Tag Archives: community health

Brazil’s Zika Crisis

Audio February 11, 2016 Dave Etler

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 49:00 — 67.3MB)

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Zika has been in the news, if you haven’t noticed, as a neglected tropical disease which has been linked to a frightening surge in birth defects in Central and South America. The response to Zika is going to depend upon the science–which is very much up in the air–along with economic and cultural factors. Chief among those are huge income disparities, population complexities, and limits on access to family planning options. On today’s episode, Ellie Ginn, Marielle Meurice, Kevo Rivera, and Jessica Waters meet up with one of the researchers who is fighting this bug. Dr. Selma Jeronimo isn’t a household name in the US, but she is becoming one in her home country of Brazil. She is the director of the Institute of Tropical Medicine of Rio Grande do Norte, and a professor of biochemistry and medicine at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte in Natal. Her job is investigating Brazil’s endemic diseases. Continue reading Brazil’s Zika Crisis →

Short Coat Podcast

Dr. Paul Farmer and Liberation Medicine

Audio January 28, 2016 Dave Etler

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 52:50 — 72.6MB)

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"Any serious examination of epidemic disease has always shown that microbes also make a preferential option for the poor. But medicine and its practitioners, even in public health, do so all too rarely." -Paul Farmer, MD, PhD — “Any serious examination of epidemic disease has always shown that microbes also make a preferential option for the poor. But medicine and its practitioners, even in public health, do so all too rarely.” -Paul Farmer, MD, PhD. From left to right: Petra Hahn, Greg Yungtum, Paul Farmer, Katie Ryken, Josh Bleicher, and Jordan Harbaugh-Williams

Dr. Paul Farmer is sort of the rock god of global health. He’s an incredibly busy and influential guy, so when he flew in from Liberia to spend the entire day here with us at the Carver College of Medicine, it wasn’t easy to keep the stars from our eyes. Of course, he’s a physician, but he’s also a medical anthropologist, chief of Brigham and Women’s Division of Global Health Equity, professor of medicine at Harvard, and the UN Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Community Based Medicine and Lessons from Haiti. One of the things you notice about Dr. Farmer is that although he’s clearly a celebrity in his field, it doesn’t dampen his enthusiasm, idealism, and the pleasure he takes in meeting students who share his passion for understanding and changing how healthcare is delivered to the world’s neediest people.
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Short Coat Podcast

The Most Important 21 Seconds of Your Life

Audio January 1, 2015 Dave Etler

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 46:00 — 67.4MB)

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urinate photo — Or just make sure police are more than 21 seconds away. Photo by futureshape

Or just make sure police are more than 21 seconds away. Photo by futureshape

It’s the last show we’ll record this semester, and to mark it we’ll consider what went well for our hosts in their studies, what didn’t go so well, who helped them not go crazy, and what they’ll be doing differently in the coming year. Also, some very important news about how long it takes all animals to urinate. Continue reading The Most Important 21 Seconds of Your Life →