COVID-19 has not only uncovered significant health inequalities, but it has also shed light on how racism has impacted the health of minority populations even before the pandemic. In this episode of Better Edge Aderonke Pederson, MD, psychiatrist and instructor in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at Northwestern Medicine, discusses how COVID-19 and civil unrest have had a disproportional impact on Black Americans. She shares how mental health can be reformed to better serve patients in underserved communities and provides recommendations for physicians when treating Black patients.Related: Pederson and her colleague wrote an opinion piece for The Washington Post, addressing how Black women are facing a heavy burden because of COVID-19 and racism.

Minimally invasive robotic surgery has revolutionized gastrointestinal surgery by offering greater precision for complex procedures, resulting in improved patient outcomes. In this panel interview, Vitaliy Poylin MD, assistant professor of Surgery in the Division of Gastrointestinal Surgery, and Jonah Stulberg, MD, PhD, MPH, assistant professor of Surgery in the Division of Gastrointestinal Surgery, expand on the utility of robotic-assisted minimally invasive gastrointestinal surgery. They review the latest advances and outcomes and share how Northwestern Medicine is bringing robotic surgery for diseases affecting the GI tract to the forefront of care.

Anjali Pandit PhD, MPH and Kaitlin Fiore APN, FNP-BC discuss the bariatric surgery program at Northwestern Medicine. They share what the bariatric program offers, how it differs from other programs, and what they are doing to optimize patient outcomes from a behavioral medicine perspective.

In this episode of Better Edge, Anna Liggett, MD, discusses geriatric home care and how the practice has made a resurgence during the COVID-19 era.

Robert Nadler, MD shares his published findings in Urology describing marijuana's clinical role for urologic symptoms, the efficacy, and long-term impact of marijuana for urologic symptoms.

Ashley Ross, MD, PhD, discusses the role and efficacy of focal therapy in the management of prostate cancer. He talks about recent advances, patient selection and future directions for this emerging "middle ground" treatment modality.

Linda Suleiman, MD discusses racial and ethnic disparities in orthopaedic outcomes. She shares what patient characteristics or factors may contribute to poorer physical function, infection or other complications and what role orthopedic surgeons play in reducing those disparities.

Roneil Malkani, MD discusses Sleep and Neurodegenerative Diseases. She shares her recently published findings in the Neurobiology of Stress regarding the relationship between sleep and circadian rhythm disruption and neurodegenerative disease.

Now more than ever it is important to consider the mental health of our patients, but also of our colleagues and ourselves. In this episode of Better Edge, Angela Chaudhari, MD, associate professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology in the Division of Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery and director of P2P Network, a physician peer support network created to help physicians cope after experiencing adverse events. She discusses the importance of peer support and how the program has pivoted to support physicians during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Robert Brannigan, MD discusses emerging therapeutic strategies and technologies for male infertility. He shares recent advances in assisted reproductive technologies and techniques such as IVF and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), and he tells us what’s unique about what his team is doing at Northwestern Medicine.