Stanford Medcast: Expert Voices in Medicine and Healthcare

In today’s episode, we speak with Latha Palaniappan MD who is an internist, and clinical and population researcher at Stanford University. Her research has focused on the study of diverse populations, chronic disease and prevention. Dr. Palaniappan specifically seeks to address the gap in knowledge of health in Asian subgroups and other understudied racial/ethnic minorities). We will discuss Dr. Palaniappan's work in treating chronic heart health seen in this diverse population of patients.
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CME Eligibility End Date: 4/17/26

In this episode, we focus on women in critical care medicine with Dr. Vanessa Bohns, a social psychologist, professor and chair or organizational behavior at Cornell University. We will discuss cognitive biases that lead employees to underestimate their influence over others in the workplace. Our discussion will include how underestimation of influence may be at play within the context of medicine and identifying moderating factors that attenuate the underestimation effect. We will also focus on real-world solutions to help employees more fully recognize their influence over other members of the organization.
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CME Eligibility End Date: 4/10/26

In this episode, we speak with Danielle Dawes, a women’s health nurse practitioner at Stanford University about perinatal mental health and how it is diagnosed. We also discuss the stigma associated with the conditions that fall under the umbrella of Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders, which refers to “a mental health disorder experienced during pregnancy, after having a new baby, adopting, or experiencing pregnancy/infant loss." Our conversation includes screening tools and resources to help patients. Additionally, Danielle shares various treatment options available to patients, including non-pharmacological strategies, such as exercise, meditation, proper sleep hygiene and more.
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CME Eligibility End Date: 04/03/26

In honor of Women's History Month, in this episode, we continue to focus on sharing stories of women in medicine. Today, we speak with Dr. Carla Pugh who is a Professor of Surgery at Stanford University School of Medicine. Our discussion will focus on when Dr. Pugh first considered pursuing medicine and what sparked her interest. Dr. Pugh will share her journey with us, her insights into what helped her get to where she is today and the she will also talk about the issues facing minority women in medicine today.
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CME Eligibility End Date: 3/20/26

In this episode, we focus on the impact of Women in Medicine, with Raji Koppolu, a pediatric nurse practitioner with the general surgery service at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford. Raji provides direct clinical care in both inpatient and ambulatory settings and has been involved in the development of the trauma and injury prevention programs and subspecialty general surgery clinics. She has a strong interest in the transition of complex patients from hospital to home. Today, Raji shares her journey as a nurse practitioner and advocate for children, through her work as a clinician in clinical care to health policy and QI.
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CME Eligibility End Date: 3/6/2026

In this episode, Dr. Gary Hartman, a Clinical Professor of Pediatric Surgery at Stanford University, shares his journey through medical school and into pediatric surgery. Dr. Hartman discusses the common conditions he sees in his practice today, including developmental maladies, where organs do not develop normally prior to birth. Operating on babies is much more challenging than operating on adults, as the margin of error is very limited in babies. Dr. Hartman will share the challenges and rewards of the work he is doing in caring for neonates.
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CME Eligibility End Date: February 20, 2026
 

In this episode, we speak with Dr. Megan Vo, a pediatrician at Stanford Medicine who focuses on treating eating disorders in children, teens and young adults. Listen in as we discuss the most common types of eating disorders in pediatric patients, including restrictive eating disorders, anorexia nervosa, avoidant restrictive food intake disorder and binge eating disorders.
Discussion also includes the symptoms of eating disorders, how to spot them in your pediatric or adolescent patients, and the benefits of collaborating with other healthcare providers and families to treat/manage eating disorders in your patients. We will also address the impact of social media on eating disorders, factors that lead to eating disorders and resources available to clinicians.
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CME Eligibility End Date: February 06, 2026

In this episode, podcast host - Dr. Ruth Adewuya presents highlights from her conversations with Season 3 guests to date.
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CME Eligibility End Date: 1/16/2026 

In this episode, we talk with Dr. Michael Gisondi, Vice Chair of Education in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Stanford University who is a medical education researcher and an expert in the application of social media in medical education. Dr. Gisondi will share insights about the pros and cons of social media. We will discuss how digital and social media is the new wave of online learning and learn the five steps to debunk social media misinformation.
To learn more, please see these resources:
Pendergrast, T. R., Jain, S., Trueger, N. S., Gottlieb, M., Woitowich, N. C., & Arora, V. M. (2021). Prevalence of Personal Attacks and Sexual Harassment of Physicians on Social Media. JAMA internal medicine, 181(4), 550–552. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2020.7235
Gisondi, M. A., Barber, R., Faust, J. S., Raja, A., Strehlow, M. C., Westafer, L. M., & Gottlieb, M. (2022). A Deadly Infodemic: Social Media and the Power of COVID-19 Misinformation. Journal of medical Internet research, 24(2), e35552. https://doi.org/10.2196/35552
http://www.momthisishowtwitterworks.com/
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CME Eligibility End Date: 12/19/25

In this episode, we discuss the types of help and support available to healthcare workers in distress with Ariel Brown, PhD, Board President & Founder of The Emotional PPE Project. Physician burnout, depression, suicide, and other forms of occupational distress is a significant issue in modern medicine. Each year in the United States, one in 10 physicians think about or attempt suicide, around 400 die by suicide each year, and more than half of physicians know of a colleague who has either thought about, attempted or committed suicide. Suicidal ideation has been associated with high workload volume and medical errors. Physicians who experience suicidal ideation have been shown to be less likely to seek the help they need. Today, we will discuss the ways in which clinicians can receive the help they need. 
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CME Eligibility End Date: December 5, 2025