Clinician's Roundtable

Host: Maurice Pickard, MD Guest: Irvin Yalom, MD Can addressing death directly through open dialogue inform us about the way we live? Dr. Irvin Yalom, professor emeritus of psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine and author of several highly acclaimed books,discusses his newest book, Staring at the Sun, which deals with how thoughts of our own mortality can interfere with life's fulfi...

Host: Gary Kohn, MD Guest: Jan Stepanek, MD As a specialist in aerospace physiology and altitude-related clinical conditions, Dr. Jan Stepanek, medical director of the Aerospace Medical Program, assistant professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, AZ, and aviation medical examiner (AME) discusses medical qualifications for pilots in the U.S. and the interaction between pilots, AMEs, a...

Host: Gary Kohn, MD Guest: Jan Stepanek, MD Medical standards for pilots focus on eliminating the sudden incapacitation endangering passengers. Looking ahead, as more passengers seek orbit, and sub-orbit, what is the medical criteria used for clearance? Dr. Jan Stepanek, Medical Director of the Aerospace Medical Program, and Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, AZ, dis...

Host: Gary Kohn, MD Guest: Charles Enke, MD What's around the bend for radiation targeting systems? Dr. Charles Enke, professor and chair of radiation oncology at the University of Nebraska College of Medicine, speaks with host Dr. Gary Kohn about the potential of electromagnetic targeting and tracking as used in the GPS-like Calypso-guided technology. Detecting prostate motion in real-time, elimi...

Host: Gary Kohn, MD Guest: Charles Enke, MD Keeping closer tabs on the intrafractional movement of the prostate during radiation therapy will continue to play an increasingly significant role in improving our overall success when treating prostate cancer. So says Dr. Charles Enke, professor and chair of radiation oncology at the University of Nebraska College of Medicine. He details the latest in...

Host: Bill Rutenberg, MD Guest: Mitchel Berger, MD Join Dr. Mitchel Berger, the Kathleen M. Plant Distinguished Professor and Chairman of the Department of Neurological Surgery at the University of California San Francisco and host Dr. Bill Rutenberg for a discussion of novel targeted therapies for the treatment of malignant brain tumors. Can immunoliposomes hone in like smart bombs attacking tumo...

Host: Bill Rutenberg, MD Guest: Mitchel Berger, MD Dr. Mitchel Berger, the Kathleen M. Plant Distinguished Professor and Chairman of the Department of Neurological Surgery at the University of California San Francisco joins host Dr. Bill Rutenberg for a discussion of new developments in language mapping leading to more successful resection of malignant gliomas. Surprising findings include locating...

Host: Maurice Pickard, MD Guest: David Johnson Our guest, David Johnson, managing director of Citi’s industry leading health care group addresses the potential of outsourcing patients across borders at great savings. This may make us realize that when our president in 1993 stated that the "system was broken and it was time to fix it "may have been right. Will we respond to the fact that "our great...

Host: Paul Doghramji, MD Guest: Russell Breish, MD Is family practice a dying profession? Host Dr. Paul Doghramji welcomes Dr. Russell S. Breish, director of family practice and director of the residency program at Chestnut Hill Hospital in Philadelphia to discuss factors affecting family physicians. They will cover the effect of the increase in nurse practitioners and physician assistants, the in...

Host: Maurice Pickard, MD Guest: Robert Klitzman, MD HIV is a very preventable disease. If everyone who is HIV positive agreed not to spread the disease it could be stopped, says our guest, Dr. Robert Klitzman, associate professor of clinical psychology at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Disclosure however is not easy and does not always happen. Dr. Klitzman explores with h...

Host: Matthew J. Sorrentino, MD, FACC, FASH Guest: Gust Bardy, MD Dr. Gust Bardy, president of the Seattle Institute for Cardiac Research and lead investigator of the Home Automated External Defibrillator Trial (HAT), published in the New England Journal of Medicine , will discuss the use of automated external defibrillators, both at home and in public locations, as a strategy to reduce mortality...

Host: Matthew J. Sorrentino, MD, FACC, FASH Guest: Gust Bardy, MD In recent years, we've seen automated external defibrillators (AED) distributed in high-traffic areas throughout many of our communities. Though more cases of sudden cardiac events are occurring outside the home-owing to greater mobility for our older, at-risk patients-a great many cases do still occur in the home. With this in mind...

Host: Larry Kaskel, MD Guest: Nancy H. Nielsen, MD, PhD How valid are consumer based physician ranking systems? In this segment Dr. Larry Kaskel learns the American Medical Association's position on physician ranking from AMA President Nancy Nielsen, MD, PhD who says while the information in these systems obviously cannot be relied upon we should try to understand why these systems are being creat...

Host: Larry Kaskel, MD Guest: Nancy H. Nielsen, MD, PhD The trend of comparing and ranking physicians by economic efficiency has reached a breaking point. Insurers use ratings to create tiered programs, offering incentives to steer patients to their list of preferred doctors. How are physicians placed on this preferred list? As AMA President Dr. Nancy Nielsen explains, patients are often forced to...

Host: Bruce Japsen Guest: Leah Binder Prescribing errors continue to be a major problem. But Leah Binder, chief executive officer of The Leapfrog Group, tells the Chicago Tribune's Bruce Japsen about a computerized physician order entry evaluation tool developed by the business community that enables medical providers to determine how well their system alerts users to common but serious prescribin...

Host: Bruce Japsen Guest: Leah Binder Rating hospitals has become the hallmark for the Leapfrog Group. Leah Binder, the Chief Executive Officer of The Leapfrog Group, tells the Chicago Tribune's Bruce Japsen about new quality ratings in this year's Leapfrog Hospital Survey.

Host: Sherwin Ho, MD Guest: Nicola Maffulli, MD, MS, PhD How can you help your patients with overused tendons and tendinopathies, like Achilles tendon problems and tennis elbow? Dr. Nicolas Maffulli, professor and chair of trauma and orthopaedic surgery at Keele University School of Medicine in Staffordshire, England, clinically specializes is tendinopathy. He says that we often misconceive tendin...

Host: Sherwin Ho, MD Guest: William J. Bryan, MD In many regions of our country, summer weather means more outdoor activities, competitive cycling among them. Though cycling is great exercise, our patients must take proper caution to limit their injury risk. Host Dr. Sherwin Ho talks with Dr. Bill Bryan, former medical doctor for the United States cycling team and an avid cyclist, about a range of...

Host: Bruce Bloom, DDS, JD Guest: Roni Zeiger, MD Host Dr. Bruce Bloom welsomes Dr. Roni Zeiger, product manager of Google Health and primary care physician, to discuss the controversial realm of physician ratings and how Google will enter this arena.

Host: Bruce Bloom, DDS, JD Guest: Roni Zeiger, MD Google Health seeks to do for medical patients what it does for general search. What does Google Health offer our patients now, and what does it seek to provide in the future? Discussing Google Health - focusing around both privacy and possibility - with your host, Dr. Bruce Bloom, is Dr. Roni Zeiger, product manager of Google Health and primary ca...

Host: Jennifer Shu, MD, FAAP Guest: Jill Grimes, MD The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has indicated that 19 million Americans — including one in four teenage girls — are infected with at least one sexually transmitted disease (STD). As physicians, we know that these diseases are far more common than most people think. But are we doing our best to educate our patients and provide appropriate sc...

Host: Jennifer Shu, MD, FAAP Guest: Jill Grimes, MD More than five million Americans struggle with Alzheimer’s disease. How can you determine if your patients' moments of forgetfulness are an early sign of this illness? How can you help families make tough decisions about independent living? Dr. Jill Grimes, a practicing family physician in Austin, Texas, and author of the chapter on Alzheimer’s i...

Host: Stuart Gitlow, MD, MPH, MBA Guest: Howard Wetsman, MD With hypertension research, researchers typically look for reductions in blood pressure numbers as target outcomes. Chronic pain management, by comparison, usually calls for measures of subjective experiences of pain. But what are we looking for as target outcomes for addiction? Join Dr. Stu Gitlow in speaking with guest Dr. Howard Wetsma...

Host: Stuart Gitlow, MD, MPH, MBA Guest: Howard Wetsman, MD What are the facts and stereotypes of addiction? New Orleans based psychiatrist and author of QAA: Questions and Answers on Addiction , Dr. Howard Wetsman discusses addiction in general, including the labels and treatments, with host Dr. Stuart Gitlow.

Host: Mary Leuchars, MD Guest: Peter Baquie, MD The 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing introduced unique health risks and preparation needs for athletic teams from participating nations. Dr. Mary Leuchars is joined by guest Dr. Peter Baquie, Medical Director for the 2008 Australian Olympic Team. They will discuss unique measures undertaken by the Australian medical personnel to protect the health of el...