When we feel unwell, we seek out medical attention. However, figuring out what is wrong with us may not be as simple as a quick visit to the clinic. On this week’s show, we’re going to dive into the world of disease detectives known officially as diagnosis.

Our first guest is probably the best person to discuss what diagnosis means to us. She is Lisa Sanders and she is an educator at Yale University. But she is better known as the author of the long running New York Times Series, Diagnosis, and is the inspiration behind the beloved TV show, House M.D. She takes us through the process of diagnostics and how the process can be incredibly complicated requiring more than simple Sherlockian deduction. She also offers her perspective on the trend to use “Dr. Google” to self-diagnose.

Our second guest is Madhukar Pai at McGill University. He has been trying to increase the ability of all countries to perform effective diagnosis especially with one of our greatest microbial enemies, tuberculosis. He has worked with the World Health Organization to make diagnosis a priority and will share his vision of the future for detecting diseases.

In our SASS Class, our guest teacher is one of the thousands of people in Canada responsible for carrying out the tests needed to achieve a diagnosis. Her name is Krista Urchenko and she is a Medical Laboratory Professional. She is also a member of the Board of Directors for the Canadian Society for Medical Laboratory Science. She reveals the behind the curtain work that most of us don’t see but need to be able to figure out what’s wrong. She also introduces us to LAB WEEK, which will highlight the work of these important professionals in Canada.

If you enjoy The Super Awesome Science Show, please take a minute to rate it on Apple Podcasts and be sure to tell a friend about the show. Thanks to you, we’ve been nominated for a Canadian Podcast Award as Outstanding Science and Medicine Series. Let’s keep the awesome momentum going together! 

Twitter: @JATetroEmail: [email protected]

Guests:Lisa SandersWeb: https://medicine.yale.edu/intmed/people/lisa_sanders.profile  Twitter: @LisaSandersMDMadhukar PaiWeb: https://www.mcgill.ca/tb/investigators/madhukar-pai-director Twitter: @paimadhu

Krista UrchenkoWeb: www.medlabmaven.comTwitter: @MedLabMaven

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