The Curbsiders Internal Medicine Podcast

Stay current with the emerging COVID-19 research including: ACTT-1 (remdesivir), triple therapy with interferon, and conundrums  about SARS-CoV-2 PCR and serologic testing. We’re led by the one and only Curbsider/internist/epidemiologist, Rahul Ganatra MD MPH (@rbganatr). And...just in case you live outside of the habitat for murder hornets and your anxiety about the pandemic had begun to abate, we touch on the CDCs guidance to beware of hungry aggressive rats. Gross!   Show Notes | Spotify | Swag! | Top Picks | Mailing List | thecurbsiders@gmail.com | CME!     Credits Written and Produced by: Rahul Ganatra MD, MPH, Deborah J. Gorth ScM, Emi Okamoto MD, Sarah P. Roberts MPH, and Matthew Watto MD Cover Art: Deborah J. Gorth ScM Hosts: Matthew Watto MD, Rahul Ganatra MD MPH, Emi Okamoto MD, and Sarah P. Roberts MPH Editor: Matthew Watto MD (written materials); Clair Morgan of nodderly.com   Sponsors: ACP and VCU Health CE   Time Stamps 00:00 Sponsors 00:30 Intro, disclaimer 02:40 Fomites, groceries and killer rats 08:22 Sponsor 09:22 ACTT-1 trial of remdesivir 18:22 Triple therapy with lopinavir/ritonavir, ribavarin and interferon 33:10 Background on PCR testing for SARS-CoV-2; How common are false negative PCR tests? 44:25 Serologic testing for SARS-CoV-2; Utility of antibody testing; Test characteristics 50:30 Outro

Learn the nuances of caring for and building relationships with patients experiencing homelessness from expert internal medicine and addiction physician Stefan Kertesz, return guest from Episode 74 on Opioids and Health Policy (highly recommend a re-listen, y’all!).  Topics: the challenge of creating a welcoming and useful space for individuals experiencing homelessness, how to meet patients where they’re at--both physically and mentally--the challenge of managing diuretics for those without stable access to a bathroom (avoid, if possible), and how absolutely essential the foot exam is. Show Notes | Spotify | Swag! | Top Picks | Mailing List | thecurbsiders@gmail.com | Free CME! Credits Written and Produced by Nora Taranto MD Infographics by Nora Taranto MD Cover Art by Kate Grant MBChB, MRCGP Hosts: Matthew Watto MD, FACP; Paul Williams MD, FACP, Nora Taranto MD Editor: Carolyn Chan (written materials); Clair Morgan of nodderly.com Guest: Stefan Kertesz MD Sponsor: VCU Health CE Time Stamps 00:00 Intro, disclaimer, guest bio 3:17 Guest one-liner 8:55 Picks of the Week*: Dr. Kertesz’s Book Recommendation: Saul Weiner’s On Becoming A Healer; Nora’s Pick of the week: BackStory (especially their episode on dynamite!) https://www.backstoryradio.org/ 10:07 Case from Kashlak 10:56 Language: How to ask where a patient lives? 13:25 Terminology: Persons Experiencing Homelessness: 14:35 The stats on prevalence of health and illness in the homeless population, and the importance of both medical and environmental factors 20:44 How to start the visit, and how to establish trust early on? 27:40 Why is the mortality rate higher? 35:15 Special conditions and Medication Considerations: Hypertension, Diuretics, Insulin and Food Insecurity, Substance Use Disorders, Feet, and Hepatitis C 54:15 COVID and homeless healthcare 57:00 Care Models 62:30 Take Home Points and Outro

Chase that metronidazole with a beer! Pop some 30 year old pills! Retrain your brain as our esteemed guest Dr. Douglas Paauw goes over his popular annual ACP presentation on Medical Myths. Learn about how some common medical myths originate and continue in our practice. We discuss why it’s okay to drink on metronidazole, take expired medications, inject epinephrine into extremities and why recurrent sinusitis may not really exist. Show Notes | Spotify | Swag! | Top Picks | Mailing List | thecurbsiders@gmail.com | CME! Credits Written and Produced by: Justin Berk, MD MPH MBA Infographic and Cover Art: Beth Garbitelli Hosts: Justin Berk, MD, MPH, MBA; Matthew Watto MD, FACP; Paul Williams MD, FACP Editor: Emi Okamoto MD (written materials); Clair Morgan of nodderly.com Guest: Douglas Paauw, MD Sponsor: VCU Health CE Time Stamps 00:00 Intro, disclaimer, guest bio 02:22 Guest one-liner; Career Advice, Picks of the Week*: Being Mortal, book by Atul Gawande; The Band Played On, book by Randy Shilts; Lagunitas Hoppy Refresher: zero alcohol, zero calories! 06:15 Medical Myth Definitions 10:20 Dogma: Metronidazole and Alcohol; Healthy RCT Metronidazole and Alcohol 19:09 Expired Medications; Military Stockpiling Study 24:22 Aspirin and Nitroglycerin; Unopened eye drops; Epi-Pens; Expired Med Recap 31:13 Sinus Headaches; Trigeminal Nerve; Pearl: Recurrent headaches; Study showing Effectiveness of treatment (92%) 41:07 Epinephrine in extremity; RCT of Epi in Extremities Study showing Experts use it; Podiatry journal 48:39 Take home points and Outro

Elevate your critical appraisal skills as we review the first RCT of remdesivir and share the latest and greatest COVID-19 stories including: Llama antibodies, Stroke statistics, Future Waves, Exit Strategies and Awake Proning. We’re joined by everyone’s favorite Curbsider/internist/epidemiologist, Rahul Ganatra MD MPH (@rbganatra). Rahul provides critical appraisal of the newest randomized control trial (RCT) on remdesivir from the Lancet, and gives us a lesson on why statistical power is so important to consider. We also share updates on strokes, awake proning, pandemic predictions, and we reveal another reason to love llamas (besides those luscious lashes). Llama mia, here we go again! Show Notes | Spotify | Swag! | Top Picks | Mailing List | thecurbsiders@gmail.com | CME! Credits Written and Produced by: Sarah P. Roberts MPH, Rahul Ganatra MD, MPH, Emi Okamoto MD, Paul Williams MD and Matthew Watto MD Cover Art: Beth Garbitelli Hosts: Matthew Watto MD, Paul Williams MD, Rahul Ganatra MD MPH, Emi Okamoto MD , Sarah P. Roberts MPH, Editor: Matthew Watto MD (written materials); Clair Morgan of nodderly.com Sponsor: VCU Health CE Time Stamps 00:00 Intro 02:10 Fun animal facts: Llama antibodies 09:10 Remdesivir RCT by Wang et al 12:40 Power and Sample Size 16:32 Baseline Characteristics, Results and Author’s conclusions 19:15 Rahul’s conclusions: How chance and bias affected the results 24:00 Right censoring; Viral load and timing of antivirals 30:30 Final thoughts on Remdesivir RCT by Wang et al; Looking ahead to the NIAID (ACTT) trial 33:53 Are patients really having fewer strokes and heart attacks? 38:20 Awake proning 43:30 Paul teaches us not to use the term “happy hypoxemic” 45:00 CIDRAP viewpoint on future waves and exit strategies 50:22 Outro

Listen as our esteemed guest Dr. Nina Mingioni (Jefferson) walks us through her approach to fatigue, from differential diagnosis, to the evidence behind physical exam, laboratory workup, and beyond! Show Notes | Spotify | Swag! | Top Picks | Mailing List | thecurbsiders@gmail.com | Free CME! Credits Writer, Producer, Infographic, and Cover Art: Hannah R. Abrams Hosts: Hannah R Abrams, Matthew Watto MD, FACP; Paul Williams MD, FACP Editor: Matthew Watto MD, FACP (written materials); Clair Morgan of nodderly.com Guest: Nina Mingioni MD, FACP Sponsor: VCU Health CE Time Stamps 00:00 Intro, disclaimer, guest bio and a bad pun 03:00 Guest one-liner 07:10 Case from Kashlak, Defining fatigue; Taking a general history 11:36 Most common causes of fatigue and how to elicit them from the history 20:39 Physical exam for fatigue; Medications that cause fatigue; 25:25 Exam findings and LRs for anemia; Sleep apnea 30:55 Lab workup for fatigue; Expanded testing: Ferritin, Vitamins, EBV, Rheumatologic diseases, Celiac disease, Lyme 47:55 Spiel to the patient when no answer is found 51:14 Other diagnoses to consider: Fibromyalgia, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis 55:09 Take home points and Outro

Crush those 11 pm “STAT: Patient agitated” pages with this expert guide to assessing for and treating alcohol withdrawal!  Dr. Joji Suzuki MD, addiction psychiatrist extraordinaire at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, walks us through how to think about the risk of severe withdrawal, the different ways to manage it, and how to engage with patients as they’re leaving the hospital. In the course of this Car-Talk (well, not exactly the same as the critically acclaimed radio show, but he did record in his car….), Dr. Suzuki demystifies withdrawal and debunks some common myths: that we must manage withdrawal inpatient, that banana bags are the cure to a hangover and alcoholic malnutrition, and that we tend to under-medicate with benzos (actually, it’s the opposite!). Show Notes | Spotify | Swag! | Top Picks | Mailing List | thecurbsiders@gmail.com | CME Credits Written and Produced by Nora Taranto MD Infographic and Cover Art by: Nora Taranto MD Hosts: Matthew Watto MD, FACP; Paul Williams MD, FACP Editor: Cyrus Askin MD, Matthew Watto MD (written materials); Clair Morgan of nodderly.com Guest: Joji Suzuki MD Sponsor: VCU Health CE Time Stamps 00:00 Intro, disclaimer, guest bio 02:52 Guest one-liner; Career advice; Picks of the Week*: Why We Do What We Do (book); Fargo (film) 08:10 A Case from Kashlak and Screening for Alcohol Use and Severe Withdrawal Risk 17:32 Outpatient Versus Inpatient Treatment 25:27 Gabapentin for alcohol withdrawal 27:10 Indicators for ICU level Care 31:53 Symptom-Driven versus Fixed-Dose Protocols , Benzos vs. Barbs 36:55 And which benzo? 39:47 A Natural History of Withdrawal 44:10 Banana Bags and Thiamine Deficiency 48:17 The Transition Home: Naltrexone, Bridge Clinics, and Motivational Interviewing 56:36 Outro and Bonus clip

In this episode we tackle treatment with remdesivir, management with anticoagulation, and presymptomatic transmission. Welcome back to COVID Cakes, a rundown of recent COVID articles and news stories. What does the latest Gilead medication have to offer? Why should we wear masks? And if you thought 6 feet was THE safe distance…we’ve got some bad news about running. But it’s not all bad! We’re joined by everyone’s favorite Curbsider/Internist/Epidemiologist, Rahul Ganatra MD MPH (@rbganatra), who provides critical appraisal of the newest COVID-19 treatment article. Pull up a chair, bring your own syrup, and join us! Show Notes | Spotify | Swag! | Top Picks | Mailing List | thecurbsiders@gmail.com | CME! Credits Producer: Sarah P. Roberts MPH, Rahul Ganatra MD MPH, Emi Okamoto MD Writer: Emi Okamoto MD, Rahul Ganatra MD MPH, Cover Art: Chris Chiu MD Hosts: Chris Chiu MD, Rahul Ganatra MD MPH, Emi Okamoto MD Editor: Matthew Watto MD (written materials); Clair Morgan of nodderly.com Sponsors: Apollohct.com and VCU Health CE Time Stamps 00:30 Intro, disclaimer 02:30 Picks of the Week 6:36 Remdesivir trial rundown 21:52 Thrombosis in COVID-19 29:50 Asymptomatic/Presymptomatic transmission 41:42 Quick takes 49:00 Outro

It’s NephMadness! Get inside the black box of transplant medicine as we discuss: Kidney transplant for the internist. Join Dr. Cyrus Askin, @askins_razor, one of our Curbsiders Correspondents, as he teams up with the fine folks from the Freely Filtered Podcast led by Dr. Samira Farouq, @ssfarouk, a Mount Sinai transplant nephrologist. Topics: indications for kidney transplant, immunosuppressive agents, what to watch out for in your post-transplant patients and so much more! Show Notes | Subscribe | Spotify | Swag! | Top Picks | Mailing List | thecurbsiders@gmail.com | CME Credits Written and Produced by: Cyrus Askin MD, Matthew Watto MD and the Freely Filtered Crew Infographic: Cyrus Askin MD Cover Art: Kate Grant MBChB DipGUMed Hosts: Cyrus Askin MD, Joel Topf MD, Samira Farouk MD, Swapnil Hiremath MD, Jennie Lin MD & Matt Sparks MD Editor: Matthew Watto MD (written materials); Clair Morgan of nodderly.com Sponsor: VCU Health CE Time Stamps 00:00 Announcement, Intro to Freely Filtered and NephMadness 04:00 Case of advanced CKD; Who/when to refer for transplant 12:05 Benefits of renal transplant 16:22 Counseling patients with advanced CKD about transplant and a bit on living donors 20:40 Medications after transplant; Drug-drug interactions 25:50 Dr. Sparks’ 30 second exam for the transplant patient; Diarrheal illness 32:07 Calcineurin inhibitor levels 36:42 Prophylaxis for long term complications 40:21 Allograft rejection; BAMF criteria 50:40 Cardiovascular risk; Statins 56:11 Malignancy after kidney transplant 60:00 NephMadness Transplant Region: Biomarkers vs Biopsy 72:23 Outro

LIVE! from VCU, we discuss why and how to use Twitter and other Social Media platforms as a clinician educator. Guest Michelle Brooks MD (@michellebrooksMD, VCU) shares her Twitter origin story along with pearls on how to use Twitter for digital scholarship #meded, networking and how to stay out of trouble on social media.  Show Notes | Spotify | Swag! | Top Picks | Mailing List | thecurbsiders@gmail.com | Free CME! Credits Written and Produced by: Matthew Watto MD, FACP Infographic: Michelle Brooks MD Cover Art: Matthew Watto MD, FACP Hosts: Stuart Brigham MD; Matthew Watto MD, FACP; Paul Williams MD, FACP Editor: Clair Morgan of nodderly.com Guest: Michelle Brooks MD Sponsor: VCU Health CE Time Stamps 00:00 Guest one liner, favorite failure, career advice, 08:08 Picks of the week*: Culture Code (book) by Daniel Coyle; Crucial Conversations (book); Teaching Naked (book); Dark Crystal (Netflix series); The Outsider (HBO series) 11:23 Case of Sosh Al Media; Landscape of social media; Control your digital footprint; Public vs Private profiles 23:04 Negative aspects of social media 26:44 How to utilize Twitter for medical education; Twitter basics; Milton Packer 37:14 Pros and Cons of #medtwitter 42:02 Tweetorials 44:28 Audience questions: Repercussions from posting on social media; Social Media fellowships; Advocacy on social media 51:34 Outro

Fall in love with the thyroid all over again, as we deconstruct hypothyroidism with thyroid expert, Susan Mandel MD, MPH (PENN). We review common causes, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment and how these may differ for those who are Pregnant, over age 65, or have existing Heart disease. Plus, Dr Mandel schools us on her approach to treatment with levothyroxine (T4), and even explains when she trials liothyronine (T3) replacement! Warm up those thumbs for the thyroid exam...it’s on! Show Notes | Subscribe | Spotify | Swag! | Top Picks | Mailing List | thecurbsiders@gmail.com | Free CME! Credits Written and Produced by: Elena Gibson MD Cover art and Infographic by: Dr Kate Grant MBChb MRCGP Hosts: Stuart Brigham MD; Matthew Watto MD, FACP; Paul Williams MD, FACP Editor: Emi Okamoto (written materials); Clair Morgan of nodderly.com Guest: Susan Mandel MD, MPH Sponsor: VCU Health CE Time Stamps 00:00 Intro, disclaimer, guest bio 02:43 Guest one-liner; Pick of the week: Waiting for Godot (Play); Favorite Failure; Career Advice 09:40 Case from Kashlak Part one; Hypothyroidism signs and symptoms 13:20 When to Test for Hypothyroidism 17:43 Biotin interaction 19:49 Which thyroid tests should we order? 26:15 Subclinical hypothyroidism 29:00 Etiology/Types of hypothyroidism 33:30 Case from Kashlak Part two; Initial Medication dosing; Physical Exam 37:10 Levothyroxine replacement time of administration 42:10 TSH goal 46:00 Levothyroxine manufacturers 48:33 Dosing in older adults 50:27 T3 treatment 56:52 Pregnancy 59:42 Dose adjustments 61:43 Estrogen and thyroid binding protein 63:33 Who needs a referral? 65:40 Plugs, Outro