The Pursuit of Health Podcast

Investment in pediatric care is an investment in our future. So why is our system slow to change? Enter Alison Curfman, MD - co-founder of Imagine Pediatrics, a value-based pediatric medical group pioneering tech-enabled care for chronically ill children. Alison is passionate about improving outcomes, reducing costs, supporting parents, and enabling young people, through an innovative blend of ped...

The only barrier to success in the Pursuit of Health is ourselves. Joining to contribute to our ongoing healthcare conversation, is self-described “recovering managed care executive” Ron Howrigon. As President and CEO of Fulcrum Industries, Ron is in the business of helping physicians and hospitals with negotiations for managed care contracts - having chosen to leave a lucrative career in favor of...

A conversation with Dr. Christine Ko Metacognition, growth mindset, compassion. How does this all tie into healthcare? Enter Dr. Christine Ko, Professor of Dermatology and Pathology at Yale University, and author of How to Improve Doctor-Patient Connection: Using Psychology to Optimize Healthcare Interactions . Drawing from her experiences as a physician, mother, and patient, Dr. Ko has developed...

A conversation with Dr. Michael Smith Medication is sometimes required. But prevention starts with the patient. This is one of the core philosophies of this week’s guest Dr. Michael Smith. Naturopathic physician, and founder of Focused Family Integrative Medicine, he is dedicated to preventative medicine - advocating for sleep, exercise and nutrition as foundational pillars for health, not overmed...

A conversation with Dr. Jeffrey Charles Hardy The system is not the solution, the process is the solution. In our fragmented healthcare system, how can we start thinking globally? What impact do our actions hold for the planet and all its people? Dr. Jeffrey Charles Hardy is an author, thought leader, Founder and President of Care for Peace, a nonprofit focused on international health development...

A conversation with Justin and Ashley K. George Resilience is a muscle. The challenges don’t get easier, we just get stronger at handling them. A couple who know this from experience are Justin and Ashley K. George. When their son Elliot was diagnosed with a heart defect, it took everything for them to stay strong amidst the crisis, counting the support they received from family, medical professio...

A conversation with Dr Ellana Stinson Money affects everything in American healthcare. And too often, it gets in the way. Taking the bull by the horns is Dr. Ellana Stinson. Having felt the frustration of cost-cutting on the frontline, she chose to do an MBA in finance - seeking to better understand how mysterious financial bodies - particularly private equity firms, are creating huge problems for...

Welcome to our third installment of our Case Studies From The Heart series. In the episode, Dr. Fethke shines a light on the topic of immigrant healthcare, by sharing his own experience successfully treating a young child from Honduras with Turner’s syndrome. Immigrant healthcare can be a controversial and heavily politicized topic, with arguments from both sides about the best approach to take. J...

Is it time to revamp medical education? This week’s guest, Dr. Austin Chiang, certainly thinks so. Leading an already distinguished career, Dr. Chiang is a top gastroenterologist, Chief Medical Officer of the Endoscopy division of Medtronics, Founding President of the Association for Healthcare Social Media (AHSM), and the author of recently published Gut: An Owner's Guide . In addition, his...

70% of U.S. adults have accessed health information online in the past year. A revealing statistic, highlighting the increasing reliance on digital resources for healthcare guidance. As this week’s guest, Susannah Fox, illuminates, patient-led healthcare holds tremendous potential for transforming our health systems. With her extensive experience as a distinguished researcher and former Chief Tech...

This week's guest is in the business of maximizing outcomes. A self-described "reformed investment banker", Daniel Etra is the co-founder and CEO of Rethink, a data-driven company changing the face of neurodivergent care. He talks passionately about the vast social impact of their operations, teaching frontline clinicians, empowering caregivers, and helping neurodivergent individual...

64% of U.S. adults have had adverse childhood experiences. A stark statistic, and one that we are paying the cultural and economic cost of. As this week’s guest Julika von Stackelberg tells us, these experiences in our youth have a direct impact on our life expectancy and wellbeing in our lives. Through her work as a peaceful parenting advisor and educator with the Cornell Cooperative Extension, J...

We have a problem with prescriptions. A major problem. We take a step back from our recent policy-focused guests, to welcome licensed pharmacist, host of Men's Health Unscripted podcast, and founder of Your Tampa Healthcare Advocate, Patrick Alonso. Patrick is on the front line with patients, and was empowered to change the tide of problematic prescriptions through first-hand family experienc...

It’s time to get to grips with sepsis. The statistics are stark: sepsis is killing 250,000 people in our country every year - and yet we’re still only getting to grips with why it happens, how we can identify it, and how we ensure effective treatment. On a mission to better our understanding is Dr. Robert Scoggins, a leading figure in pulmonary and critical care medicine who serves as Chief Medica...

“In the United States we don’t ration medicine, we ration people.” We are honored this week to welcome an esteemed author, pediatrician, educator and co-founder of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, Dr. Don Berwick. Dr. Berwick has dedicated his career to reigniting our healthcare system, to ensure it can meet the needs of disadvantaged people, and limit the excess profits being hoarded as...

We need to transition our industry from being about sickness, to being about wellness. Imagine a system that rewarded providers for keeping patients well; that reimbursed practices for patients with better metrics. That’s the type of system dreamt of by this week’s guest, Dr. Andrea J. Boudreaux, Executive Director of Children’s School Services team in Washington, D.C. Having come face to face wit...

It’s time to talk about rural healthcare. Enter this week’s guest, Dr. David Schreiner, PhD, who is fresh off the press with his new book Be The Best Part of Their Day. As President and CEO of Katherine Shaw Bethea Hospital in Dixon, Illinois, David knows the intricacies of delivering healthcare in rural communities with compassion and efficacy. And it shows, with his hospital boasting some of the...

Use your voice. This is the key take-home message for physicians, medical students and residents, from Keshia Bradford. As Project Manager of Doctors for America, Keshia is on the frontline, witnessing the current state of our healthcare system in unflinching detail. In giving us a history of our healthcare and health insurance system in the U.S., Dr. Bradford reveals the urgent need to depolitici...

Knowledge is power. So how can we ensure our healthcare system is empowering patients? This episode is a brilliant chat with ‘e-Patient Dave’ deBronkart, a legendary advocate of participatory medicine who came into the spotlight during a battle with cancer in 2007. Dave is the living embodiment of participatory medicine, and reflects passionately on numerous inspiring examples of patient-led chang...

This week’s episode is a special retrospective: almost two years on, our guests Martha Lopez-Anderson, Melinda Murray-Nyack and Karen Acompora reconvene to reflect on the progress made over the past few years and the remaining obstacles to achieving their goal of eliminating Sudden Cardiac Arrest and Death in our Youth by 2030.Sitting down at the 19th Annual National Parent Heart Watch Heart-to-He...

Welcome back to The Pursuit of Health Podcast.  This week, we sit down with Stacy Cortechine, Rachel Moyer and Dr. Mitani from Japan to discuss the cultural differences between Japan and the US in approaching primary and secondary prevention of SCA/SCD in youth. As shared in our discussion, Stacy and Rachel both lost their sons to sudden cardiac arrest, and now dedicate their efforts to raising aw...

Welcome back to the Pursuit of Health Podcast. We return today with a pertinent discussion on a topic that affects each and every one of us in the United States: the issue of gun violence. Joining host Dr. Eric Fethke is fellow pediatrician and Founder/Director of Child Health Solutions Dr. Nina Agrawal, who is dedicating her voice to advocating for change. Dr. Agrawal is shocked that gun violence...

Pediatric cardiac surgery has an incredible history, and an incredible future ahead too. Joining to share his experiences training, educating and delivering results as a heart surgeon is Dr Sameh Said from Westchester Medical Center. Dr Said uncovers his journey from Egypt to the US, drawn by a fascination with the practice - a dedication to pursuing a career that saves lives. Revealing the still...

We need to create frameworks for culturally-competent care. Joining me today to share a discussion on the need to improve diversity awareness in our American healthcare system is Medical Student Simal Ali. Currently in her third year at Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine, Simal is passionate about educating - using her experiences as a Muslim doctor to deliver lectures and share the tenets of h...

Our host, Dr. Fethke, dedicates this episode to a remarkable college classmate and friend at a time when she needs everyone’s support. This person is none other than Maria Ressa, the recipient of the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize, recognized for her tireless efforts over the past three decades to champion Freedom of the Press in the face of overwhelming obstacles. In the words of the Nobel Committee, Mar...