Top Docs Radio Archives - Page 6 of 8

International Medical Graduates – Top Docs Radio

December 10, 2014 by CW

Top Docs Radio

International Medical Graduates - Top Docs Radio

00:00 /

International Medical Graduates

In our ongoing series with Medical Association of Georgia, we discussed International Medical Graduates on this episode. Today, we continue to extend the age to which we humans live. This, coupled with the large post-war baby boomer population that is now entering the elderly population, compounds the effects of the period 2-3 decades ago where it was thought we possessed a surplus of physicians. During that time the creation of new medical colleges and expansion of residency programs was limited. These factors combined to bring us to the situation we find ourselves in today: an expanding shortage of physicians in the US.

The ECFMG (Education Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates) reports that since its inception in the 1950’s it has examined and certified over 320,000 foreign-trained physicians for acceptance to train in US medical colleges and residency programs. Recent statistics show as many as 25% of practicing physicians in the US are foreign-trained graduates. And they play a vital role in the delivery of healthcare in our country. I sat down with Kate Boyenga, Director of Membership and Marketing with Medical Association of Georgia and current MAG president, Dr. Manoj Shah, himself a foreign medical graduate.

We learned about some of the reasons why Medical Association of Georgia is experiencing its largest membership with over 7500 members statewide. And Dr. Shah shared excellent information about the steps required to study in medical school abroad with the ultimate goal of practicing medicine in the US. He talked about the tests one can expect to take, challenges they may face while making application to schools/residencies in the US, and possible solutions for them.

Special Guests:

Kate Boyenga, Director of Membership and Marketing for Medical Association of Georgia

BA Communication, College of Charleston
Under her leadership MAG Membership is at an all-time high
14 years with MAG

Dr. Manoj Shah, MD, of Physicians for Women and president of MAG

MAG’s first President from Warner Robins
MAG’s first president of East Indian descent
Doctor of Medicine, Baroda, India
Residency, Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit
Has delivered more than 7,000 babies

Dr. Khusrow Niazi – Top Docs Radio

December 3, 2014 by CW

Top Docs Radio

Dr. Khusrow Niazi - Top Docs Radio

00:00 /

Dr. Khusrow Niazi

This week I sat down with Emory School of Medicine’s Dr. Khusrow Niazi, Interventional Cardiologist and Director of Peripheral Vascular Interventions. Dr. Niazi is a cardiologist but is different from many other cardiologists as he treats disease from the head to toes. He specializes in blockages of the artery which may involve coronary arteries around the heart which may cause chest pain or heart attack, carotid arteries which may cause TIA or strokes, arteries to the leg which may cause leg discomfort or slow wound healing. In addition he is one of the few cardiologists who also treat veins of the legs which may cause leg cramps, swelling, heaviness or varicose veins. He has lectured nationally and internationally and has helped many patients from getting their legs amputated.

Dr. Niazi appeared with the goal of providing the folks in the community with a cardiologist’s perspective on what they need to know about vascular disease which can affect the arteries that supply the brain, heart, and limbs. We talked about things we can do to reduce our risk of disease in the vascular system. He also shared recommendations on the types of tests and studies that folks who are at greater risk for vascular disease should consider having conducted. Many of these tests are quite basic and can be performed at their local primary care physician’s office. Persons who should consider regular monitoring for the presence of vascular disease include those who are over-weight, have diabetes, high cholesterol levels, hypertension, as well as those who have close relatives with a history of vascular problems.

Dr. Niazi advised our listeners to not ignore symptoms that might indicate a vascular problem exists such as chest tightness/pain, dizzy spells or changes in vision, speech, or ability to walk, pain in the lower legs when walking, shortness of breath at rest or with mild activity, etc. These can be signs that vascular problems exist that could potentially be corrected with early intervention. He also spoke about the fact that persons who have a wound on their lower leg or foot need to be evaluated for the presence of correctable vascular disease. Many of these people go on to have amputations when they may have been prevented by intervention by a vascular specialist.

Special Guest:

Dr. Khusrow Niazi, MD, of Emory University School of Medicine

Doctor of Medicine, King Edward Medical College, Lahore, Pakistan
Residency, Cardiology, Kettering Medical Center
Fellowship William Beaumont Hospital
Multiple published research articles

Dr. Jon Minter of Northside Total Joint Specialists – Top Docs Radio

November 20, 2014 by CW

Top Docs Radio

Dr. Jon Minter of Northside Total Joint Specialists - Top Docs Radio

00:00 /

Dr. Jon Minter of Northside Total Joint Specialists

This week I sat down with Dr. Jon Minter of Northside Total Joint Specialists. In our ongoing monthly series with Northside Hospital we learned about the various conditions that could lead to a total joint replacement. Dr. Minter shared some great information about some of the techniques he uses now to perform the surgery, including using robotic assistance with portions of the procedure. Having robotic assistance helps the surgeon minimize surgical trauma to the tissue in the surgical field, making the recovery process proceed more quickly and with less pain.

Dr. Minter talked about the fact that he is able to perform joint replacement for a wide variety of joints from knees, to hips, shoulders, wrists, ankles and even digits. He is able to repair joint damage from disease processes such as arthritis as well as traumatic injuries. I was surprised to learn that patients undergoing total hip replacement and total knee replacement can often go home to recover the same day as their surgery rather than staying for several days in the hospital.

Dr. Minter discussed how he takes a conservative approach to joint replacement, exploring non-surgical options where feasible to attempt to give the patient relief of pain while avoiding surgery if possible. If you or a loved one is experiencing a decrease in activity in an effort to avoid pain you should seek a consultation with this specialist. You will be pleased to experience his pleasant, personable demeanor. We talked about the fact that when patients begin to avoid activity in an effort to prevent experiencing pain, they can see their heart health decrease over time, potentially shortening their lives. Dr. Jon Minton of Northside Total Joint Specialists can help you or your loved ones get your life back through his expert, conservative approach to joint replacement.

Special Guest:

Dr. Jon Minter, DO, of Northside Total Joint Specialists

Doctor of Osteopathy, Kirksville Osteopathic Medicine
Residency, Orthopedic Surgery, Parkview Hospital
Adult Reconstructive and Arthritis Fellowship, Florida Orthopaedic Institute/Tampa General Hospital
Published Study Author and Frequent Lecturer on the subject of Joint Replacement

“Think About It” – Top Docs Radio

November 12, 2014 by CW

Top Docs Radio

"Think About It" - Top Docs Radio

00:00 /

“Think About It” Campaign to End Prescription Drug Abuse

Prescription medication abuse and subsequent addiction is a serious problem that needs our immediate attention as a community and as healthcare providers. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, “Although most people take prescription medications responsibly, an estimated 52 million people (20 percent of those aged 12 and older) have used prescription drugs for nonmedical reasons at least once in their lifetimes.” And, National Council for Alcoholism and Drug Abuse states, “Taking prescription drugs not prescribed for you by a doctor or in a way that hasn’t been recommended by a doctor, can be more dangerous than you think. In fact, it can be fatal. Prescription drugs are the third most commonly abused category of drugs, behind alcohol and marijuana and ahead of cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine. Some prescription drugs can become addictive, especially when used in a manner inconsistent with their labeling by someone other than the patient for whom they were prescribed, or when taken in a manner or dosage other than prescribed. Overall, an estimated 48 million people have abused prescription drugs, representing nearly 20% of the U.S. population.”

This week I sat down with Dallas Gay and Dr. Tennant Slack along with Lori Cassidy Murphy from the Medical Association of Georgia to talk about their recently-launched campaign to fight prescription medication abuse and addiction. Dallas and Dr. Slack co-chair the campaign and they’re working hard to bring community focus to the problem. The campaign is being funded by the Medical Association of Georgia Foundation and is working to raise awareness of this issue among Georgia’s residents as well as healthcare providers who prescribe controlled medications. Their team has developed colorful handout materials that give key recommendations for persons who have prescriptions for controlled pain or anti-anxiety medications with regard to how they take it, how they store it, and how to dispose of it when they no longer need the medication. Additionally, they’re involved with numerous events around the community to get people talking and thinking about how this problem can be prevented.

Think About It is a program conducted by the Medical Association of Georgia Foundation for the purpose of reducing the incidence of prescription drug abuse and resulting deaths. The concept for the program originated at NGMC in 2010 and is presently co-chaired by Dr. Jack Chapman, Dr. Tennent Slack and Dallas Gay. Hall County has served as the incubator of the program since its inception. The “Help Stop Rx Drug Abuse in Georgia” leaflets encourage Georgians to 1) only take their medicine as prescribed and 2) not share their medicine and 3) store their medicine in a safe and secure place and 4) properly dispose of any unused medicine.

The ‘Think About It’ campaign involves a wide array of organizations, including medical societies, the Georgia Composite Medical Board, the Georgia Board of Pharmacy, the Georgia Pharmacy Association, the Council on Alcohol and Drugs, and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation – as well as other law enforcement agencies, schools, and business and religious and other community organizations.

Thank you for listening and PLEASE SHARE! this podcast with your networks. You may just help someone you care about.

Special Guests

Dr. Tennant Slack, MD, of Northeast Georgia Physician’s Group

Doctorate of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine
Residency, Anesthesia, Emory University School of Medicine
Fellowship, Pain Medicine, Medical College of Georgia
Board Certified, American Board of Anesthesiology: – Anesthesiology – Pain Medicine

Dallas Gay, Co-Chair, “Think About It” Campaign

Board Member, Northeast Georgia Medical Center
MBA, Georgia State University
Member, Drug Free Coalition of Hall County
Former President, Protein Products, Inc
Former President, American Proteins, Inc.

Lenz Marketing – Top Docs Radio

November 6, 2014 by CW

Top Docs Radio

Lenz Marketing - Top Docs Radio

00:00 /

Lenz Marketing

This week I sat down with the Vice President of Marketing for Lenz Marketing, Mr. Mike Killeen. According to the company’s website, Lenz offers clients the full suite of marketing and communication tools to grow their businesses. At Lenz, integrated marketing is the strategic and coordinated implementation of digital and traditional advertising, PR, web sites, social media, and events to achieve a stated goal. The company has been serving the Atlanta area for over 22 years. Mike talked about the fact that the firm started as a traditional marketing company, providing service to a variety of companies looking to increase community awareness of their brands. Early on their leadership saw an opportunity to help businesses within the medical community, from hospitals to physician groups.

As Mike stated, “We have evolved and refined who we are and what we do to be known best for healthcare marketing, no doubt about it. We enjoy it and find it very fulfilling. But we’ve done a lot of different things throughout our history. And we really fell that our broad set of interests is one of the reasons we’re most successful with healthcare. Because we don’t think that marketing healthcare is really that different than marketing anything else. At the end of the day, people are looking to align themselves with companies they believe in, that they think are representative of who they are, that they can trust, that they think have value.”

At Lenz Marketing believes that today, patients are becoming more educated, having greater access to means to look into a prospective provider of healthcare. This means patients are becoming “consumers” in that more and more they are realizing they do have choices and access to ways to get to know about those choices. Lenz is able to help their clients develop a strategy that will improve public awareness of their practice or organization as well as improve engagement with their respective referral bases.

Special Guest:

Mike Killeen, VP of Marketing at Lenz Marketing

12+ years at Lenz Marketing
Bachelor’s in Journalism, University of Georgia
Program Director, “Weekly Check-up With Dr. Bruce Feinberg” on WSB Radio
Founder, “Poverty is Real” non-profit organization
Performing Singer, Songwriter, Musician

Breast Cancer Awareness – Top Docs Radio

October 1, 2014 by CW

Top Docs Radio

Breast Cancer Awareness - Top Docs Radio

00:00 /

Breast Cancer Awareness

This week I sat down with three women who each contribute great energy to promote breast cancer awareness in our community. We kicked off Breast Cancer Awareness Month (October) on this episode with Janet Beebe, CEO, of Breast Cancer Survivors Network, Kim Goff, Executive Director, of It’s The Journey/Atlanta 2 Day Walk for Breast Cancer, and breast cancer survivor/6x Atlanta 2 Day Walk for Breast Cancer participant, Yvonne Lloyd. Breast Cancer Survivors Network is a non-profit organization that supports breast cancer patients who have insufficient means to purchase breast prostheses after mastectomy as well as covering cost for mammography for women under 40 who are at higher risk for developing breast cancer. To date the organization has helped over 30,000 women in Georgia through their various services. The are currently being supported through an impressive charitable donation by McD0nough Toyota. The dealership is covering the cost of a month-long TV ad campaign on Atlanta’s 11 Alive TV with a “Drive Cancer Away” series of ads to help raise awareness of the organization and breast cancer in general.

The Atlanta 2-Day Walk for Breast Cancer is an annual fundraising endurance walk that takes place this year on October 11-12^th and takes participants through 30 miles of Atlanta over the course of 2 days. This year, 950 walkers have committed to fundraising and training for this event. Participants commit to raising $500-1000 each, depending on whether they intend to walk 1 or both days. Since 2002, the Atlanta 2-Day Walk for Breast Cancer has funded 214 grants totaling $10 million to support breast health programs throughout Georgia. These programs provide mammograms, clinical breast exams, genetic counseling and testing, biopsies, support services, education, and much more. Many of our grants have a specific focus on under-served individuals in our community- uninsured and under-insured women for whom these types of breast health measures are often not available.

Kim Goff, Executive Director, of It’s The Journey/Atlanta 2 Day Walk for Breast Cancer brought along 6 year survivor of breast cancer (and with this year’s event, 6x participant in Atlanta 2 Day Walk for Breast Cancer), Yvonne Lloyd. Yvonne was kind enough to share her story of diagnosis and treatment and talked about participating in the 2 Day Walk. She gave some practical advice for folks looking to participate in the event as well as how to remain strong in the face of dealing with breast cancer through faith and support from friends and loved ones.

Special Guests:

Janet Beebe, CEO of Breast Cancer Survivors Network

31 Yr, 2 time Breast Cancer Survivor…4 time cancer survivor
President, Founder and Director of The Breast Cancer Survivors’ Network, Inc.
Recipient of multiple awards including “Volunteer of the Year” from Am. Cancer Society and United Way and “Business Woman of the Year” by Nat’l. Assoc. of Business Women
Frequently spotlighted by numerous publications and media outlets including Atlanta Magazine, ATL Journal & Constitution, Fayette Woman’s Magazine and others

Kim Goff, Executive Director of It’s The Journey, Inc/Atlanta 2 Day Walk for Breast Cancer

Consultant, The Chason Group
Former Senior Vice President, Georgia Chamber of Commerce
MBA, Georgia State University
Georgia State University Robinson College of Business Alumni Award

Yvonne Lloyd, Breast Cancer Survivor

Lobular carcinoma Stage 2 lesion without lymph node involvement
Chose mastectomy/reconstruction
5 year course of aromatase inhibitor, Femara
This year makes 6x participant in Atlanta 2 Day Walk event

Important Cancer Resources for Georgians – Top Docs Radio

July 30, 2014 by CW

Top Docs Radio

Important Cancer Resources for Georgians - Top Docs Radio

00:00 /

Cancer Resources for Georgians

Special Guests: Alice Kerber, Angie Patterson, and Erin Long

This week we’ll hear about important cancer resources available to patients in Georgia from Alice Kerber and Angie Patterson of GeorgiaCORE. The organization is a public private partnership dedicated to facilitating cancer prevention, care, research, and education. They are focused on helping patients get better access to available cancer resources from early diagnosis to best treatments available, and support once they are survivors. Through initiatives such as www.georgiacancerinfo.org, Georgia Breast Cancer Genomic Consortium, and the Cancer Patient Navigator program, GeorgiaCORE facilitates greater community awareness and helps improve cancer outcomes for Georgians. TurningPoint Breast Cancer Rehabilitation provides a range of specialized rehabilitation services tailored specifically for the breast cancer survivor. As a charitable organization they are able to provide care to under- or uninsured patients who require care as well. Director of Development, Erin Walker Long discusses the therapies they provide along with some of their upcoming fund-raising initiatives.

Alice Kerber, MN, APRN, ACNS-BC, AOCN, APNG, GeorgiaCORE

Oncology Nurse Specialist working to improve quality of cancer care in Georgia
34 years of oncology experience, both inpatient & outpatient
Heavily involved in a CDC program, “Georgia Breast Cancer Genomic Consortium”
2011 Recipient, Oncology Nurse of the Year by Georgia March of Dimes

Angie Patterson, Vice President of Research & Education, GeorgiaCORE

Co-founder, Cancer Patient Navigators of Georgia
Focused heavily on improving cancer care through implementation of patient navigation and survivorship programs
Breast Cancer Survivor
Volunteer with Northside Hospital’s Network of Hope

Erin Long, Development Director for TurningPoint Breast Cancer Rehabilitation

15 years of fundraising experience in healthcare and education
Enjoy tennis, exercise and reading
Mother of two children under 4

Talking Facial Plastic Surgery with Dr. Mark Beaty – Top Docs Radio

July 23, 2014 by CW

Top Docs Radio

Talking Facial Plastic Surgery with Dr. Mark Beaty - Top Docs Radio

00:00 /

On today’s show we’ll meet Dr. Mark Beaty. In his practice he offers a wide variety of surgical and non-surgical procedures for patients seeking aesthetic procedures. He is skilled in browlifts, facelifts, eyelid lifts, nasal restructuring, facial resculpturing, and others. He also provides a number of non-surgical options for patients to consider including Ulthera, CoolSculpting, CoolSmoothing, injectables, resurfacing, and more. Dr. Beaty uses a personal, individual approach with his patients, giving a full hour to new patient consultations. This allows him to develop a plan of care that will be best suited for each unique patient he sees.

Special Guest: Dr. Mark Beaty of Beaty Facial Plastic Surgery

Doctorate in Medicine, University of Kentucky College of Medicine
Residency, University of Iowa Department of Otolaryngology
Fellowship, Facial Plastic Surgery, Emory-Affiliated Buckhead Facial Plastic Surgery
Board Certified in Facial Plastic Surgery and Otolaryngology
Recipient, Sir Harold Delf Gilles award for research evaluating effects of rhinoplasty techniques on nasal architecture

Transitional Care, Cardiology Services and Rehabilitation, and Hospital Medicine – Top Docs Radio

July 18, 2014 by CW

Top Docs Radio

Transitional Care, Cardiology Services and Rehabilitation, and Hospital Medicine - Top Docs Radio

00:00 /

Dr. Alan Wang, Dr. Martin Austin, Dr. Binu Kunjummen

Transitional Care

This week we are highlighting several medical practices and services that the community could benefit from knowing about. Salude is an upscale transitional care and rehabilitation facility focused on providing specialized short-term, in-patient rehabilitation care in a state-of-the-art environment. Atlanta Heart Specialists’ physicians deliver a full range of cardiology services, including state-of-the-art prevention, consultation, diagnostic and treatment, and rehabilitation care. Gwinnett Medical Center’s Hospital Medicine program helps optimize the patient’s health outcomes by providing round-the-clock physician oversight of care for patients during their stay in the hospital.

Special Guests:

Dr. Alan Wang, MD, Medical Director of Salude

Doctorate in Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine
Residency, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Played key role in starting hospital medicine programs in four Emory hospitals
Former CMO, Emory Johns Creek Hospital
Recipient of numerous awards including Outstanding Teacher, Emory Family Medicine Residency and Emory Hospital Medicine Mark V for Overall Excellence in Hospital Medicine

Dr. Binu Kunjummen, MD, Interventional Cardiologist, Atlanta Heart Specialists