japsen Guest: Joseph Golbus, MD, MBA The economic stimulus package signed into law by President Barack Obama provides doctors money to get their offices set up for electronic medical records over the next few years. But there are actually a few health care systems ahead of the curve on electronic medical records with systems installed and benefits being realized. Host Bruce Japsen talk...

Host: Bruce Japsen Guest: Sharon Treat, Ms. More and more states, and even the federal government, are moving to ban drug industry gift-giving practices. So how is this legislation working, and what does it mean for physicians and their patients? Sharon Anglin Treat, executive director of the National Legislative Association on Prescription Drug Prices, tells host Bruce Japsen about states moving...

Host: Lisa Dandrea Lenell, PA-C, MPAS, MBA Guest: Stan Roberts Federal law mandates that commercial truck drivers pass a medical exam in order to stay behind the wheel. Physician assistants have been authorized by the Department of Transportation to conduct these exams since 1992. But stricter certification recommendations proposed by an advisory board to the government may change the role of the...

Host: Bruce Japsen Guest: Chip Phillips Retail health clinics, looking to expand their services, are going beyond care of routine maladies to physicals, injections of specialized drugs and management of chronic conditions. Chip Phillips, president of Minute Clinic, a subsidiary of CVS Caremark Corp., tells host Bruce Japsen about what physicians and their patients should expect from this new push...

Host: Lisa Dandrea Lenell, PA-C, MPAS, MBA Guest: Robin Hunter Buskey, PA-C Physician assistants are often a vital part of the team delivering medical care to prison inmates. Robin Hunter Buskey, the 2009 PA of the Year and a senior clinical PA at the Butner Federal Corrections Complex in Butner, North Carolina, joins host Lisa D'Andrea Lenell to discuss how working in a federal prison differs fro...

Host: Lisa Dandrea Lenell, PA-C, MPAS, MBA Guest: George Collins, PA-C The opportunities for physician assistants in their practices are evolving. In practices all around the country PAs are not only seeing patients they are helping to run the offices and manage employees. PA George Collins chief physician assistant and PA director for Orthocarolina in Charlotte, North Carolina, joins host, Lisa D...

Host: Bruce Japsen Guest: Ken Aldrich Expanded guidelines for stem cell research have favored federal financing for embryonic stem cell development. But some researchers in the field are looking beyond embryonic stem cells. Ken Aldrich, chief executive officer and co-founder of International Stem Cell Corporation, tells host Bruce Japsen about pluripotent stem cell research, not yet eligible for f...

Host: Lisa Dandrea Lenell, PA-C, MPAS, MBA Guest: Michelle Mack, PA-C You've seen forensic investigators on TV detective shows like Law and Order and CSI but what is the job really like? Physician Assistant Michelle Mack, Director of Forensic Investigation at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in the District of Columbia, talks with host Lisa D'Andrea Lenell about how she puts together the p...

Host: Bruce Japsen Guest: Arthur Holden, MBA Two years after it was formed, the International Serious Adverse Event Consortium, working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, is making progress understanding why certain people are predisposed to dangerous drug interactions. Arthur Holdren, founder of the consortium, tells host Bruce Japsen about the discovery of a genetic link between liver i...

Host: Cathleen Margolin, PhD Guest: Yasser Aman, PhD, MPH In 1992, after the verdict was handed down in the Rodney King trial, there were six days of rioting in south Los Angeles. Thousands were injured, more than 50 people were killed, and the city saw approximately one billion dollars in property damage. One of the few bright spots during this dark time was the formation of a new health care cli...

Host: Mark Nolan Hill, MD Guest: Jeffrey Klausner, MD, MPH Detection and treatment of HIV in the United States has improved dramatically since the peak of the epidemic here in the 1980s, but there is far more work to be done. HIV transmission is one area of heightened concern, particularly those cases spread by newly infected persons who remain undiagnosed. Though tests are available to diagnose H...

Host: Mark Nolan Hill, MD Guest: William Parker, MD For many years, bilateral oopherectomy has been a routine part of hysterectomy. After a certain age, we reasoned that the role of the ovaries in helping women achieve hormonal balance was outweighed by the risks for ovarian cancer, thus offering women their best odds of long-term survival. Yet new evidence on the risks of routine bilateral oopher...

Host: Bruce Japsen Guest: Linda Powers, Ms. President Obama expanded federal funding for certain embryonic stem cell research and many are excited about what it means to the entire field of discovery of new drugs and medical treatments. Linda Powers, of the Maryland Stem Cell Commission, tells host Bruce Japsen about the importance of Obama's move to, not only those interested in embryonic stem ce...

Host: Jennifer Shu, MD, FAAP Guest: Basil Clyman, MD Over the years, many studies have examined the ‘difficult' patient encounter. Consistently, these studies indicate that physicians deem nearly 1 in 6 outpatient appointments to be an arduous visit. These challenging episodes are often time-consuming and may also lead to adverse outcomes. Though it is unfair to look at all difficult visits in the...

Host: Lee Freedman, MD Guest: Michael Hildebrand, PhD Researchers have discovered a CATSPER gene mutation that may lead to development of a male infertility treatment, as well as a male contraceptive. Are we really another step closer to developing a male contraceptive, and when might an oral contraceptive be available for men? Join host Dr. Lee Freedman as he talks with Dr. Michael Hildebrand, fe...