Clinician's Roundtable

Host: Mark Nolan Hill, MD Guest: Dana Christian Lynge, MD Dropping reimbursement for general surgical procedures and increased everyday expenses are two issues, in addition to many others, that make the future viability of a general surgery practice a more difficult proposition. What if this disturbing trend continues? Could medicine withstand the loss of general surgery altogether? Dr. Dana Chris...

Host: Mark Nolan Hill, MD Guest: Dana Christian Lynge, MD Training, recruiting and retaining general surgeons are key workforce issues for many hospitals across the United States. In a broad sense, these concerns impact the entire field of surgery, from students interested in surgery, to the most established surgeons in practice. What can our profession do to reconcile these issues? Dr. Dana Chris...

Host: Mark Nolan Hill, MD Guest: Dana Christian Lynge, MD A nationwide survey reveals that the number of general surgeons has dropped 25 percent in the past 25 years. A continuation of this decline could have profound implications on patient populations that depend on general surgeons. What are the key demographic concerns surrounding a potential national shortage of general surgeons? Dr. Dana Chr...

Host: Mark Nolan Hill, MD Guest: Dana Christian Lynge, MD Thirty to forty years ago, the field of general surgery was truly flourishing. General surgeons treated patients for an array of surgical conditions, as the concept of present day sub-specialties had yet to take hold. What has led to this significant shift in the focus of general surgery? Host Dr. Mark Nolan Hill welcomes Dr. Dana Christian...

Host: Michael Greenberg, MD Guest: Sharon Mitchell, PhD Dr. Sharon Mitchell joins host Dr. Michael Greenberg to detail her role in addressing healthcare for the adult film industry. Known to many as 'Dr. Mitch,' she describes her own transformation from adult film star to sexual health expert and founder of the Adult Industry Medical (AIM) Healthcare Foundation. She'll also give us an idea of the...

Host: Bruce Japsen Guest: Gail Rosseau, MD More than half of all students accepted into medical schools are women, but only a fraction of neurosurgeons are female. Dr. Gail Rosseau, of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, tells host Bruce Japsen about a new paper that highlights these challenges and provides recommendations on how to improve the profession and care for patients.

Host: Bruce Japsen Guest: Winifred Hayes, PhD The health technology assessment, something gaining momentum in hospitals as a way to improve patient care, can be a challenge to implement. Dr. Winifred Hayes, founder and chief executive officer of Hayes Inc. tells host Bruce Japsen how this can be done and what the doctor's role should be in this process.

Host: Bruce Japsen Guest: Winifred Hayes, PhD Evidence-based technology assessment may be an unfamiliar term to most of us, but it is gaining momentum in the health-care industry. Dr. Winifred Hayes, chief executive of Hayes Inc., tells the Chicago Tribune's Bruce Japsen why it may be a solution to controlling health care costs, and how it has gained the support of such varied sources as Federal R...

Host: Larry Kaskel, MD Guest: Xavier Sevilla, MD, FAAP Dr. Xavier Sevilla, practicing pediatrician and the Academy of Pediatrics representative to NCQA's Advisory Panel on the patient-centered medical home, walks us through the experience of building a medical home from the ground-up. From staffing to record-keeping, he considers the components that have helped him to develop a pediatric practice...

Host: Larry Kaskel, MD Guest: Xavier Sevilla, MD, FAAP What makes a medical home any different than the primary care model in which we have practiced for years? Join host, Dr. Larry Kaskel speak with our guest, Dr. Xavier Sevilla, Practicing Pediatrician and the Academy of Pediatrics representative to NCQA's Advisory Panel on the Patient Centered Medical Home. Dr. Sevilla warns, "This is the last...

Host: Maurice Pickard, MD Guest: Steven Greenberg, MD, PhD Dr. Steven Greenberg, associate professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School and director of the Hemorrhagic Stroke Research Program at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, talks with host Dr. Maurice Pickard about the somewhat unexpected finding of an increased frequency of cerebral microbleeds, and explains the potential impact...

Host: Gary Kohn, MD Guest: Robert C. Fifer, PhD Dr. Robert C. Fifer, associate professor and director of audiology and speech-language pathology at Mailman Center for Child Development, in the department of pediatrics at University of Miami School of Medicine, talks with host Dr. Bruce Bloom about what physicians need to know about speech and language development. What are other likely causes of s...

Why do headaches often persist after taking a one-cent aspirin, yet disappear after taking a fifty-cent aspirin? Dan Ariely, behavioral economist and author of Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape Our Decisions , refutes the common assumption that clinicians and patients behave in fundamentally rational ways. From ethics of least harm in pain management to recommendations for conse...

You see and hear a patient screaming. You feel the pain they are experiencing. Then soon, something quiets the screams, and quells the suffering. At the core of this transformation? A simple shot of saline. Dr. Dan Ariely, a professor of behavior economics at Duke University, who also holds an appointment at the media lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, joins host Dr. Gary Kohn to di...

Host: Maurice Pickard, MD Guest: Gary Becker, PhD Dr. Gary Becker, Nobel laureate and professor of economics and sociology at the University of Chicago, joins host Dr. Maurie Pickard to discuss the connection between the gap in supply and demand in the economic market and the same gap in the organ transplant market. Dr. Becker presents a solution and answers the critics.

Host: Maurice Pickard, MD Guest: Gary Becker, PhD Nobel Prize recipient for Economic Science, Dr. Gary Becker, professor of economics and sociology at the University of Chicago, explains how monetary incentives would sufficiently increase the supply of organs for transplant surgery, eliminating the very long queues in the donor market. Undoubtedly the suffering of those on the waiting list would b...

Host: Maurice Pickard, MD Guest: Nortin Hadler, MD Dr. Nortin Hadler, professor of medicine and microbiology/immunology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, joins host Dr. Maurice Pickard to discusses his book, Worried Sick: A Prescription for Health in an Overtreated America . Dr. Hadler's book examines the reach of medical treatment in America and the degree to which health is det...

Host: Maurice Pickard, MD Guest: Nortin Hadler, MD Dr. Nortin Hadler, professor of medicine and microbiology/immunology at the University of North Carolina discusses his new book Worried Sick. A prescription for Health in an Overtreated America . He documents how the consumer needs to adopt an attitude of skepticism regarding the claims of modern medicine and arm themselves with enough information...

Host: Bill Rutenberg, MD Guest: Bertha Madras, PhD According to Dr. Bertha Madras, deputy director of demand reduction in the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy under President George W. Bush, random drug testing gives young people a good reason not to succumb to peer pressure. But the implementation of random drug testing in schools has stirred a controversial public health debate...

Host: Bruce Japsen Guest: Jon Black, Mr. Although most Americans may be most familiar with social networking on the internet via Facebook or Myspace and even Sermo for doctors, other health care sites are emerging to bring doctors and consumers together. Jon Black, chief executive officer of CheckMD, tells host Bruce Japsen about putting various aspects of health care together into a new kind of s...

Host: Bruce Japsen Guest: Raymond Scalettar, MD So just how can the medical community prevent and reduce underage drinking? Is it even a doctor's responsibility? Dr. Raymond Scalettar, a former Chairman of the American Medical Association and an adviser to the Distilled Spirits Council, tells the Chicago Tribune's Bruce Japsen about what physicians may encounter and how they can help in dealing wi...

Host: Bruce Japsen Guest: Raymond Scalettar, MD So just where are teens getting their alcohol and what can the medical profession do about it? Dr. Raymond Scalettar, former chairman of the American Medical Association and adviser to the Distilled Spirits Council, tells host Bruce Japsen about a new national study showing parental influence on how children get alcohol and how physicians can help th...

Host: Lee Freedman, MD Guest: Babatunde Olowokure, MD, MPH, PhD Guest: Stephen Karpiak, PhD Rates of STDs in the over-45 population have increased more than twofold since the year 2000. The trend is pushing healthcare providers to stay current on how best to address issues associated with STD care for the older demographic. Host Dr. Lee Freedman learns more from Dr. Babatunde Olowokure, consultant...

Host: Leslie P. Lundt, MD Guest: Laurie Edwards Better technology and treatments mean that people with serious childhood illnesses such as cystic fibrosis and type one diabetes are reaching adulthood in unprecedented numbers. That means they are also struggling with college, relationships, fertility and employment. Laurie Edwards, a health journalist and author of Life Disrupted, joins host Dr. Le...

Host: Leslie P. Lundt, MD Guest: George I. Viamontes, MD, PhD Ion channels, G proteins, receptor subunit proteins - many of these concepts were developed after we received our training. What does the practicing clinician need to know? Host Dr. Leslie Lundt welcomes Dr. George Viamontes, assistant clinical professor of medicine in the department of psychiatry at Columbia School of Medicine, who wil...