Monday, September 26, 2011

Episode 011: Medical Student Syndrome

Medical Student Syndrome is a common problem for students.  In 1998 Howes and Salkovskis noted that "medical students frequently develop fears and symptoms of illness. This has been termed medical student's disease, nosophobia, hypochondriasis of medical students, and medicalstudentitis."  They cited older studies which concluded that 70% of med students have 'groundless medical fears' during their training, and that 78% had a history of medical student disease.   They surveyed students at Oxford University and found that medical students were less aware of bodily sensations or changes and experienced a lower perception of the risk of illness.  They also were more likely to think that treatment for their illnesses would be effective.

Nevertheless, medical student syndrome is something that students do experience.  We got together with a group of students to talk about their own health anxieties.

Listen: Medical Student Syndrome

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Episode 010: Delivering High-Quality Healthcare in Poor Countries, With Dr. Paul Farmer

Recently, the University of Iowa was lucky enough to get a visit from Dr. Paul Farmer. Farmer, a medical anthropologist and physician, is a founding director of Partners In Health, an international nonprofit organization that provides direct health care services and has undertaken research and advocacy activities on behalf of those who are sick and living in poverty. Dr. Farmer is the Chair of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School; chief of the Division of Global Health Equity at Brigham and Women's Hospital; and the United Nations deputy special envoy for Haiti, under Special Envoy Bill Clinton.

Farmer and his colleagues in the United States and in Haiti, Peru, Russia, Rwanda, Lesotho and Malawi have pioneered novel community-based treatment strategies that demonstrate the delivery of high-quality health care in resource-poor settings.

The medical students were able to get some time with Dr. Farmer for a little Q&A on the challenges he and Partners in Health face when working in such settings.

Listen:  Delivering High-Quality Healthcare in Poor Countries, With Dr. Paul Farmer