20-Minute Health Talk

'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.  

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

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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. 

A new approach to lowering health insurance costs

How do you lower the cost of health insurance? Rather than working through insurance companies, large health systems are cutting out the middle man to offer customizable services directly to self-insured employers. Northwell Health launched Northwell Direct in 2020 to do just that and has seen great success in just one year. The company has partnered with Whole Foods, JetBlue, local schools and more to offer health benefits tailored to each employer's needs. Nick Stefanizzi, CEO of Northwell Direct, and Joe Moscola, PA, executive vice president of enterprise services for Northwell Health, explain. 

Older adults lead the way toward herd immunity

Hospitalizations and death among older Americans have dropped dramatically, promising evidence that the COVID vaccine effort is working. But, COVID-19 is a family illness, explains Maria Carney, MD, chief of geriatric and palliative medicine for Northwell Health. She and Lawrence Eisenstein, MD, health commissioner for Nassau County, join the podcast to emphasize the importance of vaccinating younger people, as well as the critical role of a robust public health infrastructure and collaborative partnerships during crises like COVID-19 and H1N1.

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How integrative medicine helped women during COVID-19

COVID-19 has highlighted the importance of integrative medicine, which combines modern medicine, healthy lifestyle practices and complementary healing modalities. Deborah McElligott, NP, an integrative health and wellness coach at the Center for Wellness and Integrative Medicine at the Katz Institute for Women's Health, discusses this holistic approach to care and how it can benefit a person’s physical, mental and spiritual health.

A diversity emergency in EMS

In the world of emergency medical services (EMS), minorities and women are severely underrepresented, a problem that studies have shown can have consequences on quality of patient care. Bernard Robinson, director of operations for Northwell's Center for Emergency Medical Services, and Tara McEvoy, a paramedic supervisor at Lenox Hill Hospital, discuss the importance of diversity and inclusion in the field, as well their experiences during COVID-19.

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COVID-19 and addiction

Overdoses have spiked since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, many Americans report having started or increased substance use as a way of coping with the crisis. Soteri Polydorou, MD, and Harshal Kirane, MD, discuss these alarming trends and how Northwell's many programs have adapted to meet the rising demand for substance abuse disorder treatment amid COVID-19. Topics include:

• Wellbridge Addiction Treatment and Research Center, which launched amid the pandemic and is expanding access to critical substance abuse disorder services
• What is an addiction?
• Impact on families
• Bringing research to practice

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Dr. Polydorou discusses the support services available during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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I got the COVID vaccine. Now what?

Once we get vaccinated against COVID-19, what can we do and what can’t we do? David Hirschwerk, MD, interim chair of the department of medicine at Northwell Health and attending physician in the division of infectious diseases at North Shore University Hospital and LIJ Medical Center, explains.

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Dr. Hirschwerk discusses the differences among the COVID-19 vaccines in a roundtable discussion. 

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Revolutionizing women's health

Women have been understudied, undertreated and misdiagnosed for decades due to lack of representation in research studies. Stacey Rosen, MD, senior vice president of the Katz Institute for Women's Health explains the history of the one-size-fits-all approach to health care, eliminating health care disparities and the need for more gender-based research, and why healthier and well-informed women mean healthier families and healthier communities.

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Dr. Rosen explains how her team is changing the way we care for women.