Raise the Line

“The nursing workforce is truly the backbone of the healthcare delivery system,” observes today's guest, Dr. Michelle Cummings, who has straddled clinical nursing and the nursing academic world for the past 20 years. “Many people don't realize that there are four times as many nurses as there are doctors, and by 2030, we will need more than 1.3 million new nurses to address the current shortage. We really need to find some solutions.” One key approach is to make education, training and upskilling more affordable and accessible for working nurses, something she pursues in her role at Academic Partnerships which supports the online offerings of not-for-profit universities. Tune in to this episode of Raise the Line with host Shiv Gaglani to discover what Dr. Cummings believes is the biggest current concern facing the healthcare industry, and hear her advice to nurses on managing their careers in this dynamic and challenging COVID environment. Plus, find out what Dr. Cummings means when she encourages a “Pac-Man approach” to career advancement. If you like this podcast, please share it on your social channels. You can also subscribe to the series and check out all of our episodes at www.osmosis.org/podcast

Early on in his psychiatry career, Dr. David Mou found to his surprise that most mental health professionals didn’t prioritize using data to measure outcomes. Today, he attributes much of the early success of Cerebral -- the new and fast-growing mental telehealth company he helps lead -- to its data-driven approach to supporting quality of care. “This is the first step towards precision psychiatry,” he tells host Shiv Gaglani. Mou notes that on the basis of relatively little user data, companies like Facebook and Netflix successfully predict users’ future behavior for commercial gain. “We should just use that principle for good instead of using it to market to people,” he says. For instance, analyzing behavior patterns to predict suicide. He argues that a data-oriented psychiatric model not only opens up new research possibilities and makes for happy doctors, but also enables the treatment of the most serious mental health disorders via telemedicine, which is not currently a common practice. Tune in to hear about Olympic gymnast Simone Biles’ new role at Cerebral, why even doctors often don’t get the psychiatric care they need, and why Dr. Mou is “bullish” on the clinical future of psychedelics. If you like this podcast, please share it on your social channels. You can also subscribe to the series and check out all of our episodes at www.osmosis.org/podcast

Dr. Isaac Eliaz begins his work from a place of contemplation. “Nothing is solid. Nothing stays the same,” he tells host Dr. Rishi Desai. He has focused in part on Galectin-3, which he calls the survivor protein, for its role shielding cells that decide “I’m not going to die”—cancerous cells. Yet, whether he’s operating at the level of one of the 50 trillion cells in a human body, or at the level of the human those cells constitute, Dr. Eliaz understands himself as basically treating an inability to accept change. He calls it the “survival paradox.” The idea has been central to a career devoted to the integration of the scientific and the holistic—a career in which Dr. Eliaz has incorporated Buddhist practice into his pioneering research, oncology, and more. Tune in to hear what makes the heart fundamentally different from other organs, why some doctors get worse over time, and why healing means more than simply getting rid of a disease. If you like this podcast, please share it on your social channels. You can also subscribe to the series and check out all of our episodes at www.osmosis.org/podcast

“It's astonishing how many health-related questions are asked on Google every day,” observes Dr. Geoffrey Rutledge. “What we set out to do at HealthTap was create a place where people could get trusted answers.” On this episode of Raise the Line, learn about Dr. Rutledge's longstanding interest in the potential of technology to assist in healthcare delivery. Hear how Dr. Rutledge and his team saw early on the opportunity to deliver healthcare through mobile and electronic devices, and followed through to create a pioneering firm in the virtual healthcare space. Tune in to discover HealthTap's unique question-and-answer interface that features physician crowdsourcing and a peer review process, and hear about their virtual primary care clinic, where patients can have a long-term relationship with a doctor of their choice. Plus, learn why Dr. Rutledge believes technology can enable the interactions that are fundamental to the doctor-patient relationship, and why he envisions a huge role for a consistent virtual care platform in the field. If you like this podcast, please share it on your social channels. You can also subscribe to the series and check out all of our episodes at www.osmosis.org/podcast

“It's interesting that it's called coaching,” says expert leadership coach Simmi Singh. “I think of it more as learning to be a better student of myself, and learning to be the mirror that others can use to learn about themselves.” Tune in to this episode of Raise the Line for a fascinating discussion with Singh and host Dr. Rishi Desai on how we can all become more effective leaders and humans, and raise more confident and secure children. Discover why Singh believes parenting should be about listening, and why she thinks curious people should pursue “nonlinear and disorderly” careers. Hear about the importance of banishing our inner naysayers, embracing experimentation and failure, and paying attention to our guts. Plus, find out why, in the socially-distanced era of COVID, Singh makes a point of taking her phone or laptop to the fridge during Zoom calls, and why she advises people to keep their kids and pets in, rather than out, of virtual meetings. If you like this podcast, please share it on your social channels. You can also subscribe to the series and check out all of our episodes at www.osmosis.org/podcast

If you like this podcast, please share it on your social channels. You can also subscribe to the series and check out all of our episodes at www.osmosis.org/podcast

According to a recent Kaiser Health News study, nearly 80% of Americans believe at least some of the COVID-19 misinformation that has flooded news and social media channels since the start of the pandemic.  For today’s Raise the Line guests, this troubling report confirmed the urgency with which their boss, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, has tackled this challenge.  Adam Beckman and Kyla Fullenwider, both senior-level advisors to Dr. Murthy, join host Shiv Gaglani to detail the “whole society” approach the Office of Surgeon General is taking which involves calling on major stakeholders in social media, education and journalism to do their part, but also providing help to local communities and individual Americans who Dr. Murthy sees as key players in this struggle. “The evidence tells us one of the best ways for addressing health misinformation is through individual, smaller-scale, intimate connections,” says Beckman.  To that end, the Office of Surgeon General created a Community Toolkit to provide detailed guidance on how to have difficult conversations with friends or family about misinformation including listening without judgement, steering people to credible sources whenever possible, and avoiding shaming.  Don’t miss this fascinating and vitally important conversation about what one of the most visible health figures in the nation is doing about one of the greatest challenges of our time. For More Information on the U.S. Surgeon General's Community Toolkit visit surgeongeneral.gov/healthmisinformation If you like this podcast, please share it on your social channels. You can also subscribe to the series and check out all of our episodes at www.osmosis.org/podcast

Two early experiences shaped Dr. Karen Rigamonti’s career in healthcare. First, she realized she had a gift for listening when assigned to a patient on a psych floor who wouldn’t communicate with anyone else, but eventually opened up to her. The other formative experience was the premature birth of her son, which took place after an obstetrician failed to listen to her concerns. “The experience of not being heard remains vivid with me,” she tells host Dr. Rishi Desai. In the time since, she has consulted with healthcare institutions around the world to help foster more welcoming and sustainable social dynamics, sometimes overcoming major cultural gaps in the process. On this episode of Raise the Line, learn how Dr. Rigamonti forged an impromptu new life in Saudi Arabia, what producing a healthy institutional culture means in practice, and how to actually get stubborn groups of people to change their ways (hint: we are all secretly teenagers at heart). If you like this podcast, please share it on your social channels. You can also subscribe to the series and check out all of our episodes at www.osmosis.org/podcast

As the exciting new relationship between Osmosis and global medical education leader Elsevier begins, Co-founder & CEO Shiv Gaglani and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Rishi Desai sat down with Jan Herzhoff, President of Health Markets, and Elizabeth Munn, Managing Director of Global Medical Education at Elsevier to discuss how the partnership will benefit students, healthcare providers, and their patients.When contemplating a potential partnership, Munn says Osmosis’ brilliance at boiling down complex topics was a key factor. “People – including us -- write whole chapters on a topic, but Osmosis can get it covered in five minutes. So, look, that's magic! That's actual magic. So, we just think it's the best thing since sliced bread to now have you within the team.”For Jan Herzhoff, bringing together the capabilities of innovative companies like Osmosis and the capabilities and assets from Elsevier to improve the lives of learners and healthcare professionals is an important focus for Elsevier. “Together with Osmosis and our other offerings, we’re here to support you through the educational journey, and through your professional journey. We're also looking forward to your ideas and your suggestions on how we can make your life easier and better.”Check out this lively conversation about navigating a turbulent time in medical education, confronting mistrust in science, and the power of innovation to enhance learning.  Plus find out how Elsevier can help Osmosis meet its “big, hairy, audacious goal” of educating one billion people by 2025.  Mentioned in this episode: https://www.elsevier.com If you like this podcast, please share it on your social channels. You can also subscribe to the series and check out all of our episodes at www.osmosis.org/podcast

For more than two decades, the Commonwealth Fund has produced a report comparing the performance of the U.S. health system to that of 10 other high-income countries. The U.S reliably comes in last, and the margin of difference is growing such that it might be more appropriate to compare it with a different peer group altogether, says Commonwealth Fund President Dr. David Blumenthal. “Very smart people, including a lot of policymakers, will still tell you with great conviction that we have the best healthcare system in the world,” he tells host Dr. Rishi Desai. “And what they really mean by that is that they have the best healthcare in the world.” Achieving greater public understanding of this reality, and other truths about our healthcare system, and spurring better policy is the ongoing task of the Commonwealth Fund. How do we wrap our minds around the multi-trillion-dollar domestic healthcare industry? What would it mean to leverage its resources more effectively and equitably? Tune in to benefit from a deeply informed perspective on how to achieve a better and more equitable system. If you like this podcast, please share it on your social channels. You can also subscribe to the series and check out all of our episodes at www.osmosis.org/podcast