Tune in to our radio show on your local public radio station, or sign up for the podcast and listen at your leisure. Here’s what it’s about:
The annual checkup with a physical exam has been a ritual of health care for decades. But does it make sense for your doctor to do an exam if you are feeling quite well and have no symptoms?
Some experts suggest that the annual physical does not save lives, though it may lead to additional tests and health care interventions. How can we be wise about the tests we undergo? What is the advantage of seeing our doctor regularly, even if we don’t get a checkup? Will technology make the doctor visit obsolete?
Guests: Christine K. Cassel, MD, MACP, is president and CEO of the American Board of Internal Medicine and the ABIM Foundation. She is board certified in internal medicine and geriatric medicine. She talks with us about Choosing Wisely, a program the American Board of Internal Medicine has created for both doctors and patients. It is designed to help people determine which diagnostic and treatment procedures really make sense. The organization has published over 90 suggestions of which diagnostics and procedures may be unnecessary. Click on “Choosing Wisely” above to get the list.
Danielle Ofri, MD, PhD, is a physician at Bellevue Hospital, the oldest public hospital in country. She writes about medicine and the doctor-patient connection for The New York Times and other publications. Dr. Ofri is co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of the Bellevue Literary Review, the first literary journal to arise from a medical setting. Her books include: Medicine in Translation: Journeys with my Patients; Incidental Findings: Lessons from my Patients in the Art of Medicine; and Singular Intimacies: Becoming a Doctor at Bellevue. Her article, “Making a Case for the Medical Check-Up,” appeared in The New York Times. The photo of Dr. Ofri is by Joon Park. Her website is http://danielleofri.com/
Eric Topol, MD, is Chief Academic Officer of Scripps Health in San Diego. He also is a Scripps Health cardiologist and director of the Scripps Translational Science Institute, also in San Diego. Dr. Topol is widely credited for leading the Cleveland Clinic to become the #1 center for heart care before his move to Scripps. He also serves as Professor of Genomics at The Scripps Research Institute and Chief Academic Officer of Scripps Health. His book, The Creative Destruction of Medicine, was published in 2012. In 2013, he additionally took on the Editor-in-Chief role at Medscape. His websites include www.STSIweb.org and www.scripps.org
The podcast of this program will be available the Monday after the broadcast date. The show can be streamed online from this site and podcasts can be downloaded for free for four weeks after the date of broadcast. After that time has passed, digital downloads are available for $2.99. CDs may be purchased at any time after broadcast for $9.99.
