Explore The Space

“Each and every one of us, we have a story to tell. Using that narrative to change the hearts and minds of Americans, that’s what will move the needle forward. ” Joseph Sakran is a gun violence survivor and a Trauma surgeon at Johns Hopkins. He helped launched #ThisIsOurLane in November of 2018 and has since been a lightning-bolt advocate around stemming the gun violence epidemic. We talk about driving change, creating an inclusive movement, and changing the narrative around gun violence. An amazing discussion with a vital leader. Key Learnings A quick word about our new Instagram feed @explorethespaceshow and also about Rock The Ride 1. Learning to appreciate the power of his personal story as a driver of change 2. The rise of #ThisIsOurLane and how the issue of gun violence came to the forefront with physicians & healthcare workers 3. Overcoming the unofficial gag rule around physicians discussing gun violence and feeling inspired by this movement 4. Identifying a disparity between the gun lobby and gun owners along with recognizing the importance of word choice. 5. Helping people understand the many different ways they can engage with this issue 6. The introduction of @Dontlookaway to ensure the whole story is told by using images of gunshot wounds on ammunition boxes 7. How to maintain a sustainable tempo in activist work and serving as a “circuit-closer” to grow this movement Links Twitter @josephsakran

“There’s a lot more listening and amplifying that needs to happen that doesn’t involve a white man’s perspective” Caitlin Thompson is the creator and publisher of Racquet Magazine and host of Racquet Magazine podcast. She joins us to discuss the parallel path, tennis and healthcare are on around elevating creativity and new voices, resolving ongoing issues with gender bias, and her spectacular viewpoint on what makes a growth mindset. She is an incredible voice for change! Key Learnings 1. Caitlin’s evolution as an athlete, journalist, publisher, and advocate 2. Finding overlap around bringing people together under one umbrella and elevating something we love 3. The importance of staying on mission and the recognition that operant words are interchangeable 4. A few words about Roger Federer & players who engage with fans and society at a high level 5. The parallel roads professional tennis and healthcare are walking around gender bias, and tennis as microcosm of the challenges faced 6. The importance of Title IX and moving towards gender parity in her publications to find new storytellers and fresh storylines 7. Reflecting on how we are over-indexed for people who look a certain way instead of a proper representation of population 8. The need to get out of our own way and the build-in challenges women face 9.  Gender-based compensation disparities overlapping in tennis and in healthcare 10. Finding the toughness to press past being told “you can’t do this” and defining her growth mindset Links Twitter: @caitlin_thomps, @racqetmagazine Instagram: @_caitlin_thompson, @racquetmag, Racquet Magazine: www.racquetmag.com Racquet Magazine Podcast: https://racquetmag.com/podcast/

“I don’t think anyone expected the rates of melts that we found. It’s really alarming” Rob Larter is a marine geophysicist with the British Antarctic Survey who studies ice sheet history and climate change. He joins us to discuss his research as part of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration, being on the front lines of climate change science in the Antarctic and making the connection between his work and the potential impact on human health Key Learnings 1. What it’s like to be a scientist and explorer in Antartica on board a ship 2. Focusing on rapid and accelerating ice loss in West Antarctica, which is the biggest unknown in predicting sea level rise 3. The experience of watching a glacier shatter 4. The way research seasons in Antarctica work and the layering of research 5.  When he noticed a shift in rhetoric around climate change and the debate moving towards “what can we do about it” 6.  Connecting his research and the impact of sea level rise, climate change & human health 7. Wherein we take a deep dive into the Thwaites Glacier, the rate of ice loss that is occurring and have we passed the point of no return in the West Antarctic ice sheet. This is scary… 8. Waiting to get back to the glacier and what’s next in his work 9. Recommended depots of information on climate change and Antarctica and our shared struggles with paywalls and PubMed hell Links Rob’s British Antarctic Survey page: https://www.bas.ac.uk/profile/rdla/ British Antarctic Survey: www.bac.ac.uk International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration: www.thwaitesglacier.org Twitter: @rdlarter,  @BAS_News, @GlacierThwaites    

“I am in a unique position to be a voice where some people may not feel empowered to be that voice because of all that they have gone through” Jasmine Marcelin is a prototype modern physician, she wears many hats which are deeply mission-driven. She joins us to discuss the impact of diverse teams on patient care, where her focus comes from,  &dealing with bias as a woman of color & and as a foreign medical graduate. Key Learnings 1. Defining the skill set for the 21st Century physician as Pluripotent 2. How to avoid perception of “dabbling” when doing many different things 3. The importance of recognizing our patient’s diversity and how it positively impacts care 4.  How Jasmine’s practice and outlook were informed by her mother’s breast cancer diagnosis & subsequent treatment 5. Teaching the “hidden curriculum” in medicine and the value of “In Shock” by Rana Awdish 6. The importance of ensuring patients feel like they’re being taken seriously and avoiding labeling a patient as “difficult” 7. Becoming a doctor as a black women, and when she first began to experience racial bias and microaggressions 8. Wherein Jasmine speaks Pure Fire. Just pure fire 9. A painful & important discussion around bias and aggression aimed at foreign medical graduates 10. The value proposition of diversity in medical leadership, and the next phase of Jasmine’s career

“My favorite part of the job is finding something that City Hall is doing wrong that’s negatively affecting regular people who live here and hammering them over and over until they fix it.” Heather Knight is a columnist with the San Francisco Chronicle who covers The City from street-level. She shares stories from the hardest edges up to the halls of power and her columns are superb. We discuss pushing powerful people towards change, leveraging individual stories, responding to calls of “Fake News, and the fun side of #TotalSF Key Learnings 1. The power of having access to political leaders especially when writing about Social Determinants of Health and the problems facing a city. 2. Heather’s favorite part of the job and why she cares so much. 3. The impact of social media on the stories she writes, with an incredible column about car break-ins in San Francisco 4.  Writing about the unfair billing practices at San Francisco General Hospital and learning about the connection with the Board of Supervisors for the city. 5. Putting a spotlight on the issues of homelessness & drug dealing in San Francisco and wanting to see the city take proactive steps to address them. 6. The power of stories from the streets, including “Alice who lived at the Burger King doorway.” 7. Setting these social issues as something aspirational and as educational tools for future generations of physicians and healthcare professionals 8. Dealing with calls of “Fake News” and current challenges of being a journalism 9. What’s coming up on Heather’s agenda. (Here’s the incredible story since published after this interview) 10. Showing the wonder, the fun, and the dynamic side of San Francisco through #TotalSF Links San Francisco Chronicle: www.sfchronicle.com/subscribe Twitter: @hknightsf San Francisco City Insider Podcast: https://projects.sfchronicle.com/tools/podcasts/

“Be able to acknowledge the limits of knowledge, be authentic, and invitational to other perspectives on the edge of the unknown” Alexa Miller is an artist and creator of Arts Practica, which builds experiential learning opportunities that allow leaders, practitioners, and teachers in healthcare to be more effective and mindful in uncertainty. She joins us to discuss the incredible rise of her work, the impact it’s having, and the ways we can liberate our powers of observation.  Key Learnings 1. A reading and discussion on the importance of a curious spirit 2. Understanding the ripple effect of her work and seeing the lineage grow 3. The rapid growth of art, observation, and medicine and what makes our profession want to be so agile around this topic. 4. Data, impact, and response to using these tools 5. How a tour with Alexa begins and a discussion of the value of space 6. The ways in which art and the power of observation at the edge of uncertainty applies to other industries 7. Being a Fellow for the Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine 8. The wonder of dotMD 9. What we should do with liberated energy as a tool for getting better? Links Arts Practica: http://www.artspractica.com Twitter: @artspractica dotMD conference: http://www.dotmd.ie Looking with Uncertainty (Instagram): https://www.instagram.com/lookingwithuncertainty/

“We have a human right to have a child, to not have a child, and to parent a child in safe and healthy communities.” Dani McClain is a journalist and writer who has been covering the issues of reproductive justice and the black maternal health crisis. She joins us to discuss her experiences being pregnant, the impact of implicit bias in medicine, & the importance of cultural congruence through the prism of her incredible essays and her new book, “We Live For The We.” Key Learnings 1. Dani’s reporting background in reproductive rights and reproductive justice 2. Deciding to report on the black maternal health crisis 3. Step into the tension of Dani’s experience entering her doctor’s office 4. How shame can enter into the narrative and perceptions for women of color when they seek healthcare 5. Assessing the connection between maternal health & implicit bias 6. Hearing from young black women who feel “terrified” to have a child and how it informs her reporting and storytelling. 7. The importance of cultural congruence & the impact it has on driving trust and information sharing. Basically, the answers to the test are provided 8. Where Dani sees her role in the work going forward. 9. Good places we can all look for information for better decision, including her incredible book “We Live For The We” and the origins of that 10. Wherein Dani recognizes her role as a leader in the work of reproductive justice and demonstrates the right kind of comfort in promoting her superb writing 11. Acknowledging the increased fear and anxiety carried by black parents around keeping their children safe in America, and her incredible article in Time magazine on the subject. Links Dani McClain’s website: www.danimcclain.com Her new book: “We Live For The We: The Political Power Of Black Motherhood” Twitter: @drmcclain, Instagram: @dani_mcclain The Nation: https://www.thenation.com/article/what-its-like-to-be-black-and-pregnant-when-you-know-how-dangerous-that-can-be/ Time Magazine: http://time.com/5586869/black-children-joy/

Rebecca Kotch is the Director of Rock The Ride, which is a fundraiser for gun violence prevention efforts taking place this June. She stepped into being an activist around gun violence after the Yountville VA Home shooting and she joins us to discuss becoming an activist, levers anyone can pull to join in a fight that meaningful, and how people can support Rock The Ride. Key Learnings 1. The origin of Rebecca’s activism around gun violence 2. The importance of being resolute and saying “we’re doing this” 3. How gun violence has invaded all of our lives 4. Levers to help individuals break the inertia around become active in a cause that’s important to them 5. Learning about the myriad groups and individuals working on gun violence projects 6. How people who live locally and far away can all participate and engage with Rock The Ride and the 3 non-profits that benefit 7. The importance of including and learning from younger generations in activist work 8. Dealing with pushback, the impact of changing minds, and breaking out of an echo chamber 9. Opportunities to expand the reach of Rock The Ride and leaving every guest with 2 action items they can walk away with 10. The importance of activating physicians and healthcare workers, and the numbers that are turning out to support Rock The Ride Links Rock The Ride: www.rocktheridenapa.com Facebook @rocktheridenapa Instagram @rocktheride Twitter: @rocktheridegvp Moms Demand Action: https://momsdemandaction.org Giffords: https://giffords.org Team 26: http://www.team26.org The Yountville VA Home shooting: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/09/us/yountville-veterans-home-shooting.html  

“The key is always trying to get better, do better and be better and figure out how to bring people along on the journey.” Arghavan Salles is a surgeon and a PhD who has an incredible fan base on social media & was the most-requested guest when I posed the question several months ago. She joins us for an amazing discussion of her authenticity around gender discrimination, being a perfectionist, and the art of saying No. Key Learnings 1. Why does Arghavan think she was so heavily requested by #MedTwitter 2. Where her motivation to talk openly about her personal struggles come from 3. The most powerful tools for sharing stories & how she selects where to publish, including her superb article in USA Today on women’s anger & gender discrimination 4. The ripple effect of writing in Time Magazine about egg freezing and infertility and hearing from many other women who had been struggling in silence 5. The tension between pouring energy and years into an academic article which quickly fades, being in a mainstream article that persists for years, and what this means for academic journals 6. The current dynamic that occurs wherein physicians are forced to publish in academic journals that exist solely as a repository of this material 7. Where her awareness of gender discrimination came from during her training, learning about stereotype threat, and being advised not to research gender discrimination 8. Are the ranks of those who work to make things different growing? 9. Being a perfectionist and fearing failure as a physician, mentor and teaching 10. One aspect of teaching Arghavan does not enjoy and how her desire for perfection interferes with her ability to teach 11. The resonance of Arghavan’s approach of always wanting to get better, knowing that she won’t always succeed, and doing it anyway 12. Times where carrying heavy weight feels like it’s too much and how she cares for herself 13. The art of saying “No” 14. Wherein I share one of my Imposter Syndrome reflexes 15. Step into the tension for an oral surgical exam question with Dr. Arghavan Salles! Links USA Today article: https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/voices/2018/10/24/angry-women-voting-discrimination-column/1696287002/ Time Magazine article: http://time.com/5484506/fertility-egg-freezing/ Arghavan’s Behind The Knife podcast episode: https://behindtheknife.libsyn.com/159-mock-orals-9-upper-gi-and-bariatrics-with-dr-arghavan-salles

“All we are doing here is feeding the squeeze if we don’t turn this thing back” Eric Topol is one of the great bell-weathers in medicine, his new book “Deep Medicine” looks to the future and he joins us to discuss. You will not hear the trumpets of how great artificial intelligence and machine learning are, in this conversation we sound the alarm for both physicians and patients & discuss the tension of whether new tech is margin vs patient-centered. Key Learnings 1. Being a bell-weather 2. The value of feeding on one another’s interests, fears and hope to build common purpose and activism 3. Why “Deep Medicine” is a warning about a potentially destructive and dangerous future for medicine 4. Pushing back against discourse saying AI can and should shrink the physician workforce 5. The need for physicians to have a say in what and how gets shifted and changed by new technologies 6. Wherein we debate a rational first phase of deploying this new technology 7. The tension around margin-driven vs patient-driven technology and the need for physicians to be “relentless” 8. Wherein we get one another all fired up 9. Eric gives a nice summary of elements that are currently FDA approved and are moving forward 10. Why Deep Medicine is a powerful warning Links: Twitter: @erictopol