Clinician's Roundtable

Host: Leslie P. Lundt, MD Guest: Michael Reiner, MD Learning how to read nonverbal cues can make you a better physician. And your poker skills may just improve while you are at it! Host Dr. Leslie Lundt is joined by full-time family physician and part-time professional poker player, Dr. Michael Reiner to discuss how he combines medicine and poker.

Host: Leslie P. Lundt, MD Guest: Stephen C. Ellen, MD Today we have many options to treat depression: the SSRIs, Cymbalta, Effexor, Emsam, Wellbutrin, just to name a few. How do you know when to move beyond the SSRIs? When is it time to refer to a psychiatrist? What if there are no psychiatrists available to your patients? Host Dr. Leslie Lundt welcomes Dr. Stephen Ellen to discuss the new age of...

Host: Leslie P. Lundt, MD Guest: Stephen C. Ellen, MD SSRIs are among the most common medications prescribed in the world. What have we learned since Prozac was introduced in 1987? Psychopharmacologist Dr. Stephen Ellen discusses pros and cons of SSRIs with host Dr. Leslie Lundt.

Host: Bruce Japsen Guest: Ronald M. Davis, MD A growing body of research shows much of the growth in medical care spending over the last five years comes from a marked increase in patients receiving treatments for chronic conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure. But these costs could be contained through education and healthy lifestyles. AMA president and preventive medicine specialist Dr...

Host: Bruce Japsen Guest: Ronald M. Davis, MD Medical spending in the United States is rising faster than our overall economy, and projections suggest this trend will continue. Rather than turn to cost controls or insurance companies to reign in the cost of health care, the nation's largest doctor group is drawing up its own strategies to contain spending and add value to our system. Dr. Ronald M....

Host: Bruce Japsen Guest: Ronald M. Davis, MD Covering the nation's uninsured took on unprecedented meaning in the 2008 presidential election, but it wasn't just the likes of Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John McCain who talked about plans to expand health benefits. The American Medical Asociation, too, has a plan and is spending an unprecedented amount of money, time and attention toward a ca...

Host: Lee Freedman, MD Guest: Mark Watson Dr. Watson, co-author of the Lap-band Companion Handbook, discusses the reasons for writing this informative text. He also outlines various key sections of the book and illustrates why this is such a useful resource for both practitioners and patients.

Host: Lee Freedman, MD Guest: Mark Watson Dr. Watson, co-author of the Lap-Band Companion Handbook and a general surgeon with years of experience performing the Lap-Band procedure goes through the practical aspects of Lap-Band surgery: Who is a candidate, what to look for in a surgeon and a bariatric program, what are the financial realities of this type of procedure, and what type of outcomes can...

Host: Susan Dolan, RN, JD Guest: Mimi Jenko, RN Guest: Leah Gonzales, MSN, RN Hear Mimi Jenko and Leah Gonzales, Clinical Nurses Specialists, as they explain how to integrate life review into clinical practice. Mimi and Leah are coauthors of the Journal of Hospice and Palliative Nursing article, "Life Review With the Terminally Ill."

Host: Susan Dolan, RN, JD Guest: Mimi Jenko, RN Guest: Leah Gonzales, MSN, RN Hear Mimi Jenko and Leah Gonzales, Clinical Nurse Specialists, as they explain how life review helps patients and families. Mimi and Leah are coauthors of the Journal of Hospice and Palliative Nursing article, "Life Review With the Terminally Ill."

Host: Michael Benson, MD The CDC has decided to open a file on “Morgellons” a newly described dermopathy. What made them decide to look into this demopathy? How do the disease hunters plan to get to the bottom of this new malady? Our guest today is Dr. Michelle Pearson, an epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. She is heading the effort to look into Morgellons.

Host: Michael Benson, MD Morgellons is a disease straight out of "The X-Files." In fact, the government opened a file on it. A newly recognized dermopathy, Morgellons is now receiving scrutiny from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Dr. Michelle Pearson, a CDC epidemiologist leading the effort to examine Morgellons, joins host Dr. Michael Benson.

Host: Michael Benson, MD Guest: Judith Lichtman, PhD, MPH The differences in research effort directed at diseases that affect men and those that affect women is one of the hot button political issues in medicine today. Yet what about differences in medical care delivered to men and women? Specifically, are we truly gender blind in caring for men and women with heart attacks? Our guest today is Dr....

Host: Michael Benson, MD Guest: Judith Lichtman, PhD, MPH Most women destined to suffer myocardial infarction do so well into the menopause. Yet a few have heart attacks at an early age. Why? Our guest today is Dr. Judith Lichtman who is studying this issue. She received her doctorate in epidemiology at Yale University’s school of public health where she is an associate professor. She is also the...

Host: Michael Benson, MD Guest: Judith Lichtman, PhD, MPH Why is there a gender difference as a function of age in heart disease? Dr. Judith Lichtman explores the higher mortality rate of young women following a myocardial infarction as compared with similarly aged men, including the variance in symptom manifestation between the sexes.

Host: Michael Benson, MD Guest: Judith Lichtman, PhD, MPH Why do outcomes for younger women with heart disease (under the age of 55) have a greater lethality than in similarly aged men? Dr. Judith Lichtman discusses the VIRGO - Variation In Recovery: Role of Gender on Outcomes of Young AMI Patients - Study from the Yale University School of Medicine.

Host: Susan Dolan, RN, JD Guest: Richard Blau, MD Nearly 43 million Americans suffer from joint pain. Hear leading arthritis specialist, Dr. Richard H. Blau, director of the Arthritis Institute of Long Island, as he discusses his simple, quick and effective plan for managing and permanently controlling arthritis pain in just four weeks.

Host: Susan Dolan, RN, JD Guest: Richard Blau, MD Dr. Richard H. Blau is the founder and Medical Director of The Arthritis Institute of Long Island in Long Island, New York and a Founding Fellow of the American College of Rheumatology. Hear Dr. Blau as he discusses his book, Too Young to Feel Old: The Arthritis Doctor's 28-Day Formula for Pain-Free Living.

Host: Lisa Dandrea Lenell, PA-C, MPAS, MBA Guest: Bill Fields Lisa D'Andrea talks with Bill Fields, the founder of PAworld and NPworld, one of the largest online job and advocacy sites for advanced practice clinicians. They discuss the important elements of job seeking and recruiting for PAs and NPs.

Host: Lisa Dandrea Lenell, PA-C, MPAS, MBA Guest: René McCarty, PA-C Can a medical practice really survive without taking insurance? Host Lisa D'Andrea, PA-C, talks with René McCarty, PA-C, founding director of the LifeTime Health Center in Tyler, Texas, a cash pay-only family practice that provides health care to patients who are uninsured or underinsured. What inspired Ms. McCarty to operate her...

Host: Gary Kohn, MD Guest: Philip Barter, MD, PhD Dr. Philip Barter, director of the Heart Research Institute in Sydney, Australia, shares some of his research on HDL. Not only is it an independent risk factor, even when LDL levels are very low, but it appears to have other roles in the body - including anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, and anti-thrombotic.

Host: Gary Kohn, MD Guest: Philip Barter, MD, PhD Clinician and lipid researcher Dr. Philip Barter of the Heart Research Institute in Sydney, Australia, shares with us his research about the risk of low HDL, even in the face of very low LDL levels.

Host: Gary Kohn, MD Guest: Giovanni Cizza, MD, PhD Dr. Cizza, an MD/PhD researcher at NIH's Clinical Endocrinology Branch, shares his team's recent research of an under-appreciated risk factor for osteoporosis and the possible metabolic underpinnings.

Host: Gary Kohn, MD Guest: Giovanni Cizza, MD, PhD Dr. Cizza's research at the NIH has established that depression in pre-menopausal women may be as great a risk for osteoporosis as smoking or decreased calcium intake.

Host: Larry Kaskel, MD Guest: William Elliott, MD A recent Business Week article suggests that physicians are overusing cholesterol lowering medications. In this segment, Dr. Larry Kaskel explores the use of statins with our guest, Dr. William Elliott. They discuss who benefits from statins, how patient knowledge of statins impact physician prescribing, and details of NNT. Join Us.