The Pursuit of Health Podcast

Dr. Eric Fethke

The Pursuit of Health is a weekly podcast dedicated to a thorough exploration of the American Healthcare System at a critical time in our nation’s history. The podcast’s creator and host, Dr. Eric Fethke, is a pediatric cardiologist and educator trained at Columbia University, with over 25 years of experience practicing medicine. Students, professionals, and everyday people alike are invited to learn from guest experts who are pursuing groundbreaking work to improve America's health. Join us on our journey towards a better healthcare!

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Top 10 The Pursuit of Health Podcast Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best The Pursuit of Health Podcast episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to The Pursuit of Health Podcast for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite The Pursuit of Health Podcast episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

Ep13 (part 2) - Creating Hope Through Patient-Physician Communication, Dr. Welton M. Gersony

The Pursuit of Health Podcast

08/13/21 • 32 min

On Part 2 of Episode 13 of the Pursuit of Health podcast, Dr. Fethke picks up the conversation with a very special guest, his own most influential mentor, Dr. Welton M. Gersony, a pioneer and world-class Pediatric Cardiologist to further expand on his words of wisdom regarding the importance of Patient-Physician Communication.
Together the doctors address the many obstacles that prevent today’s physicians from doing a thorough job. Dr. Gersony expresses his views on Over-Testing and suggests that this is not only an effective way to defend against malpractice suits, but can interfere with a productive patient-physician relationship.
The conversation then turns to the art of giving a patient and family Bad News while not abandoning Hope. He asks physicians to support the family in difficult times, including the loss of a child, in order to lessen the family’s Fear and Guilt. Dr. Gersony eloquently reminds us that we must consider the impacts of illness and death on all members of the family, in order to facilitate their ability to move forward with their own lives, while honoring the memory of the deceased.
Dr. Gersony’s most important message to clinicians is that we should never allow Technology to replace our Humanity as we care for patients. After all, like Dr. Gersony so honestly confesses, many of us became doctors and clinicians with a powerfully pure and simple purpose - “to help people”.
We invite you to join us next time on the Pursuit of Health podcast for our 3rd Take-A-Step-Back session as we pause and reflect on prior episodes #8 thru 11 with a guest physician and medical student.
You can follow Dr. Eric Fethke on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Tik Tok @drfethkemd
(This episode will also available in video format on Youtube @drfethkemd).

Follow me on Instagram and Facebook @ericfethkemd and checkout my website at www.EricFethkeMD.com.
My brand new book, The Privilege of Caring, is out now on Amazon! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CP6H6QN4

Ep22 - The Role of the Physician Assistant: Ally or Competitor? Joseph M Daleo

The Pursuit of Health Podcast

02/25/22 • 53 min

On this episode of The Pursuit of Health Podcast we dive further into the realm of public health by pausing to learn about the invaluable role of the Physician Assistant. We are fortunate to have a frontline clinician, educator and pioneer, Joseph M. Daleo, as our guest to take us through this topic.
Major Daleo is an active member of the US Army Reserve and holds a Doctorate Degree of Physician Assistant Studies from Touro University. He wears many honorable hats including an Assistant Professorship and the Directorship of Clinical Operations at NY Touro College’s Physician Assistant Program. He is a Clinical Instructor for SUNY Stony Brook’s Family Medicine and Nurse Practitioner Program as well as the Supervising Physician Assistant for the American Family Care’s Covid-19 Mitigation and Vaccination Program.
Major Daleo begins our discussion by taking us through his often bumpy personal journey to pursue a health career as a practicing Physician Assistant and educator. In so doing, he emphasizes that Physician Assistants are a vital and unique profession within the US healthcare system. He explains the honorable history of the Physician Assistant profession in the US and marvels at the exponential growth of this field both domestically and globally over the past few decades.
Our guest sheds some very important light on the misconceptions about the Physician Assistant model, stressing that this model supports a complementary, not adversarial, interaction of healthcare professionals on behalf of the patient. He provides us with a sobering reminder of the serious gaps and failures of our current system and provides much needed recommendations to make healthcare partnerships stronger to address the disparities of acute and chronic disease. He sees physician assistants as one of the critical “force multipliers” of a potentially robust approach to healthcare reform.
We finish our fascinating discussion with Major Daleo wisely advising us all to continue to adopt the pioneer spirit that made our health system exceptional in the first place. He urges us to remain open-minded so that we may learn and apply new preventative and treatment modalities to the benefit of our patients, clinicians and society.
Dr. Fethke and the team at The Pursuit of Health Podcast look forward to our audience’s feedback. We can be reached @drfethkemd on Facebook and Instagram, and our upcoming website - drfethkemd.com.
References:

Take a Step Back #2 - A Review of Episodes 4 to 7, Dr. Dominic Berlingieri and Kevin Kriege

The Pursuit of Health Podcast

05/21/21 • 72 min

In our second Take A Step Back episode we take the opportunity to look back over and comment upon Episodes 4 through 7. Our host, Dr. Fethke, is joined by a fourth year medical student, Kevin Kriege, and an experienced pediatrician, Dr. Dominic Berlingieri. Together, they reflect on the lessons gleaned from these four episodes, including;

Episode 4 (Part 2) - Schools play a vital role as entry points into the U.S. Healthcare System and as part of the ongoing health team for children.

Episode 5 (Parts 1&2) - Time is a more valuable commodity than money. When this Time and the role of the physician are appropriately valued, this can strengthen the Patient Physician Relationship. In the end, Trust and Mutual Respect actually reduce costs and allow health providers to provide better care.

Episode 6 (Parts 1&2) - When the different components of the healthcare system do not communicate well with each other, the patients suffer tremendously. The transition of care for a patient is a weak point in our current healthcare system which is urgently in need of improvement. Taking full responsibility for our patients’ is paramount if we are to learn from the many pitfalls revealed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Episode 7 (Parts 1&2) - We all have varying degrees of Implicit Bias which we must consciously recognize and not ignore. However, it is just as important to good patient care that we consider and respect our unique cultural, racial and socioeconomic differences. We must address the “whole” patient.

This hour long reflection from the frontlines was once again captivating. There was a refreshing level of honesty and insightfulness that expanded our horizons. The dynamic of student and seasoned physician provided constructive advice that will benefit us all. Take A Step Back has once again proved to be a great success. This retrospective format from physicians young and old forms the glue that binds our episodes into a collection of works that will Empower our audience.
You can follow Dr. Eric Fethke on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Tik Tok @drfethkemd
(This episode is also available in video format on Youtube @drfethkemd).

Ep1 (part 1) - Welcome to the Pursuit of Health Podcast

The Pursuit of Health Podcast

01/01/21 • 29 min

Dr. Eric Fethke begins this first episode with an introduction to the mission and philosophy of The Pursuit of Health. As our host, he invites us to recognize the role that our healthcare system plays in promoting the value of every individual’s life, so that we as a people may rediscover the revolutionary principles of our founding fathers.

After this introduction, Dr. Fethke kicks off the main content of the Pursuit of Health Podcast by sharing the experiences of his own patients within the current healthcare system. He tells the remarkable stories of two of his patients with chronic medical conditions, who must overcome unforeseen obstacles in the US healthcare system just to stay alive.
He also provides a brief but thorough history of our American insurance system over the past century. By exploring the initial altruistic goals of this system, Dr. Fethke reveals how we have lost sight of the original pursuit for comprehensive and equitable access to high-quality medical care.
Dr. Fethke continues this discussion in Part 2 of this first episode, where he analyzes the efficacy of our current healthcare system and outlines some of his suggestions for how we can improve.
You can follow Dr. Eric Fethke on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Tik Tok @drfethkemd

Ep19 - Male Infertility, Dr. Tolulope Bakare

The Pursuit of Health Podcast

01/14/22 • 72 min

As we start 2022 we are honored to begin the second year of the Pursuit of Health Podcast with a very special guest - Dr.Tolu Bakare. She is an American Board Certified urologist with a special focus on Male Infertility. Currently she is an Assistant Professor at UT Southwestern where she cares for patients, teaches students and does clinical research. She is a graduate of the medical school at Penn State College of Medicine, after which she completed her General Surgery and Urology training at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, and finally a Fellowship in Male Infertility at the University of Illinois College of Medicine.
It is also notable that she is a woman of color in a male-dominated field of medicine who is intent on improving the diversity of physicians entering Reproductive Urology. She believes we need to open up her field to other female physicians of color in order to establish a more balanced representation of the community of patients she serves.
Dr. Bakare begins the discussion with an introduction to the field of Male Infertility also referred to as Reproductive Urology. She outlines the statistics regarding the prevalence of Male Infertility which are strikingly similar to that of Female Infertility. Most importantly, she emphasizes that Male Fertility needs to be viewed by professionals and lay people alike as a legitimate disease worthy of the American health care system’s full attention.
Dr. Bakare reviews the numerous social and medical misconceptions around Infertility in general and Male Fertility specifically. This includes the inappropriate, harmful and overused application of testosterone treatments. She stresses that the best way to address Male Infertility is to approach it as a Family or Couple’s problem, not the fault of the individual man. Dr. Bakare wants everyone to know that “When we treat Male Infertility appropriately as a serious illness, we also are treating men’s overall health”.
Dr. Bakare finishes our eye-opening discussion with her efforts to ensure that state-of-the-art training and medical care becomes the standard for all physicians treating Male Infertility. She reinforces the need to expand the number of female and colored physicians in her field. Only in this way does she believe that both high quality and equitable access to such quality care can be assured for everyone regardless of gender or race. Ever the optimist, Dr. Bakare sees a bright future for those treating people with Male Infertility.
We at the Pursuit of Health Podcast wish Everyone a Happy New Year. We look forward to a full line up of exciting guests with very provocative and stimulating discussions. We can be reached through Facebook and Instagram @drfethkemd and soon on our website at drfethkemd.com.

References:

Fainberg J, Kashanian JA. Recent advances in understanding and managing male infertility. F1000Res. 2019;8:F1000 Faculty Rev-670. Published 2019 May 16. doi:10.12688/f1000research.17076.1
Roozbeh N, Amirian A, Abdi F, Haghdoost S. A Systematic Review on Use of Medicinal Plants for Male Infertility Treatment. J Family Reprod Health. 2021 Jun;15(2):74-81. doi: 10.18502/jfrh.v15i2.6447. PMID: 34721595; PMCID: PMC8520662.
Krausz C, Riera-Escamilla A. Genetics of male infertility. Nat Rev Urol. 2018 Jun;15(6):369-384. doi: 10.1038/s41585-018-0003-3. PMID: 29622783.

Ep4 (part 2) - The Experience of Public School Nurse Working with America’s Immigrant Students, Dr. Elizabeth Sassi from Monroe-Woodbury Central School District

The Pursuit of Health Podcast

02/12/21 • 31 min

On this episode of The Pursuit of Health Podcast, we continue our visit with Dr. Elizabeth Sassi, a Nurse Practitioner on the front lines of the Covid-19 pandemic in a large public school system just outside New York City. As a nurse with 38 years of experience, including 20 years in critical care and a background in Epidemiology, she brings a unique perspective to the role that public education plays in balancing health and education in these difficult times.
In Part 1, we followed Dr. Sassi and her colleagues through their arduous and compassionate efforts to cope with the Covid-19 pandemic. In Part 2 she provides keen insights on facing the pandemic through the Winter and into the Summer of 2021. She remembers some of the emotionally trying moments with her students, their families, and her colleagues.
Dr. Sassi dives further into the role of public education as an entry point into the U.S. Healthcare System, particularly for the underserved such as America’s newest immigrants. She shares the story of one particular young immigrant student who left a lasting impact on her life in response to a moment of kindness from Dr. Sassi and her family.
We discuss the myriad obstacles that new Immigrants face as they try to reach for a better life. Dr. Sassi has seen the lack of access to medical services, inequities due to language barriers, the fear of losing a job at odds with the needs for accurate reporting of health status, and the effects on health due to limited housing.

Dr. Sassi reminds us that we are a land of immigrants and that it takes a community to raise a child well. She asks us all to prioritize our health above the fears that we face daily. She makes us believe again that together we can go beyond fear and build a better community and society.

Dr. Elizabeth Sassi and the resources of her school system can be reached at www.mw.k12.ny.us.
You can follow Dr. Eric Fethke on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Tik Tok @drfethkemd
(This episode is also available in video format on Youtube @drfethkemd).

Ep31 - Freedom of Speech as a Prerequisite to a Healthy Society, Professor Kathy Kiely

The Pursuit of Health Podcast

10/27/22 • 69 min

Our host, Dr. Fethke, dedicates this episode to a remarkable college classmate and friend at a time when she needs everyone’s support. This person is none other than Maria Ressa, the recipient of the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize, recognized for her tireless efforts over the past three decades to champion Freedom of the Press in the face of overwhelming obstacles. In the words of the Nobel Committee, Maria Ressa received the Nobel Peace Prize jointly with Russia’s Dmitry Muratov for "their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace."
In order to do justice to Ressa’s cause, Dr. Fethke has invited a very special and highly knowledgeable guest, Professor Kathy Kiely. She is the Lee Hills Chair in Free Press Studies at the Missouri School of Journalism. She has worked more than four decades as a reporter and editor for regional and national newspapers as well as online and multimedia publications. She has been recognized for her passionate support of transparency, free speech and education. After a long career covering politics in Washington, Kiely moved into the classroom full-time because, she says, universities are the laboratories that will discover the formula for making fact-based journalism viable again. Kiely has covered regional and national politics for a number of news outlets, including USA TODAY, the New York Daily News, the Houston Post, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and the Pittsburgh Press. She served as an editor for WAMU, Bill Moyers, the Sunlight Foundation, Bloomberg Politics and helped coordinate the National Journal's campaign coverage with CBS News. She also served on the Congressional Standing Committee of Correspondents and on the boards of the National Press Club Journalism Institute and the Daily Princetonian. She holds a master's degree from American University and a bachelor's degree from Princeton University. She is the inaugural Press Freedom Fellow for the National Press Club‘s nonprofit Journalism Institute.
Prof. Kiely is a well recognized advocate of Journalistic Freedom who believes that Maria Ressa’s voice is at an extremely high risk of being silenced by those in power in the Philippines who are threatened by the integrity and truth of her work. Kiely has commented that the Nobel Peace Prize given to journalists Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov is a warning that across the globe, “forces of darkness and intolerance are on the march... Journalists are the canaries in the mine shaft.
In this episode, Prof. Kiely teaches us why Freedom of Speech and Health are intrinsically linked. Dr. Fethke and Prof. Kiely review the rationale behind the U.S. Consititution’s 1st Amendment protecting free speech and a free press. She then clearly reviews the evolution of digital and social media, with its pros and cons. She defines the concepts of Misinformation and Disinformation, clarifying why the latter is so dangerous to us all. She explains that the Nobel Committee has specifically recognized Maria Ressa because she has led the way for us all to understand the impact of Disinformation and is actively working on solutions to regain the integrity of facts and bring the truth back to journalism. Kiely stresses that the battles that Maria Ressa and her journalist team at Rappler are fighting in the Philippines are critically relevant to the Global pursuit of democracy. As Kiely reminds us, “My father fought in WW2 to defend and help establish a free Philippines. We must never forget that Maria Ressa’s defense of Freedom of the Press is a part of our fathers’ legacies. To do so would be a dishonor to their cause and memory.”

LINKS:

House: https://www.house.gov/

Ep28 - Ripped Off by the American Healthcare System, Dr. Gilbert Simon

The Pursuit of Health Podcast

08/19/22 • 68 min

On today's episode of The Pursuit of Health Podcast, Dr. Fethke is joined by a pediatrician leader and educator who has practiced for over half a century, Dr. Gilbert Simon. Dr. Simon started his pediatric career at Columbia University’s Babies & Children’s Hospital during the same era as many of Dr. Fethke’s most esteemed mentors. After years of working in the metropolitan northeast in a prestigious academic center, Dr. Simon made a life-changing career move to the west coast where he ultimately founded and served as the Medical Director and CEO of the Sacramento Family Medical Clinics. It was here that all his experience, including his military service in the 1960’s working for a branch of the U.S. Center for Disease Control, came in handy.

He ultimately ran the clinics for low income families in Sacramento California with virtually 100% Medicaid fixed resources which “lasted 26 years longer than anyone believed I could,” by identifying and decreasing wasteful healthcare expenses. In 2019 Dr Simon gathered all of his experience and lessons learned while running the California clinic and serving as a subcommittee member of California Medical Association’s Medi-Cal to write an amazing and must read book - RIPPED OFF! Overtested and Overcharged, the American Healthcare Mess.

During our discussion with Dr. Simon from his California home office, he shared some of the highlights from his book, including the overuse of Unnecessary Services, Inflated Prices, Fraud, Excess Administrative Costs, and the Lack of Coordination and Fragmentation. Along the way he provides some very clear and practical examples of each of these problems that combined have created the “Mess” that U.S. Healthcare finds itself in today.

As with many of the wonderful clinician leaders and visionary guests on our podcast, Dr. Simon provides solutions to the myriad problems he has identified and so clearly revealed in his book for lay people, policymakers and healthcare professionals alike. Most importantly, he can back up his vision and recommendations by years of his own success facing many of these issues in his pioneering career. Dr. Simon gives us a sense of sober hope that our healthcare system can be salvaged and benefit from the exceptional work of those who have come before us and will follow in the future. We would all do well to heed his advice before it is too late.

As always, we at The Pursuit of Health Podcast look forward to our audience response to this and any of our episodes. We can be reached at drfeethkemd on Facebook and Instagram and our website-drfethkemd.com.

Book References:

RIPPED OFF! Overtested, Overtreated and Overcharged, the American Healthcare Mess. Paper Raven Books. March 3 2020.
www.gilbertsimonmd.com

Ep8 (part 1) - Preventing Sudden Cardiac Death in the Young, the Founders of Parent Heart Watch

The Pursuit of Health Podcast

04/16/21 • 50 min

In Part 1 of this episode of The Pursuit of Health Podcast - in a co-branded session with Parent Heart Watch, the Louis J. Acompora Memorial Foundation and the Dominic Murray 21 Memorial Foundation - Dr. Fethke sits down with three thought leaders and pioneers who have spent the past two decades addressing the recognition and prevention of Sudden Cardiac Arrest and Death, particularly in the young.
For the first time, Dr. Fethke welcomes three guests at once to inform our audience about this very important and often under recognized topic -
-Martha Lopez-Anderson: Executive Director of Parent Heart Watch (PHW)

-Karen Acompora: Founder & President of the Louis J. Acompora Memorial Foundation & Board Chair of PHW

-Melinda Murray: Founder & President of the Dominic Murray 21 Memorial Foundation & Board Secretary of PHW

(Together Melinda Murray’s and Karen Acompora’s Foundations combine their efforts as Heart Screen New York)

This episode’s discussion is motivated by several critical features of Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD) and Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA);

SCA is often the first clinical presentation of SCD
1/300 youth live with an underlying heart condition that places them at risk for a SCA
SCA in the young claims 7,000-10,000 individuals/year which translates to 24 deaths/day or 1 life lost every 1-2 minutes
Amongst SCA Victims -
1. 49% have had a family history of others with similar cardiac problems
2. 60-72% have had preceding symptoms or other warning signs not recognized by their medical practitioners
The American Academy of Pediatrics acknowledges that warning signs and risk factors are often missed by medical professionals, parents and youth
The current existing and recommended cardiac risk assessment tools are largely unused
A History and Physical exam alone miss more youth at risk for SCA/SCD than when a properly performed and interpreted ECG is included as part of the screening process

PHW was founded in 2005 by 4 mothers of children who were victims of SCD. It has become a nationally-recognized entity that focuses on three main steps:

Cultivating Local Champions
Providing the Architecture for Collaborations at all levels
Motivating Parents

PHW work has now expanded in several areas;

Sponsoring and promotion of research to fill the void of accurate and comprehensive data regarding SCA and SCD.
Establishing Best Practices Models to address Prevention (Primary and Secondary) through Education.
Impacting Educators, Sports leaders, and medical and policy-making stakeholders to recognize and address SCA/SCD Syndrome.

Our guests share their personal journeys that allowed them to overcome one of the greatest tragedies a person can experience - the loss of a child - to ultimately undertake this Herculean task of changing the landscape of SCA and SCD. As they express in poignantly clear terms, they continue this work for others so “that the loss of their son or daughter is not in vain.”

Next time, in Part 2, we will continue our discussion in which our guests describe their hurdles, successes and visions for the future in their work to combat SCA/SCD.

To Learn More, Please Visit:
https://parentheartwatch.org/
https://heartscreennewyork.com/
https://la12.org/
https://www.domheart21.org/

You can follow Dr. Eric Fethke on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Tik Tok @drfethkemd
(This episode is also available in video format on Youtube @drfethkemd).

Ep 60: A Guide to Healing, Health, and Happiness thru the Mind-Heart Connection w/ Dr Jonathan Fisher

The Pursuit of Health Podcast

11/12/24 • 54 min

“Together as a community, we share just one heart.”

This week’s episode is a treat - a deep dive into the philosophy of Dr. Jonathan Fisher, cardiologist, clinician advocate, and author of the fantastic book Just One Heart: A Cardiologist's Guide to Healing, Health, and Happiness.

Jonathan shares how he drew on his own experiences, of medical school burnout and inspirational parents, to encourage our healthcare system to rethink the way it looks at heart health. His vision is holistic, and in this discussion he talks passionately with our host, and fellow cardiologist, Dr. Eric Fethke.

——

We spoke about the long history behind the mind-body relationship as part of medicine and humanity itself, how emotional and spiritual health impacts heart health, the origins and impact of burnout in all aspects of life, the health benefits of applying emotional health and strengthening emotional IQ, and finally, how policymakers, healthcare institutions, and medical educators can and should incorporate the mind-body relationship into our healthcare system.

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FAQ

How many episodes does The Pursuit of Health Podcast have?

The Pursuit of Health Podcast currently has 78 episodes available.

What topics does The Pursuit of Health Podcast cover?

The podcast is about Health Insurance, Health & Fitness, Medicine and Podcasts.

What is the most popular episode on The Pursuit of Health Podcast?

The episode title 'Ep30 - An Eldercare Lawyer’s Perspective on Aging in America, Louis Pierro Esq.' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on The Pursuit of Health Podcast?

The average episode length on The Pursuit of Health Podcast is 48 minutes.

How often are episodes of The Pursuit of Health Podcast released?

Episodes of The Pursuit of Health Podcast are typically released every 11 days, 9 hours.

When was the first episode of The Pursuit of Health Podcast?

The first episode of The Pursuit of Health Podcast was released on Jan 1, 2021.

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The Pursuit of Health Podcast

Dr. Eric Fethke

Top 10 The Pursuit of Health Podcast Episodes

FAQ

How many episodes does The Pursuit of Health Podcast have?

What topics does The Pursuit of Health Podcast cover?

What is the most popular episode on The Pursuit of Health Podcast?

What is the average episode length on The Pursuit of Health Podcast?

How often are episodes of The Pursuit of Health Podcast released?

When was the first episode of The Pursuit of Health Podcast?

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