August 25, 2025 • 11 mins
Dr. Michael Koren joins Kevin Geddings to wax nostalgic about the past generation and what has changed for the better and for the worse. They note that there have been improvements in areas like food, but that air travel and the healthcare experience have deteriorated precipitously. They then contrast this with the massive improvements in the clinical research experience, where around 97-99% of participants say they would do another study. Tune in to find out why this is the case with Dr. Koren and Kevin Geddings.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Announcer (00:00):
Welcome to the MedEvidence Monday Minute Radio
Show hosted by Kevin Geddings ofWSOS St Augustine Radio and
powered by ENCORE Research Group.
Each Monday morning, Dr.
Michael Koren calls in to bringyou the latest medical updates
with insightful discussions.
Medevidence is where we helpyou navigate the real truth
behind medical research, withboth a clinical and research
(00:20):
perspective.
So sit back, relax and getready to learn about the Truth
Behind the Data in medicine andhealthcare.
This is MedEvidence!
Kevin Geddings (00:30):
Dr.
Michael Koren joins us live onthe studio line.
Of course he is a medicaldoctor, cardiologist here
locally and research scientistas well.
We appreciate him taking timeaway from his very busy schedule
and we were talking off the airabout just how some things have
changed for the good.
Some things haven't changed forthe good over the last 20 or 30
years, right, doc.
Dr. Michael Koren (00:49):
Yeah, Kevin, that really fascinates me.
If you look at how things havegotten either better or worse
over a generation, which isapproximately 25 years, it's
interesting to think about partsof our lives and whether or not
things have gotten better orworse over 25 years.
So, like, let me ask you,because I'm curious to hear your
opinions um, food is obviouslyhugely important in our lives.
(01:11):
Is that gotten better or worsein the last 25 years in terms of
our experience in grocerystores and restaurants?
What's your perspective on that?
Kevin Geddings (01:19):
I think it's gotten better.
It certain tastes better, morefresh food, better access ,
right, and I would remember, youknow it wasn't all that unusual
to go to a friend's house whenwe were younger, right and have
hamburger helper and think thatwas a good meal, right.
Dr. Michael Koren (01:34):
Yeah, yeah, I would agree.
I think the diversity and thequality of restaurants has
gotten much better, probablybecause of competition, and I
would agree with you on the foodfront as well.
Also probably due tocompetition is that virtually
any kind of food you can getpretty easily these days.
So let's throw another one out.
How about air travel?
Has that gotten better or worsein the last generation?
Kevin Geddings (01:54):
Oh, horrible, horrible.
I mean airlines have turnedinto the Greyhound bus of the
skies.
You know, it's not just thedelays, it's just, you know, the
nonstop hassle of it all.
And, yeah, I guess it is someof the canceled flights and you
would think that that would havesomehow gotten better.
I will say more people are nowable to fly.
I think flying is moreaffordable than it was, say,
(02:16):
when you and I were teenagers,right?
Dr. Michael Koren (02:19):
Yeah, although that's more than one
generation ago.
Kevin Geddings (02:22):
Well, yeah, that's true.
I'm trying to be nice to us.
Remember 10 years ago when wewere 19, Dr.
Koren
Dr. Michael Koren (02:30):
No, but I think to your point.
I would agree with that.
I think most people wouldprobably come to the same
conclusion that air travel hasgotten worse and travel in
general has probably gottenworse than it was 25 years ago.
I was at the TWA hotel a coupleof weeks ago and that was
probably the golden age back inthe early sixties, where, you
know, people used to get dressedup and had nice meals and had a
(02:50):
lot of leg room on the planesand but yeah, when you, when you
actually got on the plane,people treated you like you were
a valued guest and all that hassort of gone away.
But, um, I would agree that airtravel has probably gotten
worse over the last generation.
How about telecommunications.
I'm sorry, go ahead.
Kevin Geddings (03:05):
No, no, you're right.
And telecommunications,obviously you know.
I mean just the cell phonebrick I bought at Circuit City
in 1991, it's a lot better thanthe iPhone I have in my hand
today.
Right, so that's unbelievable.
Dr. Michael Koren (03:16):
Amazing, like astoundingly better than it was
25 years ago, right, noquestion.
And then, when you look at thatdifference compared to air
travel, it's clearly there'sbeen a huge progression and so
much better than it was.
Okay, how about this?
How about healthcare?
Has it gotten better or worsein the last generation?
Kevin Geddings (03:37):
Well, certainly you feel like you can live
longer.
I feel a lot better getting acancer diagnosis today than my
mom passed away from cancer whenshe was young, from leukemia in
1965.
I often think about that and Ithink I wonder if today, with
the right diagnosis, she wouldhave survived longer.
You know?
Dr. Michael Koren (03:58):
Yeah, there are niches that we've made
progress, but overall lifeexpectancy in the United States
has not increased over the last10 years, even though it had
been steadily getting better andbetter for literally 100 years.
And you know the hassle factormedicine has gotten way worse, I
would think.
I don't know if you agree withthat or not.
Kevin Geddings (04:17):
Yes, yes, I mean .
The problem is we don't.
You used to be able to sit downwith your.
You know, as a young child witha pediatrician would spend 30
minutes with you.
But even as a young adult youcould easily spend 10 or 15
minutes speaking with yourfamily doc.
That's probably not going tohappen today.
Dr. Michael Koren (04:34):
Yeah.
So I think overall, most peoplewould say it's a little bit of
a mixed bag, but it's certainlynot better than it was a
generation ago, and a lot ofpeople argue that it's worse in
some key metrics, like knowingwhat your plan is after you
visit a healthcare facility orfeeling like you've been heard
by the people that are yourhealthcare providers I think
(04:55):
most people would argue thatthat's probably gotten worse.
Care providers I think mostpeople would argue that that's
probably gotten worse, andthat's kind of a segue to
research.
Research is definitely an areathat's gotten better and it's
probably one of the exceptionsto the rule in terms of where
health care has progressed overthe last generation.
So, for example, you mentionedcancer diagnosis.
Yeah, well, that's a lot betternow because of research.
(05:15):
Research has made astoundingprogress in that area In terms
of treating cholesterol problemswe've made astounding progress
in that area.
Things that were not treatableare now completely treatable,
and problems that led to heartattacks and strokes, such as
your cholesterol level, areextraordinarily treatable
nowadays with veryeasy-to-access, relatively
(05:38):
simple treatments, and these arereally remarkable breakthroughs
.
But the other thing is that justthe whole research experience.
Over the last 25 years we'vedeveloped professional research
sites like the ENCORE ResearchGroup, and now you go in, you
get seen quickly, you havesomebody evaluate whether or not
there's a research program thatmight be to your liking and
(06:02):
helpful to you and your family,and then you have a fun
experience.
That's kind of all laid out foryou and you always know what
the plan is and you always havesomebody that you can easily get
in touch with in terms ofquestions that may arise during
your experience.
And hey, this is even better.
You might even get paid alittle bit for this experience,
right?
So you know, I would argue thatthe research element of health
care has improved dramaticallyand it's probably a little bit
(06:24):
of the exception to the rule ofthe overall not so great track
record of health care over thelast generation.
Kevin Geddings (06:31):
Yeah, no, absolutely.
If you have any questions tooabout what we're talking about
and you'd like to participate inclinical research, there are
opportunities to do that fromright here in St.
Augustine and St.
Johns County with ENCOREResearch Group, go to EncoreDocs
.
com, E-N-C-O-R-E, encoredocs.
com.
I have to ask you too, Dr.Koren.
We hear a lot of news out ofWashington, with the new
(06:53):
administration, of course,making some changes on vaccine
recommendations and researchfunding for vaccines and the
like.
But there are stillopportunities and we're still
moving forward on clinicalresearch right, despite what's
going on in Washington.
Dr. Michael Koren (07:06):
Yeah, it's a little disconcerting and
frustrating, quite frankly.
And you and I have spoken aboutthat specifically the
government wanting to move onfrom messenger RNA vaccines,
which is fine, but insteadthey're just shutting down other
areas of vaccine research,which is not so cool.
But despite those headwindswe're actually still doing
(07:28):
programs.
There's still a lot of reallyexciting science and a lot of
really nice opportunities forpeople to protect themselves and
their family from viruses andother pathogens.
So we're still doing work inthe vaccine space despite some
of these headwinds, andhopefully the government will
straighten itself out.
They are responding, they arestating that they want feedback
(07:48):
and they will adjust theircourse, so we'll see what
happens.
I'm hopeful there.
But overall, we have atremendous number of really,
really exciting programs and,for example, these GLP-1 drugs
are all the rage and now we havemedicines that will be usable
with just one injection a week,for example Actually, one
injection a month rather thanone injection a week, for
(08:09):
example.
So that's a nice example ofbreakthroughs.
And in the lipid space we havetreatments that you take once
every six months, which isreally quite remarkable.
So one of the things we'redoing to make healthcare better
is make it simpler for people bysimplifying the treatment
regimen.
Kevin Geddings (08:25):
Absolutely Well, once again, learn more about
opportunities by going toEncoreDocs.
com.
You can also call.
We were talking earlier abouthow you know healthcare and
access to your physician was somuch easier 25 years ago than it
is today.
Well, you'll get that sort ofMarcus Welby style health care
when you participate in theseclinical trials, right, Dr Koren
?
Dr. Michael Koren (08:45):
Absolutely so .
Part of our mandate is to makesure that we understand
everything about our patients,because our responsibility is to
report the complete experienceof a patient during the clinical
research program to the federalgovernment as part of your
overall process and experience.
And, as you've mentioned manytimes, it's the best health care
you'll ever get.
And again, we emphasize thatthis is care and not necessarily
(09:15):
treatment.
So care is that human-to-humaninteraction that makes us feel
good about our interactions withdifferent people that are
looking out for our well-beingand our wellness.
So hopefully you'll agree with99% of people get surveyed that
they would do another researchstudy once they've been exposed
to their first one.
Kevin Geddings (09:35):
Yep, it's a great experience.
I've been in those with Dr.
Koren and with ENCORE Research.
Karen on our team has as well.
We highly recommend theexperience.
It won't cost you anything andjust maybe a few minutes of your
time to learn how you canparticipate by calling
904-730-0166 for ENCORE ResearchGroup here in St.
(09:55):
John's County 904-730-0166.
And before we let you go, Dr.
Koren, a great resource forfolks that may be inclined to
just Google some healthquestions.
They should try, you know,going to medevidence.
com first correct.
Dr. Michael Koren (10:11):
Yeah, absolutely.
I was at a dinner party overthe weekend and showed a few
people MedEvidence and peopleare just blown away when they
see the wealth of informationthat's on that website and we
have a lot of neat interviews,often between two physicians,
where people can really dig intothe Truth Behind the Data,
(10:31):
really understand what we knowabout a particular area in
medicine what we don't know andhow we learn about the things
that we don't know.
And we also have some reallyjust entertaining guests, just
fascinating people.
So if you just want to learnthe way doctors think and how we
make decisions for ourselvesand our family, check out
MedEvidence! You'll love it.
Kevin Geddings (10:50):
Yeah, no, it's a great resource.
Once again, go to MedEvidence.
com.
That's MedEvidence.
com, Dr.
Michael Koren, thanks for allyour time this morning.
Be safe out there and we'llspeak with you next week, okay,
look forward to it.
Dr. Michael Koren (11:02):
Take care, Kevin
Thanks for joining theMedEvidence podcast.
To learn more, head over tomedevidence.
com or subscribe to our podcaston your favorite podcast
platform.
Welcome to the MedEvidence Monday Minute Radio
Show hosted by Kevin Geddings ofWSOS St Augustine Radio and
powered by ENCORE Research Group.
Each Monday morning, Dr.
Michael Koren calls in to bringyou the latest medical updates
with insightful discussions.
Medevidence is where we helpyou navigate the real truth
behind medical research, withboth a clinical and research
(00:20):
perspective.
So sit back, relax and getready to learn about the Truth
Behind the Data in medicine andhealthcare.
This is MedEvidence!
Kevin Geddings (00:30):
Dr.
Michael Koren joins us live onthe studio line.
Of course he is a medicaldoctor, cardiologist here
locally and research scientistas well.
We appreciate him taking timeaway from his very busy schedule
and we were talking off the airabout just how some things have
changed for the good.
Some things haven't changed forthe good over the last 20 or 30
years, right, doc.
Dr. Michael Koren (00:49):
Yeah, Kevin, that really fascinates me.
If you look at how things havegotten either better or worse
over a generation, which isapproximately 25 years, it's
interesting to think about partsof our lives and whether or not
things have gotten better orworse over 25 years.
So, like, let me ask you,because I'm curious to hear your
opinions um, food is obviouslyhugely important in our lives.
(01:11):
Is that gotten better or worsein the last 25 years in terms of
our experience in grocerystores and restaurants?
What's your perspective on that?
Kevin Geddings (01:19):
I think it's gotten better.
It certain tastes better, morefresh food, better access ,
right, and I would remember, youknow it wasn't all that unusual
to go to a friend's house whenwe were younger, right and have
hamburger helper and think thatwas a good meal, right.
Dr. Michael Koren (01:34):
Yeah, yeah, I would agree.
I think the diversity and thequality of restaurants has
gotten much better, probablybecause of competition, and I
would agree with you on the foodfront as well.
Also probably due tocompetition is that virtually
any kind of food you can getpretty easily these days.
So let's throw another one out.
How about air travel?
Has that gotten better or worsein the last generation?
Kevin Geddings (01:54):
Oh, horrible, horrible.
I mean airlines have turnedinto the Greyhound bus of the
skies.
You know, it's not just thedelays, it's just, you know, the
nonstop hassle of it all.
And, yeah, I guess it is someof the canceled flights and you
would think that that would havesomehow gotten better.
I will say more people are nowable to fly.
I think flying is moreaffordable than it was, say,
(02:16):
when you and I were teenagers,right?
Dr. Michael Koren (02:19):
Yeah, although that's more than one
generation ago.
Kevin Geddings (02:22):
Well, yeah, that's true.
I'm trying to be nice to us.
Remember 10 years ago when wewere 19, Dr.
Koren
Dr. Michael Koren (02:30):
No, but I think to your point.
I would agree with that.
I think most people wouldprobably come to the same
conclusion that air travel hasgotten worse and travel in
general has probably gottenworse than it was 25 years ago.
I was at the TWA hotel a coupleof weeks ago and that was
probably the golden age back inthe early sixties, where, you
know, people used to get dressedup and had nice meals and had a
(02:50):
lot of leg room on the planesand but yeah, when you, when you
actually got on the plane,people treated you like you were
a valued guest and all that hassort of gone away.
But, um, I would agree that airtravel has probably gotten
worse over the last generation.
How about telecommunications.
I'm sorry, go ahead.
Kevin Geddings (03:05):
No, no, you're right.
And telecommunications,obviously you know.
I mean just the cell phonebrick I bought at Circuit City
in 1991, it's a lot better thanthe iPhone I have in my hand
today.
Right, so that's unbelievable.
Dr. Michael Koren (03:16):
Amazing, like astoundingly better than it was
25 years ago, right, noquestion.
And then, when you look at thatdifference compared to air
travel, it's clearly there'sbeen a huge progression and so
much better than it was.
Okay, how about this?
How about healthcare?
Has it gotten better or worsein the last generation?
Kevin Geddings (03:37):
Well, certainly you feel like you can live
longer.
I feel a lot better getting acancer diagnosis today than my
mom passed away from cancer whenshe was young, from leukemia in
1965.
I often think about that and Ithink I wonder if today, with
the right diagnosis, she wouldhave survived longer.
You know?
Dr. Michael Koren (03:58):
Yeah, there are niches that we've made
progress, but overall lifeexpectancy in the United States
has not increased over the last10 years, even though it had
been steadily getting better andbetter for literally 100 years.
And you know the hassle factormedicine has gotten way worse, I
would think.
I don't know if you agree withthat or not.
Kevin Geddings (04:17):
Yes, yes, I mean .
The problem is we don't.
You used to be able to sit downwith your.
You know, as a young child witha pediatrician would spend 30
minutes with you.
But even as a young adult youcould easily spend 10 or 15
minutes speaking with yourfamily doc.
That's probably not going tohappen today.
Dr. Michael Koren (04:34):
Yeah.
So I think overall, most peoplewould say it's a little bit of
a mixed bag, but it's certainlynot better than it was a
generation ago, and a lot ofpeople argue that it's worse in
some key metrics, like knowingwhat your plan is after you
visit a healthcare facility orfeeling like you've been heard
by the people that are yourhealthcare providers I think
(04:55):
most people would argue thatthat's probably gotten worse.
Care providers I think mostpeople would argue that that's
probably gotten worse, andthat's kind of a segue to
research.
Research is definitely an areathat's gotten better and it's
probably one of the exceptionsto the rule in terms of where
health care has progressed overthe last generation.
So, for example, you mentionedcancer diagnosis.
Yeah, well, that's a lot betternow because of research.
(05:15):
Research has made astoundingprogress in that area In terms
of treating cholesterol problemswe've made astounding progress
in that area.
Things that were not treatableare now completely treatable,
and problems that led to heartattacks and strokes, such as
your cholesterol level, areextraordinarily treatable
nowadays with veryeasy-to-access, relatively
(05:38):
simple treatments, and these arereally remarkable breakthroughs
.
But the other thing is that justthe whole research experience.
Over the last 25 years we'vedeveloped professional research
sites like the ENCORE ResearchGroup, and now you go in, you
get seen quickly, you havesomebody evaluate whether or not
there's a research program thatmight be to your liking and
(06:02):
helpful to you and your family,and then you have a fun
experience.
That's kind of all laid out foryou and you always know what
the plan is and you always havesomebody that you can easily get
in touch with in terms ofquestions that may arise during
your experience.
And hey, this is even better.
You might even get paid alittle bit for this experience,
right?
So you know, I would argue thatthe research element of health
care has improved dramaticallyand it's probably a little bit
(06:24):
of the exception to the rule ofthe overall not so great track
record of health care over thelast generation.
Kevin Geddings (06:31):
Yeah, no, absolutely.
If you have any questions tooabout what we're talking about
and you'd like to participate inclinical research, there are
opportunities to do that fromright here in St.
Augustine and St.
Johns County with ENCOREResearch Group, go to EncoreDocs
.
com, E-N-C-O-R-E, encoredocs.
com.
I have to ask you too, Dr.Koren.
We hear a lot of news out ofWashington, with the new
(06:53):
administration, of course,making some changes on vaccine
recommendations and researchfunding for vaccines and the
like.
But there are stillopportunities and we're still
moving forward on clinicalresearch right, despite what's
going on in Washington.
Dr. Michael Koren (07:06):
Yeah, it's a little disconcerting and
frustrating, quite frankly.
And you and I have spoken aboutthat specifically the
government wanting to move onfrom messenger RNA vaccines,
which is fine, but insteadthey're just shutting down other
areas of vaccine research,which is not so cool.
But despite those headwindswe're actually still doing
(07:28):
programs.
There's still a lot of reallyexciting science and a lot of
really nice opportunities forpeople to protect themselves and
their family from viruses andother pathogens.
So we're still doing work inthe vaccine space despite some
of these headwinds, andhopefully the government will
straighten itself out.
They are responding, they arestating that they want feedback
(07:48):
and they will adjust theircourse, so we'll see what
happens.
I'm hopeful there.
But overall, we have atremendous number of really,
really exciting programs and,for example, these GLP-1 drugs
are all the rage and now we havemedicines that will be usable
with just one injection a week,for example Actually, one
injection a month rather thanone injection a week, for
(08:09):
example.
So that's a nice example ofbreakthroughs.
And in the lipid space we havetreatments that you take once
every six months, which isreally quite remarkable.
So one of the things we'redoing to make healthcare better
is make it simpler for people bysimplifying the treatment
regimen.
Kevin Geddings (08:25):
Absolutely Well, once again, learn more about
opportunities by going toEncoreDocs.
com.
You can also call.
We were talking earlier abouthow you know healthcare and
access to your physician was somuch easier 25 years ago than it
is today.
Well, you'll get that sort ofMarcus Welby style health care
when you participate in theseclinical trials, right, Dr Koren
?
Dr. Michael Koren (08:45):
Absolutely so .
Part of our mandate is to makesure that we understand
everything about our patients,because our responsibility is to
report the complete experienceof a patient during the clinical
research program to the federalgovernment as part of your
overall process and experience.
And, as you've mentioned manytimes, it's the best health care
you'll ever get.
And again, we emphasize thatthis is care and not necessarily
(09:15):
treatment.
So care is that human-to-humaninteraction that makes us feel
good about our interactions withdifferent people that are
looking out for our well-beingand our wellness.
So hopefully you'll agree with99% of people get surveyed that
they would do another researchstudy once they've been exposed
to their first one.
Kevin Geddings (09:35):
Yep, it's a great experience.
I've been in those with Dr.
Koren and with ENCORE Research.
Karen on our team has as well.
We highly recommend theexperience.
It won't cost you anything andjust maybe a few minutes of your
time to learn how you canparticipate by calling
904-730-0166 for ENCORE ResearchGroup here in St.
(09:55):
John's County 904-730-0166.
And before we let you go, Dr.
Koren, a great resource forfolks that may be inclined to
just Google some healthquestions.
They should try, you know,going to medevidence.
com first correct.
Dr. Michael Koren (10:11):
Yeah, absolutely.
I was at a dinner party overthe weekend and showed a few
people MedEvidence and peopleare just blown away when they
see the wealth of informationthat's on that website and we
have a lot of neat interviews,often between two physicians,
where people can really dig intothe Truth Behind the Data,
(10:31):
really understand what we knowabout a particular area in
medicine what we don't know andhow we learn about the things
that we don't know.
And we also have some reallyjust entertaining guests, just
fascinating people.
So if you just want to learnthe way doctors think and how we
make decisions for ourselvesand our family, check out
MedEvidence! You'll love it.
Kevin Geddings (10:50):
Yeah, no, it's a great resource.
Once again, go to MedEvidence.
com.
That's MedEvidence.
com, Dr.
Michael Koren, thanks for allyour time this morning.
Be safe out there and we'llspeak with you next week, okay,
look forward to it.
Dr. Michael Koren (11:02):
Take care, Kevin
Thanks for joining theMedEvidence podcast.
To learn more, head over tomedevidence.
com or subscribe to our podcaston your favorite podcast
platform.
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