

This Medical Life
Auscast Network
Welcome to the This Medical Life podcast. Our mission is to share stories about the triumphs and tragedies of diseases and illnesses from ancient times up until what we know today. It is about those scientific and medical minds who came before us and how, every single day, we stand on the shoulders of giants. This is a podcast about the stories of medicine.
Hosted by Dr. Travis Brown and Steve Davis, our target audience is General Practitioners, medical students, and other health professionals. We hope to educate, inspire and celebrate those who choose to care for others in their profession. From experience, we know that our audience extends beyond these fields and would like to welcome anyone to listen. The stories of those who came before us are nothing short of remarkable and we hope you enjoy them as much as we do.
Production by Tim Whiffen
Design by Tom Buzz
Hosted by Dr. Travis Brown and Steve Davis, our target audience is General Practitioners, medical students, and other health professionals. We hope to educate, inspire and celebrate those who choose to care for others in their profession. From experience, we know that our audience extends beyond these fields and would like to welcome anyone to listen. The stories of those who came before us are nothing short of remarkable and we hope you enjoy them as much as we do.
Production by Tim Whiffen
Design by Tom Buzz
Episodes
Mentioned books

Aug 6, 2020 • 38min
Ep 7 Prostate Pathology | A Seminal Problem
** Thanks for downloading this episode. If you'd like to stay in touch with our continuing story, Season 2 continues at This Medical Life, in which Dr Travis Brown continues his exploration of diseases and our approaches to treatment from history to the modern day. Have a look in your podcast app now for This Medical Life, and hit subscribe so you never miss an episode ** In 1920-1930’s, Dr Charles Huggins had an unusual problem: prostatic cancer cells appeared in his metabolic experiments that he was conducting on the Prostate of Dogs. With further experimentation, he was able to demonstrate that Prostate Cancer maintained its normal hormone regulation for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1966. Prostate cancer is one of the most common male malignancies but most men will die with it, rather than from it. The role of pathology is to determine how to detect this cancer and identify the clinical significance of the findings. Our interview is with Dr Bradley Webster, Histopathologist specialising in Uropathology and Lymphoid Pathology and this section of the podcast is eligible for 1 RACGP CPD point – self reporting. This podcast also includes guest interview snippets with Dr Troye Wallet, Aged Care and Workforce General Practitioner + Health and Business Advisor. www.linkedin.com/in/troyewallettSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jul 31, 2020 • 36min
Ep 6 Haemophilia Pathology | Inherited bleeding disorders | Blue Bleeding
** Thanks for downloading this episode. If you'd like to stay in touch with our continuing story, Season 2 continues at This Medical Life, in which Dr Travis Brown continues his exploration of diseases and our approaches to treatment from history to the modern day. Have a look in your podcast app now for This Medical Life, and hit subscribe so you never miss an episode ** Inherited bleeding disorders before the modern era were a death sentence. Haemophilia, also known as the Ro yal Disease (specifically Haemophilia B), is an X-linked coagulation disorder that the Heir to the Throne Alexei Romanov inherited in the early 1900’s. However, in 1926 a Finnish physician by the name of Erik von Willebrand identified a family with a bleeding disorder with an Autosomal Dominant pattern of inheritance. This was later named von Willebrand Disease (vWD) is now known to be the most common inherited form of bleeding disease worldwide. This podcast includes an interview with Dr Nicholas Myles regarding our current understanding of Haemophilia A, Haemophilia B, von Willebrand disease, and platelet disorders and this section of the podcast is eligible for 1 RACGP CPD point – self reporting.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jul 30, 2020 • 31min
Ep 5 Typhoid Pathology | A Pathological Addiction to Catering | The Story of typhoid mary
** Thanks for downloading this episode. If you'd like to stay in touch with our continuing story, Season 2 continues at This Medical Life, in which Dr Travis Brown continues his exploration of diseases and our approaches to treatment from history to the modern day. Have a look in your podcast app now for This Medical Life, and hit subscribe so you never miss an episode ** An outbreak of Typhoid occurred 1906 in a wealthy family in Oyster Bay, New York. Typically a disease of ‘deprived’ people, investigators concluded that the source must have been contaminated water or freshwater clams. However, in 1907, another wealthy family in Manhattan, New York also had an outbreak. One investigator, George Soper, identified the link: it was the Cook. Mary Mallon, a.k.a. Typhoid Mary, was found to have worked for 8 different families between 1900-1907; 7 of these families experienced cases of typhoid. Mary was sent into isolation for 2 years and confirmed as a healthy carrier of the bacteria Salmonella typhi but reoffended within 3 months of release. This is the story of the villain Typhoid Mary vs the tragedy of Mary Mallon. We thank Fidelma McCorry as the voice behind the reading of Mary's letter.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jul 27, 2020 • 31min
Ep 4 Smallpox Pathology | A Pox On Both Your Houses
** Thanks for downloading this episode. If you'd like to stay in touch with our continuing story, Season 2 continues at This Medical Life, in which Dr Travis Brown continues his exploration of diseases and our approaches to treatment from history to the modern day. Have a look in your podcast app now for This Medical Life, and hit subscribe so you never miss an episode ** Smallpox was a devastating disease described as the scourge of the world. The Variola virus was responsible for countless deaths from antiquity to the twentieth century and left most survivors with lifelong scars. Using Variolation, a primitive form of vaccination, our ancestors attempted to blunt the full force of Smallpox infections. However, it wasn’t until the twentieth century and using modern day vaccination techniques that we were able to achieve a monumental milestone and eradicate this disease. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jul 21, 2020 • 46min
Ep 3 Melanoma | The Black Tumour
** Thanks for downloading this episode. If you'd like to stay in touch with our continuing story, Season 2 continues at This Medical Life, in which Dr Travis Brown continues his exploration of diseases and our approaches to treatment from history to the modern day. Have a look in your podcast app now for This Medical Life, and hit subscribe so you never miss an episode ** In the 19th Century there was an increasing numbers of Black Tumours reported in medical literature - described as Melanose in 1806 when Rene Laennec published that the Blackness of these tumours was not related to black carbon deposits found in the lungs of patients upon autopsy. By mid 20th Century, a more evidence based approach was taken. Today, through molecular biology advances, we know genetic mutations are important in the genesis of tumours such as melanoma. This podcast includes an interview with Dr Craig James MBBS (Hons), FRCPA, AACD and this section of the podcast conducted by Dr Craig James is eligible for 1 RACGP CPD point – self reporting. Episode notes, references and learning objectives, available at https://www.clinpath.com.au/about-us/podcast-this-pathological-life/2020/07/episode-three-the-black-tumour This Pathological Life is produced by Clinpath Pathology in South Australia. Dr Craig James MBBS (Hons), FRCPA, AACD Specialties Cytopathology, Dermatopathology, and Histopathology Bio: https://www.clinpath.com.au/about-us/clinpath-leadership/our-pathologists/dr-craig-james/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jul 15, 2020 • 41min
Ep 2 COVID-19 and epidemiology | Anatomy of a Pandemic
Ep 2 COVID-19 and epidemiology | Anatomy of a Pandemic Through the prism of COVID-19 and epidemiology, we examine different epidemics and pandemics throughout history. In the last twenty years, there have been three outbreaks of Coronavirus (MERS, SARS, and COVID-19) but only COVID-19 reached pandemic status. The question must be asked as to why? This Pathological Life is produced by Clinpath Pathology in South Australia.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jul 6, 2020 • 30min
Ep 1 What is Pathology?
Pathology is by definition: the study of disease.Pathology is about understanding. This episode uses the story of Mary Papanicolaou and her husband George who discovered the pap smear. Dr Travis Brown says, “What I’m hoping is that this podcast explores the evolution of Pathology from historical perspectives to the current day understanding. This may be about a disease or an event or a person. So much can be learnt and there are some fascinating stories like the example of Mary Papanicolaou. Mary Papanicolaou’s contribution has led to hundreds of thousands of lives being saved and unfortunately, she is little more than a sentence or two in historical records.” This episode also covers: Diabetes (as a discussion example) How does someone become a pathologist? Pathologists: medical school / junior doctor / registrar How manwhat-is-pathologyy different kinds of pathologists are there? Episode notes, references and learning objectives, available at clinpath.com.au/about-us/podcast-series/2020/07/episode-one-this-pathological-life This Pathological Life is produced by Clinpath Pathology in South Australia.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.


