On this special edition of The Pulse, we take a close look at waiting, from medical offices to a local produce market and a research lab.

As patients, we often find ourselves waiting at the doctor’s office longer than expected. Sitting there, waiting for our name to be called, reading ten tips to make better rice pudding, or five ways to achieve amazing abs; it can get really aggravating. We wanted to find out what exactly is contributing to that appointment backlog, so we spent a morning with Dr. Peter Gearhart of Penn Ob/Gyn and midwifery care to find out.

Then we went to Trenton, where a health group is trying to reduce its patient wait time from a month to two days or less. How, you ask? It involves getting rid of those long-term appointment books. 

Dr. Carl Chudnofsky and nurse Keenya Eubanks provide some perspective on how they keep things moving in Einstein’s Emergency Medicine department and a former interior designer tells us what key elements make up a good waiting room.

We wait with one of 6,000 people in the Philadelphia region on the organ transplant waiting list and head to the Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market to find out how the waiting process is sped up when it comes to ripening bananas. 

Two Villanova University researchers invite us into their lab for a glimpse at their moss project and Theresa Christy, a mathematician and Otis Elevator Research Fellow, sheds some light on the science of waiting. 

A professor, sex researcher and therapist shares details of her 12-month experiment in abstinence and we wrap up with an update on our kidney transplant patient. 

Music used in today’s show: 

“Cannonball” The BreedersAlbum: Last SplashLabel: 4AD/Elektra Records

“Waiting Room” FugaziAlbum: FugaziLabel: Dischord

“I Am Waiting” The Rolling StonesAlbum: AftermathLabel: Decca

“Time Slows Down at Midnight” NamelessnumberheadmanAlbum: When We Leave, We Will Know Where We’ve BeenLabel: Scatterplot Sounds

“Day O” (Banana Boat Song) (Traditional, arranged by William Attaway, Harry Belafonte) Harry BelafonteAlbum: CalypsoLabel: RCA Victor

“Time” Pink FloydAlbum: The Dark Side of the MoonLabel: Harvest

“The Waiting” Tom Petty and the HeartbreakersAlbum: Hard PromisesLabel: Backstreet

“Chega de Saudade” João GilbertoAlbum: Chega de SaudadeLabel: Odeon

“Tired of Being Alone” Al GreenAlbum: Al Green Gets Next to YouLabel: Hi Records

“Crosseyed and Painless” Talking HeadsAlbum: Remain in LightLabel: Sire