Tag Archives: public health

Brazil’s Zika Crisis

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Dr. Selma Jeronimo
Dr. Selma Jeronimo

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

Normalizing Human Behavior, Transvaginal Speakers, and Deflating Outsized Egos

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ego photo
Photo by Bexx Brown-Spinelli

John Pienta, Cole Cheney, Amy Young, and newbie Rob Humble join Dave to discuss the recent winter break, the Rose Bowl, and Stanford’s half-time band performance.  We discuss doctors who are non-compliant with their own recommendations for patients.  Is that something they should be condemned for, or is it human nature?  And when patients are non-compliant or engage in risky behavior, should docs acknowledge that as normal human behavior and avoid shaming them for it? Continue reading Normalizing Human Behavior, Transvaginal Speakers, and Deflating Outsized Egos

Recess Rehash:, America’s War on Polio

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In this episode from way back, Natalie Ramirez, Zhi Xiong, and Mgbechi Erondu got to hang out with a real Pulitzer winner (!) and a nice man, David Oshinsky, PhD. He is the author of Polio: An American Story. From the papers of Jonas Salk, Albert Sabin, and other key players, Dr. Oshinsky records the U.S. public health crisis of polio and the search for a cure in the early 1950s, a frightening time for all Americans. Continue reading Recess Rehash:, America’s War on Polio

Celebrity Look-Alikes

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lungfish photo
Oh, this? It’s my internal pet. Photo by The British Library
Corbin Weaver, Kaci McCleary, Lisa Wehr, Greg Woods, Ben Quarshie and Cole Cheney were all available for podcasting this week, so I match them with their celebrity look-alikes. Also, we announce an internship for Iowa pre-meds, something we’re very excited about. We talk about Brittany Maynard’s decision to move to Oregon so that she could be in a position to end her suffering from glioblastoma by taking advantage of Oregon’s Death with Dignity law. Continue reading Celebrity Look-Alikes

Research Day!

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medical research photo
Photo by kittenfc

On September 12, the Carver College of Medicine celebrated medical student’s efforts in reseasrch, and what better day than that for a ‘cast featuring student researchers? Cole Cheney hosts David Peters, Ezequiel Brown, Tyler Olson, and Emi Deumic to talk about their efforts in broadening medical knowledge and in learning about the world that researchers inhabit. It’s a fascinating place, and it makes Cole talk funny. Continue reading Research Day!

Freestyling in Bean!

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Lisa Wehr and Dave are free styling in Bean Learning Community! 

Our own Lisa Wehr, in a grain bin.

We talk about her recent class on the public health aspects of farming.  How a 3-year-old in a Batman suit and 43 seniors in an IHOP helped create a tool (launching soon) that promises to help seniors understand and talk to their doctors about the costs of care. We discuss social media health information, and how it’s the worst.  An ER doc asks herself whether docs need to get hit by cars to understand what their patients are trying to tell them.  A geneticist sequences his unborn child’s genome “because it’s cool.” How the British Cycling team’s efforts to win the Tour de France suggests that the ‘aggregation of marginal gains’ might be better and easier than big, sexy fixes, even in healthcare and studying medicine.  And Cleveland Clinic is forced to graduate a student who just…well, he didn’t meet their professionalism goals for their students.

Listen to Episode 035: Freestyling in Bean.

Listen to more great shows for medical students on The Vocalis Podcast Network.

The opinions expressed in this feed and podcast are not those of the University of Iowa or the Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine.

David Oshinksy, PhD, and Polio: An American Story

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Polio patients in iron lungs in 1952. Photo: Wikipedia

Today Natalie Ramirez, Zhi Xiong, Mgbechi Erondu and Dave Etler got to hang out with a real Pulitzer winner (!) and a nice man, David Oshinsky, PhD. He is the author of Polio: An American Story. From the papers of Jonas Salk, Albert Sabin, and other key players, Dr. Oshinsky records the U.S. public health crisis of polio and the search for a cure in the early 1950s, a frightening time for all Americans.
Dr. Oshinsky taught 20th century U.S. political and cultural history at Rutgers University before moving to the University of Texas at Austin. His other works include A Conspiracy So Immense: The World of Joe McCarthy and Worse Than Slavery: Parchman Farm and the Ordeal of Jim Crow Justice.

He has a lot to say about one of the greatest public health threats of the 20th Century, what it took to bring it down, and why the fight isn’t over.

Listen to Episode 018: David Oshinksy and Polio: An American Story

Special thanks to Michael Welsh, MD, and the members of the 2012 Distinguished Mentor Award committee for the opportunity!

The opinions expressed in this feed and podcast are not those of the University of Iowa or the Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine.