I want to thank Dr. Jonas Attilus for inviting me as his guest on the most recent episode of “Social Medicine on Air,” out this week. I’m so glad to introduce you to this series!
You may remember Dr. Attilus from his interivew about power, humility and trust in physician/patient communication. Dr. Attilus blew me away with his insights and candor, even in our brief conversation.
Well, he has some friends–Sebastian Fonseca, Raghav Goyal, Brendan Johnson, Leila Sabbagh, and Poetry Thomas–and they have a show together, where they have discussions like this all the time.
Their show notes explain: Social Medicine on Air is “a podcast where we explore the field of social medicine with healthcare practitioners, activists, and researchers. Social medicine hopes to work for a world of justice and health – especially for the most marginalized – and connects clinical care to the deeper causes of health and illness. Through our conversational interviews, we hope to create a warm and welcoming space to learn about social medicine and meet the amazing people you’ll find there.”
Dr. Attilus’ co-host Dr. Brenan Jhonson (who I also met last year and is wonderful) was interviewed about the show for the University of Minnesota med school. Why a podcast about social medicine? Dr. Johnson explains:
“I first learned about social medicine through a lunch lecture given by Dr. Michael Westerhaus. But beyond an event like this, it felt like there wasn’t a good introduction out there to the world of social medicine. I’ve always loved the accessibility of podcasting, so we thought it would be a good way for people to get their ideas percolating without having to read an entire book or take a full course. We’re getting ideas out there in an accessible way,” Johnson said.
“We’re hoping we can help change conversations about medicine, justice, equality, and human rights, and help people bring a more critical lens towards health practices by asking new questions. We hope to add to the community of people that are interested in these new perspectives. There are already a lot of people in the Twin Cities area that are in this ecosystem, and it’s wonderful to be a part of it.”
Again I’m grateful to Dr. Attilus and the entire Social Medicine on Air team for inviting me to sit down and talk with them about pressing questions around bias, our language, and reflecting on our communication as professionals when we’re committed to equity. Listen to my interview here.
