Dr. Michael Weinstein interviews Dr. Prasad Iyer about new approaches to screening patients and detecting earlier stages of Barrett’s esophagus and associated dysplasia that can prevent esophageal cancer.

Dr. Iyer is director of the esophageal interest group in the division of gastroenterology and hepatology at the Mayo Clinic, where he is active in research and education and providing mentorship to residents and subspecialty fellows.

Join Dr. Weinstein and Dr. Iyer as they explore how screening for Barrett’s esophagus can be made more accessible, less expensive and what role providers can play in helping patients get screened.

Produced by Andrew Sousa and Hayden Margolis for Steadfast Collaborative, LLC

Mixed and mastered by Hayden Margolis

Gastro Broadcast, Episode 40

Dr. Naresh Gunaratnam interviews Dr. Justin Forde about what GI fellows are focused on and thinking about as they begin their careers and what innovations they may bring into the organizations they join.

Dr. Forde is chief gastroenterology fellow at the University of Miami/Jackson Health System and an advanced endoscopy fellow at the University of Florida. His clinical interests include nutrition, interventional gastroenterology, and diseases of the biliary tract.

Join Dr. Gunaratnam and Dr. Forde for an informative look into how the GI leaders of tomorrow are navigating their career choices and how their generation might shape the future of gastroenterology

Produced by Andrew Sousa and Hayden Margolis for Steadfast Collaborative, LLC

Mixed and mastered by Hayden Margolis

Gastro Broadcast, Episode 39

Dr. Michael Weinstein interviews Dr. Lindee Goh, who leads the healthcare practice with Tapestry Networks, an organization that brings together health care industry leaders to learn from one another, explore new ideas, and collaborate to solve problems working across the public and private sectors.

Dr. Goh co-directs the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Shared Value Initiative, a collaboration with providers, payers, industry leaders, patient advocacy organizations, and others to explore how consensus-based value frameworks and enhanced learning platforms can accelerate value-based care and new alternative payment models.

Join Dr. Weinstein and Dr. Goh as they explore how different industry sectors are coming together to find innovative ways to solve challenges within the U.S. health care system.

Produced by Andrew Sousa and Hayden Margolis for Steadfast Collaborative, LLC

Mixed and mastered by Hayden Margolis

Gastro Broadcast, Episode 38

Two out of five GI fellows are women but account for less 18 percent of practicing gastroenterologists, and the number of women in leadership positions is even lower. Dr. Anita Afzali and Dr. Aline Charabaty share their experience in gastroenterology with host Lisa Mathew and discuss their plans to address some of the challenges women face in medicine .

Dr. Charabaty is the assistant clinical director of the GI Division at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and clinical director of the Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) Center at Johns Hopkins-Sibley Memorial Hospital.

Dr. Afzali is a professor of clinical medicine and a gastroenterologist at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine where she also serves as the executive vice chair of medicine. She is also associate chief medical officer at UC Health System and Cincinnati Children's Hospital.

In their free time, Dr. Afzali and Dr. Charabaty founded Scrubs & Heels, to create opportunities for women in GI at different stages of their GI career – from fellows to early career to seasoned gastroenterologists - to help them succeed and achieve their professional goals, whether being leaders in their institutions or group practice or GI societies, heading editorial boards or building their own enterprise.

Join Dr. Mathew, Dr. Afzali and Dr. Charabaty to hear about the first Scrubs & Heels Summit that was held earlier this year, and what they have planned for the future.

Produced by Andrew Sousa and Hayden Margolis for Steadfast Collaborative, LLC

Mixed and mastered by Hayden Margolis

Gastro Broadcast, Episode 37

While at Digestive Disease Week last month, Dr. Michael Weinstein sat down to record a live interview with Dr. Nadeem Baig, vice president and chief medical officer of Allied Digestive Health in New Jersey.

Join Dr. Weinstein and Dr. Baig for a wide-ranging discussion of issues affecting independent GI, including the process for merging smaller local groups into one larger practice, the importance of sustained policy advocacy, and what can be done to increase the amount of GI fellows going into private practice.

Produced by Andrew Sousa and Hayden Margolis for Steadfast Collaborative, LLC

Mixed and mastered by Hayden Margolis

Gastro Broadcast, Episode 36

Dr. Michael Weinstein talks with Ellen Brooks of the Men’s Health Inequities (MHI) Research Lab at the University of Utah School of Medicine, who is a co-author of a new study on the prevalence of colorectal cancer (CRC) among long-haul truck drivers.

Among a sample of more than 47,000 long-haul truck drivers between the ages of 21 and 85, obesity, increasing age, and other medical conditions were associated with increased CRC prevalence. For example, the study results suggest that compared with truck drivers of normal weight, obese, and morbidly obese drivers have 3.5 to 4.3 times greater odds of being diagnosed with CRC.

Join Dr. Weinstein and Ms. Brooks for their discussion on how this research can help improve understanding of long-haul truck drivers and increase screening through educating truck drivers and health care providers who perform occupationally required health exams about the increased risks for CRC.

Produced by Andrew Sousa and Hayden Margolis for Steadfast Collaborative, LLC

Mixed and mastered by Hayden Margolis

Gastro Broadcast, Episode 35

Kevin Harlen interviews fellow Tar Heel Dr. Spencer Dorn about innovation in health care and several start up companies that are changing the way GI physicians treat and monitor patients.

Dr. Dorn is a gastroenterologist, professor, and vice chair of medicine for care innovation at the UNC School of Medicine, where he focuses on how to bring people together to provide better and more efficient care and utilize resources to improve lives.

Hear Kevin and Dr. Dorn explore how the COVID-19 pandemic forced physicians to pivot to deliver care online and how GI Physicians can make sense of that experience and harness virtual care in ways that improve care for their patients and communities.

Produced by Andrew Sousa and Hayden Margolis for Steadfast Collaborative, LLC

Mixed and mastered by Hayden Margolis

Gastro Broadcast, Episode 34

This week, Dr. Fred Rosenberg catches up with Dr. Mike Dragutsky, who is a practicing gastroenterologist at Gastro One, and chairman of One GI, a managed services organization with practices in five states that was envisioned, created and is guided by physicians.

Dr. Dragutsky discusses his path in GI and why it's important for GI groups to develop a plan for sustainability and growth in the face of healthcare consolidation and rising costs.

Dr. Rosenberg finds out how a chance encounter with five tons of available Cabernet grapes led to Dr. Dratgutsky's passion for wine making with Cornerstone Cellars, his critically acclaimed Napa winery.

Join Dr. Rosenberg and Dr. Dragutsky as they discuss recruitment, the use of mid-level providers and what the future holds for independent GI practices.

Produced by Andrew Sousa and Hayden Margolis for Steadfast Collaborative, LLC

Mixed and mastered by Hayden Margolis

Gastro Broadcast, Episode 33

Dr. Michael Weinstein of Capital Digestive Care talks to Erin Peterson of the Colon Cancer Coalition and Dr. Milena Gould Suarez of Baylor College of Medicine about the Faces of Blue campaign and the patients, physicians, and family members who share their experiences with colorectal cancer.

By highlighting the personal stories of patients and survivors, the campaign seeks to encourage preventive colorectal cancer screening.

Dr. Milena Gould Suarez shares about losing her grandmother to colon cancer and how that experience fuels her motivation to educate the community and other healthcare providers about colon cancer.

Join Dr. Weinstein, Dr. Suarez and Erin as they discuss how independent GI physicians can share their stories to educate patients and providers about risk factors and encourage people to be screened for colorectal cancer starting at 45 years of age.

Produced by Andrew Sousa and Hayden Margolis for Steadfast Collaborative, LLC

Mixed and mastered by Hayden Margolis

Gastro Broadcast, Episode 32

Dr. Michael Weinstein of Capital Digestive Care talks to Dr. Costas Kefalas from Akron Digestive Disease Consultants about his work as the president of the GI Quality Improvement Consortium (GIQuIc), a benchmarking registry that tracks quality measures such as cecal intubation rates, withdrawal times and adenoma detection rates.

Hear about the path Dr. Kefalas took to independent GI, his role in co-founding the Ohio Gastroenterology Society, and how drumming in an acoustic Greek band called Aegean Odyssey is his way to release stress.

Join Dr. Weinstein and Dr. Kefalas as they discuss the importance of advocacy and coming together as independent GI practices to promote important issues to policymakers at the state and federal level.

Produced by Andrew Sousa and Hayden Margolis for Steadfast Collaborative, LLC

Mixed and mastered by Hayden Margolis

Gastro Broadcast, Episode 31