Raise the Line - What Clinicians Can Learn About Managing Uncertainty: Dr. Jenny Moffett of RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dublin

What Clinicians Can Learn About Managing Uncertainty: Dr. Jenny Moffett of RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dublin

02/20/25 • 25 min

Having the ability to manage uncertainty is helpful in all professions, but perhaps especially so in medicine where uncertainty abounds and the stakes for managing it are high. Despite that, medical students receive little training in this area, something which our guest today, Dr. Jenny Moffett of RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences in Dublin, is working to change. “There are approaches to uncertainty that can be learned. We can change our perspective and perceptions around uncertainty, stepping away from always viewing it as something aversive, but perhaps maybe looking at it with a little bit more curiosity and openness, and that's definitely a transformation that faculty can make,” says Dr. Moffett, the program director of the Postgraduate Diploma in Health Professions Education. In addition to a perspective shift, Moffett also believes providers should develop skills to talk about uncertainty with patients in an open and honest way. “Clinicians can say, I'm on this journey with you. I don't have all of the answers, but we have paths, we have options, and I'll be there with you as we work them out.” Join host Caleb Furnas as he explores Dr. Moffett’s fascinating work in this area which includes development of an immersive puzzle game that encourages students to address complex, ambiguous, and unpredictable issues.

Mentioned in this episode:

RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences

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Mentioned in this episode:

RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences

If you like this podcast, please share it on your social channels. You can also subscribe to the series and check out all of our episodes at www.osmosis.org/raisethelinepodcast

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undefined - The Role of Clinicians in Addressing Climate Change: Dr. Catharina Giudice, Climate and Human Health Fellow, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

The Role of Clinicians in Addressing Climate Change: Dr. Catharina Giudice, Climate and Human Health Fellow, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

The Role of Clinicians in Addressing Climate Change: Dr. Catharina Giudice, Climate and Human Health Fellow, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

“The healthcare system is in this interesting intersection when it comes to its roles and responsibilities as it pertains to climate change,” says our Raise the Line guest Dr. Catharina Giudice, a research fellow in climate and human health at Harvard University. As she explains to host Hillary Acer, the medical industry is a major producer of the greenhouse gasses that are contributing to serious health impacts on patients, especially those who are already vulnerable due to pre-existing conditions and economic struggles. Giudice, whose academic work focuses on healthcare sector climate preparedness, believes this paradox requires a response from clinicians. “There's so many small things that you can do as an individual clinician to make a difference in the climate change intersection.” Options include working to change hospital practices, educating peers and patients on the health impacts of climate change, and advocacy in the public policy arena. In this thought-provoking installment in our NextGen Journeys series, you’ll also learn how the healthcare delivery system is being affected by climate change, and about a new concentration in climate change and planetary health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Mentioned in this episode:

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Harvard University Center for the Environment

Practice Greenhealth

If you like this podcast, please share it on your social channels. You can also subscribe to the series and check out all of our episodes at www.osmosis.org/raisethelinepodcast

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undefined - Fighting the Deceiving Label of ‘Rare’: Zainab Alani, Fourth Year Student at University of Glasgow School of Medicine and Rare Conditions Advocate

Fighting the Deceiving Label of ‘Rare’: Zainab Alani, Fourth Year Student at University of Glasgow School of Medicine and Rare Conditions Advocate

To mark International Rare Disease Day, we're going to introduce you to a remarkable young woman, Zainab Alani, who is not letting her challenging rare condition stand in the way of her dream of becoming a physician. After noticing Zainab’s struggles with muscle weakness and fatigue at age 15, her mother – a physician – took her to doctors advocating for a diagnosis of the rare autoimmune condition generalized myasthenia gravis (MG). Unfortunately, a series of clinicians attributed her symptoms to her menstrual cycle and other errant causes and even accused Zainab of being ‘a lazy teenager.’ “Despite having that support and knowledge behind me, these doctors were dismissing my symptoms because of that deceiving label of rare,” Zainab explains to host Lindsey Smith. Wanting to spare others from this frustrating diagnostic odyssey, Zainab turned to advocacy once in medical school and is working with her sister and others through the organization Rare Aware Glasgow to raise awareness among the general public about rare conditions and to spur the medical community to adjust its perspective. “We don't expect medical professionals to know every single rare disease, we just want them to acknowledge their existence and not dismiss them when a family member or a patient brings them up as a differential diagnosis.” In this inspiring episode in our Year of the Zebra podcast series you’ll also learn about intersectionality creating burdens in medical diagnosis and a questionable basis for patients being denied access to new treatments.

Mentioned in this episode:

Rare Aware Glasgow
The Myasthenia Medic

If you like this podcast, please share it on your social channels. You can also subscribe to the series and check out all of our episodes at www.osmosis.org/raisethelinepodcast