The External Medicine Podcast

In this conversation, Daniel Belkin and  Mitch Belkin speak with Professor Christy Chapin, who is an Associate Professor of History at University of Maryland Baltimore County. We discuss how the American insurance company-based model of healthcare developed in the first half of the 20th century. Specifically, we explore the role of some of the major actors who created the fragmentary and expensive...

In this conversation, Mitch Belkin and Daniel Belkin speak with Dr. Jason Ryan , the creator of Boards and Beyond. We discuss how he started Boards and Beyond, what aspects of medical education are in need of reform, and why he is bullish on med ed entrepreneurship.  In this episode, we cover Dr. Ryan's background, his roots in chemical engineering, and how he decided on internal medicine and...

In this conversation, Mitch Belkin and Daniel Belkin speak with Rick Johnson, MD, about how his views on fructose metabolism have evolved over the past decade. If you haven’t checked out Episode 9 with Dr.  Johnson, check that out for more background. In this episode, Dr. Rick Johnson talks about endogenous fructose metabolism, the thrifty gene hypothesis, fat as a source of metabolic water, dehyd...

In this conversation, Mitch Belkin and Daniel Belkin speak with Nikhil Krishnan about his healthcare newsletter (OutofPocket), why he’s optimistic about healthcare startups, and what he’s learned from investing in health tech companies. He talks about his preferred business models and gives advice to healthcare entrepreneurs on the zero-to-one phase of startups. They also discuss direct-to-physici...

In this episode, Mitch Belkin and Daniel Belkin speak with Robert Montgomery, MD, DPhil, about his background, family history of cardiomyopathy, as well as his work in immunology and transplantation. They discuss the 3 types of organ rejection, how to manage and prevent rejection, porcine endogenous viruses, as well as Dr. Montgomery's work on xenotransplantation. This podcast was recorded on...

In this episode, Mitch Belkin and Daniel Belkin speak with Ben White about his background and reasons for selecting radiology. They discuss ways to improve radiology residency training and medical school education. They briefly touch on physician shortages, Dr. White’s blogging at BenWhite.com, and his nano-fiction project (Nanoism). Who is Ben White? Dr. Ben White is a practicing neuroradiologist...

In this exciting episode, Mitch Belkin and Daniel Belkin speak with Professor Michael Levin about bioelectricity, the electrical potentials that cells use to communicate with one another. Professor Levin argues that bioelectricity is the software of cellular communication and is the medium through which we can control top-down modular programs for cancer prevention, limb regeneration, and birth de...

In this episode, Mitch Belkin and Daniel Belkin speak with Daniel Burka about his work at Resolve to Save Lives and the project Simple.org, a hypertension reduction application. They discuss the importance of iterative building processes that trial various ideas and then quantifiably measure success. Daniel Burka stresses the importance of understanding the goals of all users--physicians, patients...

In this interview, Mitch Belkin and Daniel Belkin speak with Stephan Guyenet, PhD, about Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and Semaglutide. They discuss GLP-1’s mechanisms of action, Anthony Sclafoni’s experiments on food reinforcement and nutrient receptors in the small intestines. Finally, they touch on some exciting new weight loss drugs that may replace semaglutide and potentially even bariatric...

In this interview, Mitch Belkin and Daniel Belkin speak with Brown Economics Professor Emily Oster about the studies behind breastfeeding recommendations, the dramatic increase in the U.S. C-section delivery rate over the last half century, and how she approaches analyzing studies.  Who is Emily Oster? Emily Oster is the Royce Family Professor of Teaching Excellence and Professor of Economics at B...

In this interview, Mitch Belkin and Daniel Belkin speak with Katherine Flegal about the relationship between BMI and excess mortality. Dr. Flegal's publication of two papers in JAMA led to substantial controversy among obesity researchers. They discuss the data regarding the U-shaped mortality curve , the history of BMI, as well as the politicization of science. Who is Katherine Flegal? Kathe...

In this interview, Mitch Belkin and Daniel Belkin speak with Dr. Karl Friston about his proposed free energy principle and how it applies to various psychiatric and neurological disorders including schizophrenia, depression, autism, and Parkinson’s. They also touch on the disconnection hypothesis of schizophrenia, how theories of schizophrenia have evolved over the last two centuries, and the rela...

This conversation was recorded on June 24th, 2021. In this interview, Mitch Belkin and Daniel Belkin speak with Dr. Johnson about fructose and its relationship to fat storage. They discuss uric acid as a cause of kidney inflammation and essential hypertension, how glucose intake can trigger endogenous fructose production, and the relationship between salt and obesity. Finally, they touch on the ev...

This conversation with Dr. John Mandrola was recorded on July 11th, 2021. In this interview, Daniel Belkin and Mitch Belkin speak with Dr. Mandrola about a 2019 article he co-authored entitled The Case for Being a Medical Conservative . They discuss concerns about vaccine-induced myocarditis in children, vaccine mandates, and whether the AMA and other physician organizations should take sides on c...

This conversation with Yuri Deigin was recorded on June 25th, 2021. In this interview, Daniel Belkin and Mitch Belkin speak with Yuri about aging, which he argues is fundamentally an epigenetic phenomenon. We discuss partial reprogramming using Yamanaka factors, evolutionary explanations of aging, and recent in vivo experiments which suggest that aging is partially reversible. We also touch on mRN...

This conversation with Dr. Bryan Carmody was recorded on June 21st, 2021. In this interview, Daniel Belkin and Mitch Belkin speak with Dr. Carmody about the history of the USMLEs, the value of standardized test scores, and the arms race in the residency admissions process. They touch on conflict of interest in medical education and the rising cost of medical schools among other topics. If you enjo...

This conversation was recorded on June 7th, 2021. In this interview, we talk with Deborah Korenstein, MD, about medical overuse and overdiagnosis. We discuss her April 2021 publication in JAMA Internal Medicine, the Accuracy of Practitioner Estimates of Probability of Diagnosis Before and After Testing as well as the diagnostic process, the teachability of diagnostic reasoning, cognitive biases, a...

In this interview, Mitch Belkin and Daniel Belkin speak with Professor Alex Tabarrok about what economists can bring to discussions of the pandemic, the US government’s response to COVID-19, the performance of the FDA and the CDC, regulatory nationalism, the first doses first campaign, and why America should vaccinate the world. This conversation was recorded on May 2nd, 2021.  Who is Alex Tabarro...

This conversation was recorded on April 5, 2021. In this interview, Mitch Belkin and Daniel Belkin speak with Dr. Paul Offit about mRNA vaccine technology as well as a number of topics from his book, Overkill: When Modern Medicine Goes Too Far . They discuss the use of antipyretics to treat a fever, the overuse of antibiotics, vitamin D and C, as well as cancer screening.  Who is Paul Offit? Dr. P...

In this episode, Daniel Belkin and Mitch Belkin interview Nir Barzilai, MD , the founding director of the Institute for Aging Research and an expert in the genetics of longevity. Dr. Barzilai is a professor in the departments of Medicine and Genetics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He is the recipient of numerous awards and grants. He has published over 230 peer-reviewed papers, review...

*Since recording this podcast in January 2021, Steve Kirsch has publicly made misleading allegations regarding vaccine effectiveness and safety (e.g., Kirsch has claimed that mRNA vaccines are ineffective and are responsible for large numbers of deaths). While ExMedPod believes diverse viewpoints ought to be publicly discussed, we do not endorse Kirsch's beliefs regarding vaccine safety and e...