Voices of Duke Health

Father and son physicians, Michael and Kenyon Railey, share their personal stories and the importance of DEI for patients and providers. Their interview was led by Dr. Beverly Gray.

Joe Naasz shares his journey with chronic pain, including his insights, advice for others, and how he's found a new version of himself.

Brian and EmmaLee Monteiro were thrilled to learn they were expecting a baby. However, at 18 weeks, a severe asthma attack put EmmaLee in the ICU. In this episode, the Monteiros chronicle their harrowing experience and the life-saving treatments that EmmaLee and baby Greyson (now a year old) received.

Every Wednesday afternoon, the Chapel at Duke Raleigh Hospital becomes a place for staff to relax and recharge. Hear about this inspiring program lead by our interviewee, Adrian Dixon, Director of Chaplain Services and Education.

Cheryl Morgan Maxey shared with us how her work at Duke Health suddenly collided with her personal life, and the lessons she learned along the way.

Join Steve Hodges, a member of Duke's Patient Family Advisory Council, as he shares his experience of a routine rheumatology appointment that led to the care of his whole being.  

Shawn Burrow , a nurse practitioner from Virginia, stopped by the Voices of Duke Health mobile recording cart to explain the relief she felt when she brought her son, Rowan, to Duke Health. Originally released: August 20, 2018

Dr. Jack Hughes celebrated his 100th birthday in November 2019, so he he had a lot to share with our oral historian, Joseph O'Connell. Here Dr. Hughes talks about what inspired him to a long career in urology in Durham, North Carolina, and about his tour of duty as a Navy medic during World War II. Read more about Dr. Hughes at forestduke.org/d-day-memories-from-a-survivor/

Robert Califf, MD , spent the majority of his career as a physician, administrator, leader, and innovator at Duke University. Most recently, he was vice chancellor for health data science; the Donald F. Fortin, M.D. Professor of Cardiology; and the director of Duke Forge , an initiative using data science to improve health outcomes. Dr. Califf also served as commissioner of the Food and Drug Admin...

Thanks to everyone who helped make the pilot season of Voices of Duke Health a satisfying success. We hope you enjoyed listening to the podcast as much we enjoyed working with all the participants of the listening booth. We’re making plans for season two, with an expansion of the listening booth and more conversations from colleagues and visitors across Duke. Stay tuned. In the meantime, we though...

David Zaas was diagnosed with leukemia on Valentine’s Day of 2017. In the weeks that followed, he faced many challenges—breaking the news to his sons, undergoing chemotherapy, and learning how to be a patient. At his side for every bit of this was Aimee Zaas, his wife and like him, a Duke doctor. David Zaas, MD, MBA  is president of Duke Raleigh Hospital and associate professor of medicine in...

Tell Me Something Good—that’s the name of a weekly email Emily Depetris sends to her coworkers in the pediatric cardiac ICU. In the PCICU, they take care of really sick kids. So Emily wanted to give the PCICU staff a weekly reminder of the good things that come from their work—in the form of pictures of their patients playing in the park, dressing up for Halloween, and graduating from high school....

What’s happening when the overhead speakers in the hospitals, hallways, and clinics of Duke University Medical Center alert everyone to a Code Blue? A designated team of doctors, nurses, and Duke Life Flight medics is converging on a person in need of emergency care. One day in October 2018, the person in need was Betsy Hames , chief human resources officer for the School of Medicine. She was in h...

Ahmad Adi, MD , was born to Syrian parents and went to medical school in Saudi Arabia. Heather Kim, MD , was born in Korea and grew up in Canada. Now, they’re both fourth-year psychiatry residents at Duke. In this episode, they share what brought them to Durham, what psychiatry has taught them, and what it’s like to be immigrant physicians. Originally released: March 1, 2019

For Krunal, it was a car accident. For Jess, an unrelenting, life-threatening illness. The students who come to medical school come with different reasons for pursuing a career in medicine. In this episode, we hear from six Duke med students — each in their first year — as they share their motivation, their hopes, and their fears. Krunal Amin , Sonali Biswas , Grant Cabell , Fred Heller , Elana Ho...

Anthony Galanos, MD  wants people to know what happened to his son, Nicholas. And he especially wants his colleagues across Duke Health to understand his grief about Nick’s untimely death. “There probably are no good words,” he says in this episode of Voices of Duke Health. “So maybe we just have to acknowledge there’s no good words. I mean the theme is, everything helps, nothing works. You’r...

Allison Chrestensen worked as an occupational therapist, and absolutely loved her job. “I did some work in hospitals and in people’s homes and just really got to experience what it was like for people and families to overcome illness,” she said. Seeing patients redefine their lives wass rewarding, and she saw that delivering the best patient care means having empathy for patients and their experie...

A few months after her 40th birthday, Jane Shealy woke up and realized she’d forgotten to get married and have children. One thing led to another, and a few years later, Jane found herself in China with baby Maggie in her arms. Today Jane is an editor for the Duke School of Nursing . She came to the Voices of Duke Health listening booth to talk about her decision to adopt. Listen below a...

Kara Lyven and Marianne Drexler wake up every day and go to work at Duke University Medical Center — the very place that saved both their lives. Lyven is senior associate for patient safety at Duke University Hospital. Drexler is program coordinator for the Longitudinal Clinical Skills Foundation course in the Duke School of Medicine. In this episode, they share their patient stories, an...

Sophia Smith, PhD, MSW, is a two-time cancer survivor, so she’s well acquainted with the anxiety that persists after treatment ends. Through her research, she’s learned that many cancer survivors also struggle with post traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD). This led her to create an app called the Cancer Distress Coach. In this episode of Voices of Duke Health, Dr. Smith is joined by Bridget Koontz, M...

You’re probably using a stress ball wrong. But don’t worry— Mehul Mankad, MD is here to enlighten us on the proper technique for those ubiquitous foam balls. And while he was in the Listening Booth, Dr. Mankad shared what inspired him to a career in psychiatry, what’s challenging about his job, and what makes it all worth it. Mankad is assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at D...

In September, Beatriz Blanco Morris, MD , and her son, Will Morris , sat down in the Voices of Duke Health listening booth to talk about the ups and downs of losing a family member—and how colleagues at Duke stepped in to help them through the tough times. Dr. Morris is assistant professor of pediatrics. Learn more about her work, and watch a video, on DukeHealth.org . Originally released: Decembe...

In this episode of the Voices of Duke Health podcast, we hear from a School of Medicine faculty member and two medical students who work with him to understand how health care workers find strength through sharing their vulnerability. Will Bynum, MD, is assistant professor in community and family medicine. He serves as associate program director of the Duke Family Medicine Residency, and researche...

For the second episode of the Voices of Duke Health podcast, we hear about the Duke Navigators Program. Duke Navigators was created by medical students Chloe Peters , Cosette Dechant , Leonid Aksenov , Emily Lydon , and Neha Kayastha . They wanted to help their fellow medical students – as well as students in Duke’s nursing and physical therapy programs – to talk with patients about end-of-life ca...

The Voices team — Karishma, Anton, Jon, and Susannah — sat down in the listening booth to introduce ourselves and have a conversation about what we hope Voices of Duke Health can be for our colleagues across Duke University and Health System. Originally released: August 31, 2018