Explore The Space

“Being courageous is taking that step confidently without any guarantee of a result” Valorie Kondos-Field is one of the greatest coaches in history at any level, ever. She won 7 NCAA championships, 15, PAC-12 championships & coached hundreds of extraordinary athletes over nearly 3 decades as Head Coach of the UCLA Women’s Gymnastics team.  She joins us & shares incredible wisdom around creating a high performing team, taking teammates to another level of performance, and sharing her breast cancer diagnosis as well as the best questions to ask children as they enter competitive sports. Key Learnings 1. When Mark first interviewed Coach Val 22 years ago 2. Building in a dynamic wherein new teammates can buy in quickly, find their voice, and take ownership 3. How to encourage a Growth Mindset as a leader without it sounding like a platitude. 4. Coach Val’s approach to remediation and the single most important step to changing behavior 5. Taking extraordinarily talented people to a higher level than they thought possible 6. Using her own leadership tools as a way to move through her breast cancer diagnosis in 2014 7. Sharing personal challenges with your team as a leader, and how Coach Val informed her team she had breast cancer 8. The power of courage and transparency in sharing her cancer diagnosis and treatment with her athletes. 9. The next phase of her career and sounding the call for how we challenge and support children around sports and competition. Links Coach Val’s website: www.officialmissval.com Coach Val’s Twitter: @OfficialMissVal

Megan Ranney is an Emergency physician & a national leader in the gun violence prevention movement. She joins us after working overnight in the ED to discuss this growing movement, the gag rule on gun violence discussion since 1996 & the Dickey amendment, and her wish list to keep building momentum. Megan is an extraordinary leader & this is a vital discussion Key Learnings 1. Why Megan is my kind of leader 2. Getting physically, mentally, and emotionally ready to deal with gun trauma 3. The effect a bullet has on the team taking care of the person who’s been shot. 4. An epiphany around how we haven’t been talking about prevention with respect to gun violence in medical education 5. Wherein Megan shares being told she was not allowed to talk about gun violence and we learn about an unofficial gag order after The Dickey Amendment 6. Important turning points in igniting firearm research like Sandy Hook 7. Creating hope around gun violence prevention and sharing the weight in this heavy work 8. Breaking the false dichotomy of being against gun violence meaning you’re anti-Constitution and learning from Congressman Mike Thompson that physicians must stand up 9. Levers we can pull to help bring other people aboard 10. The absurdity of gun violence prevention being a partisan issue 11. Speaking about Rock The Ride as an example of the growing movement 12. Megan’s wish list (this is awesome!) Links Affirm Research: www.affirmresearch.org, @researchaffirm Rock The Ride: www.rocktheridenapa.com House Resolution 8: https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/8

“Doctors are looking for a place to put bigger ideas” Bryan Vartabedian is a bon vivant physician on social media. He’s been active on Twitter for over a decade, he blogs, he podcasts. This is a wide ranging chat on hype cycles, technological determinism, & getting rid of stupid stuff. Fantastic stuff w/ tons of links below, enjoy! Also, Bryan will be onstage at the upcoming dotMD festival, widely reputed to be the most fun, interesting, and all-around wonderful medical conference on the planet. Key Learnings 1. The value of the unscripted podcast interview 2. On being an early physician adopter on Twitter, as Bryan started in 2008 3. Twitter use, overuse, and finding the sweet spot. 4. The explosion of social media and medicine and how we can engage with non-physicians who are seeking to learn more. 5. The fun & value of interacting with people who aren’t physicians on Twitter 6. An epic battle over getting our best stuff out there and dumb medical journal publishing guidelines 7. The hierarchy of where to publish content for best reach and best effect 8. Importance of tempo in publication in the 21st century: White Paper w/ Vinny Arora (@futuredocs) & Charlie Wray (@wraycharles) as example 9. We deep-dive on long Twitter threads w/ educations view (#MedThreads), including the masterful work by Tony Breu (@Tony_Breu on Twitter) 10. Social media hierarchies & capacity for influence 11. Why this is the most interesting time to be in medicine & being at the apex of a hype cycle (why this episode needed to be unscripted!) 12. EHRs, frustration, and “Getting Rid of Stupid Stuff” 13. Wherein Mark learns about “Technological Determinism” Links Bryan’s blog: https://33charts.com The Exam Room Podcast: http://touchpoint.health/shows/the-exam-room/ The Gartner Hype  Cycle: https://www.gartner.com/en/research/methodologies/gartner-hype-cycle Avi O’Glasser’s (@aoglasser) episode on Explore The Space discussing physicians and social media Vinny Arora & Charlie Wray on Explore The Space discussing social media & professional CVs

“On the path to achieving something extraordinary, you will do extraordinary things.” Rob Mitchell spent a career serving in the Navy SEALs & the CIA. He has since built a lengthy list of completed endurance events and ultramarathons. He joins me for a fascinating conversation around accessing toughness in different situations,  staying calm in a crisis & not comparing your toughness to your perception of anyone else’s. Key Learnings 1. Rob’s initial reactions to his being described as “tough” or having “toughness” 2. Different pathways that would call on someone to exhibit characteristics of toughness: internal & external 3. Walking an internal pathway where you can test yourself and your own toughness moving towards a goal & committing to an outcome. 4. How to tap necessary levers of toughness to walk towards a goal & fulfilling a commitment 5. What makes up the essence of focus 6. The other path requiring toughness where time is compressed & the need for toughness is thrust upon them by external factors. 7. Are the skills to move along the second pathway similar to those of the first? 8. The importance of staying calm and having faith in oneself as part of a crisis response 9. How a support team impacts the journey and the vital nature of infrastructure, clarity, & accountability 10. The euphoria that can accompany the journey and the importance of not comparing one person’s journey to your own. #toughness, #training, #accountability, #goals, #SEALs

Shawna Pandya is pluripotent. Whether it’s medicine, spacesuit testing, diving, or martial arts, she stays out on the sharp edge & has made a life out of pushing limits. Her stories and approaches to pushing past individual boundaries are that rare mix of accessible and inspiring. Another unique highlight: hearing her parakeets respond to her enthusiasm Key Learnings 1. Some quick-hitter questions 2. When did the spirit of adventure strike? 3. Living by the credo “this looks fun, let’s try it, and I’m still here so let’s do the next thing” 4. Mark’s skydiving story (thanks Dave) & Shawna’s skydiving story. Hers is crazier 5. How pushing one’s limits helps define one’s character 6. Pursuing boundaries so you can see what lives beyond them 7. Living according to Newton’s Laws of Motion 8. Shawna’s approach to fighting & this image 9. The importance of building fundamentals, setting goals, & focusing on values 10. The physiology of aerobatic flight and discussing this picture (and the parakeets went bonkers!) 11. A deep-dive into concepts of resilience and how physicians can take agency over the component that can help drive success & fulfillment 12. Is Shawna’s goal to be an astronaut? Links Shawna Pandya’s website: http://shawnapandya.com Twitter: @shawnapandya

I was fortunate to present a talk entitled “Hospitalists In A Disaster” at the 2019 Society of Hospital Medicine Annual Meeting on March 25th, 2019. This  is the audio version of that talk. The slides associated with it are in the Links section below. While the talk was directed towards Hospitalists, it is easily generalizable to any division or department within a hospital. Links Slides associated with the talk in PDF form: Hospitalists In A Disaster SHM final 2 “Hospital Leader Blog” post I wrote in advance of the talk: https://thehospitalleader.org/hospitalists-in-a-disaster/ “The Hospitalist” article published after the talk https://www.the-hospitalist.org/hospitalist/article/197476/mixed-topics #disaster, #wildfire, #hospitalist, #hospitalmedicine, #podcast, #publicspeaking

Bret Scher is a Cardiologist, author, and host of Diet Doctor podcast who has found a vital path in helping people understand the complex world of food through conversation and science. He joins us to discuss the importance of food discussion across all demographics, dealing with cravings and cheat days, and developing a sustainable individualized approach to eating that helps optimize health Key Learnings 1.  Tracking just how frequently people ask doctors about food and how confusing this area has become 2. Going up against the central dogma of the carbohydrate-based food pyramid from when we were kids 3. How Bret moved from feeling disillusioned to motivated as a practicing Cardiologist 4. Identifying the opportunity we now have to better connect patient and provider on a subject of tremendous interest and importance 5. The great breakthroughs that come with inquiring about the foods people like and why they like them 6. The correlation between nutrition and belief and the browbeating and arguments that follow 7. Splurging, cheat days, cravings, and how we can consider and handle them 8. The sustainability of modern nutritional approaches through the development of an individualized approach 9. Reflecting on a very powerful and vivid conversation Bret and I had nearly a decade ago around finding sustainable career paths Links Bret’s website: www.lowcarbcardiologist.com Bret’s Twitter: @bschermd #nutrition, #diet, #cravings, #podcast, #weightloss, #health

Amitha Kalaichandran is a physician and a journalist who wrote a provocative and impactful piece in The Boston Globe about bullying in medicine. She joins us to discuss the astounding response to the article, writing as a physician who crosses into the public sphere, and levers to pull to reduce bullying behaviors Key Learnings 1. Understanding that the article is going to be a big deal 2. The surprising revelations that came her way in the wake of the article & being preparing for those stories 3. A key way that medicine and journalism are similar 4. Pitching the story to the Boston Globe editorial team 5. Writing an article that crosses over into universal readership as opposed to one that goes either behind a paywall or into PubMed hell 6. The impact of low psychological safety in a hospital 7. Does the nature of a hospital setting enable behaviors that are otherwise not tolerated 8. How “hot spots” and malignant sectors of medicine are able to develop wherein bullying can occur 9. The levers to pull to improve a disruptive culture and change bullying behaviors and the power of showing there is a different way 10. Support local journalism! Links Amitha’s Boston Globe article on Bullying in Medicine Twitter: DrAmithaMD #bullying, #hospital, #medicine, #journalism,

Avital O’Glasser is a leading physician on Twitter who is helping to drive a rapidly evolving revolution in medical information exchange. She is also Associate Professor of Medicine & Associate Program Director for Scholarship & Social Media at Oregon Health Sciences University. She joins us to discuss how Twitter & social media can help harness the positive & overturn outdates norms in communication and education. Key Learnings 1. What is actually happening in medicine with social media, using conferences as a specific example 2. How #MedTwitter has “harnessed the positive” of social media 3. The power dynamic change where student and teacher on social media are completely reversed in the hospital & how old norms are being detonated 4. Wherein Mark admits he doesn’t know what “meta” means 5. Accessing conversations and personalities from all around the world just by using a hashtag 6. The standard way information in medicine is presented and the opportunity social media provides to upend this 7. Tracking metrics and measuring impact on social media vs journal articles vanishing into PubMed hell 8. The new reality of social media & medicine as reflected in new leadership posts and the incredible bandwidth a single tweet can get 9. Ways in which social media can drive change in medicine around gender equity & underrepresented minorities 10. Getting a sense of what is starting to happen here Links Avi’s Twitter feed: @aoglasser #Twitter, #socialmedia, #hospitalist, #medicine, #metrics

Alin Gragossian was in the middle of her 3rd year as an Emergency Medicine resident when she became critically ill & required a heart transplant.  She joins us 10 weeks after surgery to discuss her extraordinary journey. I laughed the hardest and cried the most I ever have during a podcast. She’s a wonderful storyteller & this story is like no other. Key Learnings 1. What it feels like to go into cardiogenic shock & think you’re about to die 2. Being in the prime of life, and then a cough starts… 3. In the ED, knowing something is very wrong and not wanting to accept it 4. The experience of having doctors she knew and worked with and how she wanted the communication to work 5. Living like an anaerobe 6. Being “lined up” 7. Learning there’s a heart for her and actually going to the OR for transplant 8.  High-fives to Linda 9. What it feels like to breathe and to walk again 10. How a near-death experience changed how she looks at life & showed how much a human being can overcome Links Alin’s Twitter feed: @ag_em33 Alin’s blog: www.achangeofhe.art.com #heart, #hearttransplant, #shock, #toughness, #podcast, #medicine