Whether you’re an avid watcher or have simply seen the clips making the rounds on social media, you’ve probably engaged with a TED Talk at some point. These short powerful lectures pack a lot of information and emotion into bite-sized, shareable videos. While there are TED Talks on nearly every topic you can imagine — interested in cello or dinosaurs, anyone? — TEDMED provides a wide range of clips focused on every aspect of health care.
Atul Gawande, MD, MPH, is a surgeon, writer, and professor at Harvard Medical School. His talk, shared at TED2012, focuses on the fixing healthcare system at large. Dr Gawande proposes 3 necessary skills for fixing the system: recognizing failure, devising solutions, and implementing those solutions. Dr Gawande’s talk is a great choice for any physician feeling frustrated with the healthcare system.
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Paula Johnson, MD, was inspired to improve women’s health after she saw her grandmother battle depression. There are many conditions, like heart disease, lung cancer, and depression, that affect women differently than men, but often these nuances are overlooked. In a society where women are still battling for their rights, Dr Johnson makes a strong case for equal care.
Physician suicide is hard to talk about, but it is necessary. Pamela Wible, MD, tackles the subject with the openness and earnestness that is needed to address this mental health issue. After losing so many of her friends and colleagues to suicide, Dr Wible emphasizes that physicians must heal themselves before they can heal patients. She discusses her model for developing ideal clinics while shining a light on a grave, important issue.
In the era of fake news, Ben Goldacre’s TED Talk is more prescient than ever. Dr Goldacre, a British physician, academic, and science writer, tackles the importance of truth in evidence, detailing the ways that research can be skewed. It is a valuable talk for any physician who does research or has patients interested in the latest medical “news.” He cautions physicians to look closely at how studies have been conducted before buying into their miraculous results.
Is the Obesity Crisis Hiding a Bigger Problem?
Peter Attia, MD, was angry at his patient: The patient was obese and had a diabetic ulcer. Dr Attia was angry that she let herself get to this point. That all changed when metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance developed in the physician. In his talk, Dr Attia tackles the misconceptions that physicians and society have about obesity and diabetes. He names obesity as a proxy for larger problems and asks that physicians take a more sympathetic approach.
