Strong Mentorship emboldens people to take smarter risks. 

A national study of 30,000 college graduates found that alumni who had “a professor who cared about me as a person and a mentor who encouraged my goals” were nearly twice as likely to be engaged in their work and 40% more likely to be thriving in overall well‑being.

So, for this second episode in our mentoring series, I am so excited to share this conversation with Hubie Ballard.  Hubie has been a neonatologist for over 20 years, but beyond his work in the NICU, he is mentoring hundreds of current and future doctors, and indirectly affecting the lives of thousands of patients through his guidance. 

He is the shining example of the physician-scholar, a champion of radical kindness, and has the depth of intellectual curiosity that I can only hope to develop.

He is so beloved by students that the graduating medical school class of 2025 just inducted him as an honorary member.

In this episode we talk about his techniques, his philosophies, and whether AI can enhance his work as a mentor.  

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Host: Tama Thé | Pediatric Emergency Medicine
Producer: Melissa Puffenbarger | Pediatric Emergency Medicine
Communications Director: Katrianna Urrea | MD Candidate

Music: Spencer Brown

The ACGME is planning to add a year to Emergency Medicine residency training. 

Emergency medicine stands at a crossroads.  Should EM residency training be standardized at four years?

On the show today are three Emergency Medicine residency program directors.  Together, we discuss the history of 3- vs. 4-year EM programs, the evolving demands of emergency medicine, and what a fourth year could mean for future physicians, the healthcare system, and the patients we serve. From rural workforce implications to the shifting landscape of ultrasound, addiction medicine, and EMS, we discuss the nuances of a moment of transformation in medical training.

We close the episode with a reading of Roald Dahl’s powerful and heartbreaking essay on vaccine-preventable illness, and a sobering look at the 2025 resurgence of measles and pertussis.

Sameer Desai is the program director for the EM residency at UK and was previously the associate and an assistant EM residency program director.

Chris Belcher is the associate program director for UK EM.  After residency, he spent 4 years in active duty Air Force service in San Antonio working with Air Force and Army EM residents and flying ICU and ECMO patients around the world.

Blake Davidson is an assistant program director for UK EM.  After residency, he spent a year completing an EMS fellowship in Alabama. He also serves as the Medical Director of UK Transport.

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If you have any feedback, show/interview recommendations, or want to collaborate on the show, please reach out!

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Host: Tama Thé | Pediatric Emergency Medicine
Producer: Melissa Puffenbarger | Pediatric Emergency Medicine
Communications Director: Katrianna Urrea | MD Candidate

Music: Spencer Brown

We've built a system that uses ChatGPT to grade your students’ medical notes. 

We are publishing our code under an MIT open license with a description of how you can build a similar system at your own institutions.

This is the first of a two-part series talking about this system.  This interview was recorded 6 months ago!  in April 2024, so you can see just how far we've come from then until now

Come back in 2 weeks for the Presentation we gave at the AAMC Conference on Emerging Technology

Chris Nash is an emergency medicine core faculty at Duke, a medical education researcher, and studies the integration of technology into medical education, including through the development of assessment tools for clinical training.

We are co-fellows of the NBME's Strategic Educator Enhancement Fund, a group of early career faculty studying AI and Simulation based assessment in Medical Education.

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If you have any feedback, show/interview recommendations, or want to collaborate on the show, please reach out!

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Host: Tama Thé | Pediatric Emergency Medicine
Producer: Melissa Puffenbarger | Pediatric Emergency Medicine
Communications Director: Katrianna Urrea | MD Candidate

In 2003, the ACGME, the accrediting body for residencies, created limits on how much residents could be required to work. 

80 hours a week, a maximum of 28 hours of continuous duty per shift, at least 8 hours off between shifts, and a mandatory 4 days off a month.

When you say it out loud, it’s kind of insane that these were the limits, right.  How much more could you work?

We’re now 20 years out from the duty-hour policy.

Our guest for this episode is Andy White, my former pediatric residency program director at Washington University in St Louis and the current chair of pediatrics at Saint Louis University.

Click here to read the article published by friend of the show, Jess Adkins Murphy

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Host: Tama Thé | Pediatric Emergency Medicine
Producer: Melissa Puffenbarger | Pediatric Emergency Medicine
Communications Director: Katrianna Urrea | MD Candidate

When does sacrifice become exploitation?  When they strip you of your health insurance because you asked to get paid an average wage. 

In this episode we go inside the University of Buffalo Resident's strike. Of the 830 residents in their union and 93% of them voted to allow a strike. In the interview we talk through the arguments, the negotiations, the intimidation, and the lawsuits (plural).

Our guests are Lauren Lucente, a 4th year psychiatry resident at the University of Buffalo, and Amanda Duggan, a second year medicine/pediatrics resident.  They were two of the many residents who are fighting a multi-billion-dollar healthcare system to give them average wages, the healthcare benefits they were promised, time off for chemotherapy, and even clean sheets in the call room 

To support their cause, visit https://ubhousestaff.org/

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Host: Tama Thé | Pediatric Emergency Medicine
Producer: Melissa Puffenbarger | Pediatric Emergency Medicine

John Morgan served as the Chief Clinical Innovation Officer at Virginia Medicaid from 2020-2024 and is now the medical lead at Waymark, a company that provides free, community-based care for people enrolled in Medicaid programs. John will work directly with Waymark’s community-based teams and provider

In the interview, we talk about his experience grappling with the ethical and financial considerations in his role as the clinical innovation officer and what it was like to make decisions about utilization of resources during the COVID pandemic.  John is a huge advocate for Community Health Workers and he takes me through the critical role they are playing in Waymark’s model to address social determinants of health, and the broader trend towards value-based care and the need for continued innovation in healthcare delivery.  He also wants you to call your state representatives.

 Here is a link to the paper discussed in the outro:
Prediction of non emergent acute care utilization and cost among patients receiving Medicaid

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Host: Tama Thé | Pediatric Emergency Medicine
Producer: Melissa Puffenbarger | Pediatric Emergency Medicine
Communications Director: Katrianna Urrea | MD Candidate

Jessica Adkins is an Emergency Medicine physician and a Harvard Health Policy and Social Emergency medicine Fellow. 
Melissa Puffenbarger is a Pediatric Emergency Medicine physician.

Both women had miscarriages in the last 6 months and because they live in Kentucky, they couldn't get Mifepristone, which is the standard of care, and both suffered consequences.  We walk through the history, safety profile, and the political turmoil around Mifepristone, and what you can do for women in similar situations.
 
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Host: Tama Thé | Pediatric Emergency Medicine
Producer: Melissa Puffenbarger | Pediatric Emergency Medicine

Joe Finney is a Pediatric Emergency Medicine and EMS physician. He is the medical director of the Missouri EMS-C and host of the Pediatric EMS Podcast.

In this episode, we talk about what it's like to practice medicine at the limits of Evidence-Based Medicine, what it’s like to start a career in Academia, and why hosting a medical podcast is literally the most important thing one can do.
 
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Host: Tama Thé | Pediatric Emergency Medicine
Producer: Melissa Puffenbarger | Pediatric Emergency Medicine
Communications Director: Katrianna Urrea | MD Candidate

Deepa Mokshagundam is a pediatric Heart Failure and Transplant cardiologist who has dedicated her career to advocacy and public policy.

This episode is the first in an ongoing series about the socio-political tensions in medicine, and we begin by laying the foundation of advocacy. In this episode, Deepa describes her career as a health advocate and lobbyist, and how to get started with advocacy,
 
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Host: Tama Thé | Pediatric Emergency Medicine
Co-Host: Alexis Luedke | Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellow
Producer: Melissa Puffenbarger | Pediatric Emergency Medicine
Communications Director: Katrianna Urrea | MD Candidate

Bryan Sisk is a pediatric Hematologist/Oncologist and studies the intersection of communication, ethics, and the new technologies that are making their way into medicine.  He is the author of “An Overarching Framework for the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence in Pediatrics,”  which was published in JAMA Pediatrics in January 2024.  

This episode is the first in an ongoing series about Artificial intelligence in medicine, and we begin by laying the foundation of the ethics behind AI in medicine.

In this episode, we delve into the ethical implications of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in medicine, with a special focus on the intrinsic biases of AI algorithms. We explore how AI, if not purposefully inclusive, could leave vulnerable populations - like our children - at a disadvantage.

Join us as we navigate these challenging questions, shedding light on the need for ethical guidelines and robust policies in the implementation of AI in medicine.
 
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If you have any feedback, show/interview recommendations, or want to collaborate on the show, please reach out!

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Host: Tama Thé | Pediatric Emergency Medicine
Co-Host: Alexis Luedke | Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellow
Producer: Melissa Puffenbarger | Pediatric Emergency Medicine
Communications Director: Katrianna Urrea | MD Candidate