The Preventive Medicine Podcast

How does big data help make large public health decisions? How do we set up the collection, the analysis, and interoperate the data to create infrastructure? Leoson Hoay serves as a Research Analyst and Data Steward at the University of Chicago Urban Labs, working with the Health Lab team to support the creation of data-driven solutions to public health problems. Prior to joining the Urban Labs, he had worked in various fields spanning data engineering, mental health counseling, and environmental remediation with organizations in the US, Singapore, and Australia. Leoson received his MA in Computational Social Science from the University of Chicago, and his undergraduate degree in Psychology from the National University of Singapore. He is currently pursuing an MS in Computer Science at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

In this episode we discuss many big questions invovling the use of big data to solve large problems. We dive into two projects Leoson has contributed to and generally discuss what big data means in the context of health decisions. Check it out!

What does preventive medicine mean to you? This is a question we ask each and every one of our guests. Why? Because prevention can mean many different things to many different people depending on what they value in their life. A cardiologist, public health expert, and personal trainer may all answer this question differently with all of the responses being relevant for their own circumstance.

Are supplements a necessary part of a healthy lifestyle? What supplements should you be taking with health in mind? Are there any to avoid? We answer all of these questions and more on this podcast with Team BioLayne dietitian Gerald Ernat! Gerald holds a master’s degree in nutrition and physical performance, is a certified specialist in sports dietetics (CSSD) as well as a registered dietitian making him more than qualified to talk about the use of supplements as part of a healthy diet. 

In this episode we talk about what appropriate scenarios for the use of supplements, what supplements are worth taking, how to pick a specific product out of the sea of companies and products, and when to seek help with your nutritional needs. There is a lot of good information in this podcast so make sure to check it out! This is actually the first podcast Gerald has been on so go over to his social media pages and let him know he did a fantastic job!

If you haven’t heard of Jordan Syatt, you probably aren’t a heavy social media user. Jordan has over 1 million followers across all of his platforms and for good reason! He has had consistently great advice on nutrition, exercise, and on building a sustainable lifestyle. His formal education includes a bachelors of science in health and behavior science with a focus on strength and conditioning but his experience includes helping thousands if not more. Jordan is also well known for being Gary Vaynerchuck’s personal trainer for many years. 

On this episode, we discuss a multitude of topics but focus on lessons learned from Jordan’s experience with the thousands of people he’s helped. We talk about appropriate goal setting, debunking anti-common sense fitness advice, and how to keep fitness simple.

An often overlooked component of preventive medicine is that of women’s health. If you google common questions females might have about their bodies you’ll get a multitude of answers, some evidence-based, and some not so much. On this episode, we had Dr. Sameena Rahman, also known as Gynogirl on social media, to talk about how preventive medicine relates to the various topics around women’s health. 

We talk prevention around menarche, the reproductive years, menopause, and beyond. We discuss how prevention can take the form of anything from simple education regarding normal processes, to screening for cervical cancer, and how other lifestyle factors influence reproductive health. This episode is the first we’ve had on women’s health and likely not the last. Let us know what you think!

What does death and dying have to do with prevention? We’re supposed to prevent that from ever happening right? Well, unfortunately none of us can avoid death at some point; yet, our healthcare system hardly addresses the needs and medical care of those nearing the end of their life. Luckily, there are people who focus a large part of their career to just that. Dr. Nicole Piemonte is an assistant professor and assistant dean at the Creighton University School of Medicine having earned her PhD in Medical Humanities. On top of that, Dr. Piemonte is the author of two excellent books – “Afflicted: How Vulnerability can Heal Medical Education and Practice” as well as “Death and Dying.”

In this episode, we discuss all things death and the role of preventive medicine around the end of life. We talk about how many people now die in circumstances against their wishes, how the hospital became a place of death, how the medical system isn’t designed to care for dying patients, and what we can do about it. This podcast covers many important topics that might not seem relevant at the time but that quickly become all encompassing in unfortunate circumstances. Give this episode a listen and let me know what you think!

Prevention can be practiced in almost any scenario – all the way from primary prevention to quaternary prevention in end-of-life situations. Furthermore, there are various social aspects that also play a role in prevention such as improving outcomes due to improved communication with patients and families or not isolating psychiatric patients and preventing a future crises.

In this episode I speak with Dr. Stephen Trevick a triple-board certified physician in neurology, psychiatry, and neurocritical care about how a preventive approach can have a large impact even in an ICU setting. We talk about keeping people out of the neuro-ICU, talking to patients and families regarding critical situations, end-of-life discussions, and even dive into the prevention of psychiatric crises. This episode has a lot of concepts that might not sound related to preventive medicine at first but still play a critical role in improving the quality of life of patients and families. Hopefully you enjoy this episode!

It’s a brand new year! The podcast has been silent for a little over a month but it’s time to change that with the first episode of 2022. In this episode I start off by talking about podcast updates including the proposed podcast schedule for this year, improvement in it’s quality, and other goals for this year.

The meat of the episode however lies in using the new year as a marker for change and the concept of new-year’s resolutions. I discuss getting started on your fitness goals, how to make your likelihood of success greater, and the various challenges that people might face in making lifestyle changes.

I also discuss my current view of the healthcare system coming off an ICU month in my residency. I talk about changes I see coming in healthcare and my experiences in the past month. 

And lastly, I discuss some personal updates including completing my Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) certification and starting to officially coach other individuals.

Exercise is an obvious component of living a healthy lifestyle. Yet, despite how important and well-known the importance of exercise is, it is still very often misunderstood and its effects marginalized. In this episode, Ragav dives into exercise from multiple perspectives including a definition, the guidelines in the face of the sedentary lifestyle epidemic, types of exercise, and how exercise can be made more accessible.

This episode also discusses the relatively novel concept of exercise as an independent beneficial activity rather than it being attached to weight-loss as it traditionally is. Let us know what you think of this shorter format episode!

Classification of Exercise Intensity: https://www.acsm.org/docs/default-source/files-for-resource-library/exercise-intensity-infographic.pdf?sfvrsn=f467c793_2

Examples of Various Exercise Intensities: https://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/physical/pdf/pa_intensity_table_2_1.pdf

Yes, another chiropractor that doesn’t crack! Dr. Sierra focuses on helping individuals rehab their injuries and chronic pain so that they can get back to doing what they want to do. By breaking down complex topics into memes and teachable content, Dr. Sierra has built a strong reputation as an evidence-based clinician and educator. 

In this episode, we break down Dr. Sierra’s approach to injury and how he helps individuals navigate rehabilitation. We talk self-management, the role of exercise, how to approach an acute injury, and more! Make sure to follow him on Instagram for the memes!