20-Minute Health Talk

How to handle youth sports during COVID-19

Pediatric orthopedic surgeons Allison Spitzer, MD, and Elaine Tran, MD, explain how kids can avoid injury, and COVID-19, as they return to their favorite sports. (Recorded June 8, 2021)

More from the experts:

• 6 tips to avoid pickleball injuries
• Northwell STARS Rehabilitation gets pickleball player back on the court. Read more.
• 4 reasons for rising ACL tears and other knee injuries

Preventing sports injuries

New York Islanders legend Bobby Nystrom teams up with Certified Athletic Trainer Roger Gerland, MSPT/ATC, to talk sport injury prevention. As a director at Northwell Health's STARS Rehabilitation, Roger treats athletes at all levels and offers tips on how to stay in the game, as well as what to look for in a doctor if you do get hurt. After his playing career, Bobby refocused his energy on bicycling, marathons and spartan races. He shares how he has adapted his training to fit his new passions.  

Watch episodes of the podcast on YouTube.

More from the experts

• 6 tips to avoid pickleball injuries
• Northwell STARS Rehabilitation gets pickleball player back on the court. Read more.
• 4 reasons for rising ACL tears and other knee injuries

Global health experts reflect on first mission trip since COVID-19

Shari Jardine spent the last week in Ecuador vaccinating locals as part of Northwell's Center for Global Health (CGH) and joins the podcast from one of its vaccination pods. In March 2020, COVID-19 grounded Northwell's growing Global Health program, which had developed core sites in Guyana, India, and Ecuador. Eric Cioe-Pena, MD, CGH director, explains how the team maintained their global relationships virtually, and eventually resumed travel, starting with this three-week mission. 

More from the experts

Dr. Cioe-Pena explains how to develop an effective global public health program.

How pipeline programs boost diversity in medicine

Designed to expose minority students to careers in medicine, the Medical Scholars Pipeline Program is now in its 12th year. Britney Nathan, MD, was among the first students to participate, and this week begins her residency as an OB/GYN at Long Island Jewish Medical Center and North Shore University Hospital. She joins Gina Granger, assistant director of pipeline programs at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, to discuss the value the program brings to students and the communities they go on to serve. 

Fred Guttenberg and Dr. Chethan Sathya

After his 14-year-old daughter, Jaime, was killed in a school shooting in 2018, Fred Guttenberg devoted his life to gun violence prevention and firearm safety. Now, he is helping Northwell's Center for Gun Violence Prevention (CGVP) in its mission to mobilize the health care industry around this public health issue. He joins Chethan Sathya, MD, director of the CGVP and a pediatric trauma surgeon, to discuss how they plan to do that. 

More from the experts

Dr. Sathya details why health care must drive gun violence prevention, and how to do it.

Watch episodes of 20-Minute Health Talk on Youtube.

The future of the flu and other common illnesses in the age of COVID-19

As states like New York and California lift mandates on COVID-19 safety precautions and fully reopen, we will likely see other viruses like influenza and the common cold resurge. David Hirschwerk, MD, interim chair of the department of medicine at Northwell Health and an infectious disease attending, explains what to expect going into the summer and fall months.

Post-COVID recovery programs offer hope

The lingering effects of COVID-19 can be alarming for patients, some of whom are still dealing with shortness of breath, brain fog or other symptoms for weeks, months, or longer after recovering from the virus. Ankita Sagar, MD, is the director of Northwell's COVID Ambulatory Resource Support (CARES) program, which offers its patients, currently more than 4,000, everything they may need to safely and comfortably recover. She joins David Battinelli, MD, chief medical officer, to discuss Northwell's unique approach and the latest research being done on post-acute sequelae of COVID-19.

'BRAINterns' offers new model for medical internships

A free virtual shadowing program called “BRAINterns” gave more than 16,000 students from 87 countries an inside look at careers in the medical field in summer 2020. Randy D’Amico, MD, neurosurgeon at Lenox Hill Hospital, explains how the webinar series replaced educational opportunities lost during the COVID-19 crisis, while expanding access to populations that are underrepresented in medicine. The program returns for a second year starting on July 1 and registration is open.  

More from the experts

Dr. D'Amico explains the role genetics play in brain cancer, and how they may help more than they hurt.

Watch episodes of 20-Minute Health Talk on YouTube. 

Was the face mask mandate lifted too soon?

Today, New York lifted many of its COVID-19-related restrictions, adopting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's updated guidelines on masking and social distancing for fully vaccinated people. Mark Jarrett, MD, chief quality officer and deputy chief medical officer for Northwell Health, explains why he believes the "sudden" change to the guidelines may be too soon.

COVID-19's impact on children's mental health

A year of school shutdowns, social isolation and family trauma has taken a toll on children's mental and emotional health. Andrew Adesman, MD, chief of developmental and behavioral pediatrics, discusses the broad array of consequences from COVID-19 and how pediatricians are changing their playbook to meet their patients' evolving needs.