Clinician's Roundtable

Medical schools are increasingly adapting improv tools to enhance patient interviewing, simulate difficult conversations and facilitate learning in medical teams.

Research has shown that such training can enhance physician-patient communication and improve diagnostic accuracy, patients’ adherence to treatment, and overall patient satisfaction.

Host Dr. Michael Greenberg chats with Lillian Frances, owner of Laugh Out Loud Theater in Chicago, about how improv comedy training and the phrase “yes and” can improve your skills as a health care provider.

For the first time, the FDA has approved a direct-to-consumer genetic test from 23andme that will inform patients if they are predisposed to diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer's, and Celiac Disease among others.

Proponents applaud this decision, saying this will allow for people to know their genetic health risks and be more proactive about their health. Others argue that this information doesn’t tell the whole story since predisposition doesn't reflect someone's ultimate risk or likelihood of developing a disease. What are the benefits and liabilities of consumers' access to genetic testing?

Host Dr. David Weisman, Director of Clinical Trials at Abington Neurological Associates, sits down with Dr. John Khoury, Associate Director at Abington Memorial Hospital Sleep Disorders Center, to debate the merits and pitfalls of direct-to-consumer genetic testing.

The future of the Affordable Care Act is uncertain. While there has been much talk about repeal and replace, legislative efforts to carry through with this initiative have failed to gain any bipartisan support and have since fallen short of passing.

Host Dr. Matt Birnholz sits down with Matthew Fiedler to discuss the latest issues involved in health care reform. Mr. Fiedler is a Fellow with the Center for Health Policy at the Brookings' Institution’s Economic Studies Program. Prior to joining Brookings, Fiedler served as Chief Economist of the Council of Economic Advisers, where he oversaw the Council's work on health care policy, including the ACA’s health insurance reforms, Medicaid expansion, and provider payment reform efforts.

What happens when you are admitted to the hospital as a patient, and the physician assigned to be your doctor has never seen you before and knows absolutely nothing about you?

Says Dr. Michael Weisberg, gastroenterologist and author of The Hospitalist, situations like these are increasingly common in modern medicine and can have disastrous consequences for patients.

Dr. Weisberg joins host Dr. Andrew Wilner to talk about his novel, which underscores how doctors are now at heightened risk of being thwarted by the modern health care system.

Pancreatic cancer is projected to become the second leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States by 2020. This is due, in large part, to its insidious onset and subtle presentation even at late stages, many symptoms of which are often attributed to common and less serious conditions in aging populations.

Dr. Harish Lavu, Head of Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery at Jefferson University, talks with host Dr. John Russell about the diagnostic and therapeutic priorities addressing pancreatic cancer, and why this disease is so hard to detect.

Practicing medicine at 17,000 feet brings a unique set of challenges for doctors, including altitude-related sicknesses, IV fluids freezing, and the need for duct tape to serve as an essential medical tool.

Dr. Matt Birnholz chats with Dr. Luanne Freer, Founder and Director of Everest ER, a medical clinic at Mount Everest Base Camp serving Everest climbers, support staff, and the local Nepalese population.

To find out more information about Everest ER, please visit http://www.everester.org.

Sudden Unexplained Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP) refers to the unexplained death of a seemingly healthy person with epilepsy where no cause of death can be found. What do doctors need to know about this mysterious and devastating phenomenon?

Dr. Elizabeth Donner, Director of the Comprehensive Epilepsy Program and Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Toronto joins host Dr. Andrew Wilner to talk about the risks and investigated causes of SUDEP.

The Burns Archive is best known for providing photographic evidence of forgotten, unseen, and at times disquieting aspects of medical history through its collection of over one million historic photographs.

Stanley B. Burns, MD, founder of the Burns Archive, sits down with Dr. Andrew Wilner to talk about the story behind his amazing collection of historic photographs.

To see some of the photos from the Burns Archive, check out our Burns Archive video.

To see more photos in the Burns Archive, please visit http://www.burnsarchive.com/.

Dr. Thomas Snyder, retired urologist, founder of the Society for the History of Navy Medicine, and the current Secretary of the Naval Order of the United States Foundation, speaks with Dr. Andrew Wilner about the history of naval medicine. They touch upon historical milestones such as building on Mare Island, the Navy's first West Coast hospital.

Doulas have become an integral part of the obstetrics field. In recent years, a new, specialized type of doula, called the bereavement doula, has emerged. But what roles and duties are performed by this care provider?

Host Dr. Renee Allen speaks with Heidi Faith, Founder, President and CEO of StillBirthDay, a highly specialized doula program. The two talk about the unique care roles a bereavement doula can play in the labor and delivery of stillborn babies.