Show Notes

Many thanks to Kyla Plaxton for sharing her personal story and professional tips about the ancient art of acupressure. Kyla learned about acupressure while still a teenager. She was so enthralled with how good it made her feel that she made it her profession. Acupressure is a hands-on therapy that utilizes the same energy meridians as acupuncture but relies on fingertip pressure instead of needles. Kyla explained that peo...

Many thanks to Donnie Bell, MD, a neuro-interventional radiologist and Deputy Chief Medical Officer for New York City Health and Hospitals in New York City, NY, for chatting with me today. Dr. Bell is a co-author of a recent article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association along with Michael Katz, MD, that speaks to the necessity of modernizing the medical licensing and credentialing process due to time-wasting ...

Show Notes
Recorded March 2, 2021

Many thanks to Ken Sommerville, MD, an old friend and colleague, who discussed his 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. 

When I was in training, my academic mentors considered Pharma the “dark side” with the implication that such a career was unworthy of a physician with Oslerian aspirations. Ken provided welcome enlightenment on this narrow perspective.

A colleague’s unexpected invit...

Show Notes

February 17, 2021

Introduction

Many thanks to Jennifer Frontera, MD, Professor of Neurology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, New York, for discussing the new Neuro Databank-Biobank for COVID-19. Dr. Frontera is a neurocritical care specialist and has been caring for COVID-19 patients in New York City since the start of the pandemic. She has contributed to several important research publications on this topic fo...

Show Notes
Recorded February 4, 2021

Many thanks to Kenneth Tyler, MD, for sharing his expertise as a specialist in neurologic infections. Dr. Tyler is Professor and Chair of Neurology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO.

Dr. Tyler recently co-authored a paper on the neurologic complications of COVID-19, “COVID-19: A global threat to the nervous system,” published in the Annals of Neurology, July 2020. You can...

Show Notes

Interview January 8, 2021

Many thanks to Armin Feldman, MD, for sharing his secrets of the new medical subspecialty, “forensic medicine.” A psychiatrist and psychoanalyst by training, Dr. Feldman initially focused his energies on traumatic brain injury patients. However, for the last 13 years, he has assisted attorneys in pre-trial and pre-litigation medical-legal case preparation. Rather than function as an expert witness...

Show Notes

November 17, 2020

Many thanks to David Weinstock, MD, Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Cambridge, MA, for commenting on his recent article published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM 2020;383 (19):1809-1811). Dr. Weinstock’s impeccable credentials make his article all the more persuasive.

Dr. Weinstock reluctantly concluded that it was humanly impos...

Show Notes

November 6, 2020

Many thanks to Maureen Czick, MD, a locum tenens anesthesiologist and author of an intriguing publication that explores the role of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) in the pathophysiology of COVID-19 (Czick et al. 2020).

Dr. Czick shared how locum tenens returned “agency” to her life, which allowed her to spend more time with her family and pursue other interests, such as writing. We also discussed her r...

Show Notes

November 6, 2020

Jeff Anzalone, DDS

Many thanks to Jeff Anzalone, DDS, for sharing his hard-earned wisdom about passive real estate investing during this 20-minute interview. Just two months before starting his first job, his new employer canceled the contract without explanation. Jeff found himself $300,000 in debt, saddled with a mortgage, and faced with supporting a young family. Jeff had to resort to one of his previous...

Many thanks to Gene Sung, MD, Director of Critical Care at LAC-USC Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, for discussing his recent paper "Determination of Brain Death"—The World Brain Death Project. This monumental work took five years to complete and includes input from experts in 45 countries (JAMA 2020;324(11):1078-1097). 

The paper proposes uniformity of the clinical definition of brain death. Dr. Sung related that his academ...

Show Notes

In this 20-minute episode, Memphis real estate agents Dianne and Bruce Milner offer tips for physicians looking to buy their first home. With 40 years of experience between them, Dianne and Bruce discuss the importance of finding an agent with whom you can comfortably communicate. Other topics include how to establish a realistic budget for your new home, work within a realistic timeline, avoid PMI (private mortgage insur...

Episode #20, November 15, 2020

Uma Naidoo, MD

Many thanks to Uma Naidoo, MD, for joining me on this 20-minute episode of “The Art of Medicine with Dr. Andrew Wilner.” Dr. Naidoo is Director of Nutritional and Lifestyle Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital, Cambridge, MA, nutritionist, chef, and author of “This Is Your Brain on Food.”

Dr. Naidoo explained that while growing up, she was surrounded by adults who cooked and enjoye...

Show Notes

Today is September 29, 2020, and we are still in the midst of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. As of today, more than 1 million people have died from COVID-19, 200,000 of them in the USA. I felt compelled to speak with Alfred Alcorn, a well-known author from Massachusetts. Mr. Alcorn wrote a prescient novel, Sugar Mountain, about a devastating pandemic, published in 2013, long before anyone had heard of SARS-CoV-2.

Before devoting...

Show Notes

Dennis Leber

Recorded September 17, 2020

Introduction

Dennis Leber, Chief Information Security Officer (CISIO) at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC), Memphis, TN, joined me for this interview about cybersecurity. Dennis developed his cybersecurity expertise with a stint in the Marines, followed by 14 years in law enforcement. Looking to develop his career, Dennis discovered that cybersecurity addressed...

Many thanks to James Gordon, MD, for joining me on this episode of "The Art of Medicine" to speak about his book, “The Transformation.” Dr. Gordon is a psychiatrist at Georgetown University and the Founder and Director of the Center for Mind-Body Medicine in Washington, DC.

Several months ago, I was invited to write an article on Dr. Gordon’s mind-body skills groups for physicians dealing with the stress of COVID-19. As par...

Anita White is an artist whom I first encountered several years ago while working locum tenens at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, MN. I was so impressed with her work that I commissioned her for the cover of my latest book, "The Locum Life: A Physician's Guide to Locum Tenens." 

Anita began drawing daily while still a teenager. When her husband Josh developed a chronic illness requiring frequent trips to t...

Show Notes

Many thanks to Paul Hill, MD, for discussing the psychiatric repercussions of COVID-19 on “The Art of Medicine with Dr. Andrew Wilner.” Dr. Hill works at the same hospital as I do in Memphis, TN, and we are both faculty of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC).* 

Dr. Hill explained that COVID-19 might have deleterious effects on people with chronic psychiatric disorders by limiting their access to care ...

Show Notes

Many thanks to my friend Michael Weisberg, MD, for joining me on “The Art of Medicine Many thanks to my friend Michael Weisberg, MD, for joining me on Episode #14 of “The Art of Medicine with Dr. Andrew Wilner.” Dr. Weisberg is a full-time gastroenterologist working in Plano, TX, but somehow finds time to write. On today’s program, we discuss his second novel, "In the End."A couple of years ago, I interviewed Mike...

Show Notes

In Episode #4, Rabbi Jeremy Simons and I broached the topic of spiritual healing. The response to that program was so enthusiastic that I wanted to further the discussion. Rabbi Abraham (Abie) Schacter was kind enough to join me on “The Art of Medicine with Dr. Andrew Wilner” to share his insights.

Rabbi Abie is Director of Spiritual Care at the Memphis Jewish Home and Rehabilitation Center in Memphis, TN, and also a Board...