Peer Med Podcast

On this episode of "Behind Diagnoses: Patients", a Peer Med Podcast special series we hear from Alexa, from Winnipeg, Canada. She has Cystic Fibrosis (CF), a rare and genetic condition that affects the respiratory and digestive systems. Alexa has received a lung transplant (and suffered a stroke during the transplant), and she also runs an Instagram where she shares educational content AND her story! She shares her insight as someone with a rare disease and as a young professional.
Be sure to subscribe to the Peer Med Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, or wherever you get your podcasts! Follow the Peer Med Podcast on Instagram @peermedpodcast for more patient stories, disease and inspiring eye-opening content!
Follow Alexa on Instagram: @chronic.insights

On this episode of "Behind Diagnoses: Patients", a Peer Med Podcast special series we hear from Morgan Lewis, also known as Mo. is a Chicago native, now NJ resident for 20+ years, a terrible singer, and mother to 2 amazing children. She currently works as an administrative assistant with a degree in Applied Sciences in Massage Therapy from The Swedish Institute in New York that was received in 2009.
In 2019, she began a new job and shortly after became very ill. She was unable to turn her head, blinding headaches, blurred vision, and extreme nausea. She went to the ER, and after hours of tests, (including her first spinal tap), was diagnosed with Hydrocephalus (Pseudotumor Cerebri). After numerous spinal taps and months of medications, in October 2020 she underwent her first shunt placement. The surgery itself was fairly easy, but the recovery was anything but. She was discharged with a walker, and began having seizures throughout the day, and was advised that the seizures were due to "stress" and diagnosed as "pseudo seizures". Many tests were to follow, but the prior symptoms began to settle in, including slight vision loss. The thing that doctors fail to tell you about is the emotional toll all of this takes on their patients. How difficult, painful, and at times unrecognizable recovery can be. How recovery can have good and bad days... How you have to learn the new body you're in and it's adjustments to even the smallest tasks... How to make peace with the old and now the new. It wasn't until she reached out to the community around her (Facebook groups, non-profit organizations, therapy) that she was able to make the breakthrough in her treatment and receive the care she needed.
Be sure to subscribe to the Peer Med Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, or wherever you get your podcasts! Follow the Peer Med Podcast on Instagram @peermedpodcast for more patient stories, disease and inspiring eye-opening content!
Follow Morgan @iammolewis

Dear Friends of the Peer Med Podcast!

We are delighted to be releasing the latest series of the Peer Med Podcast: “Behind Diagnoses: Patients” This series features the voices of patients, advocates and those with chronic illnesses all coming together to speak about the ups and downs of our healthcare system!

Our Trailer is available on YouTube and on Instagram Video! “Behind Diagnoses: Patients” depicts the cold harshness and professionalism of healthcare professionals as well as their genuine work to solve health issues to the emotional side of patients, their voices, journeys and the impact of social determinants such as racism, stigma, shame, discrimination, sexism + more and how they in the end have to live their life with diagnoses. It serves as an eye-opener to health professionals, a message of hope for patients and as a reminder of those in our world for the general public!

We all have so much to learn from and with each other! Join us in listening to the patients and their voices on the series!
#risingyouth #peermedpodcast #behinddiagnoses #patients #behinddiagnosespatients #pmfbehinddiagnosespatients

On this episode, we welcome Stacie Lampkin, a paediatric pharmacist who provides us with the much needed clarity between patient and medical advocacy; terms that are often confused and used synonymously with each other. As someone who has served in a number of roles within the healthcare system, as a pharmacist, aromatherapist, and patient advocate, she shares her unique perspective to help us redefine and frame healthcare environments and advocacy as a whole!

On this episode we welcome Jim Sliney, the Director of Patient Outreach at Patients Rising. He joins us in discussion to share his insight about the value of building community in chronic illness spaces for social support and beautifully provides his perspective, analogies and guidance for clinicians and patients in order for us to work together to provide effective care!

On this episode of the Peer Med Podcast, we welcome, Nancy Pickett, a filmmaker living with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and several comorbidities. She started Standard of Care, a documentary series in response to the bias she faced as a chronically ill young woman, and to highlight the experiences of others who have faced barriers to quality medical care due to their identity/circumstances. She speaks about her experience as a patient, producer, journalist and young advocate fighting for greater health equity!

On this episode of the Peer Med Podcast, we feature Dr. Jose Polo, an HIV specialist in Florida, USA. From his mission trip to Kurdistan to his adventures in the country, his documentary film "Don't Forget Them" serves as a reminder of the importance of caring for those beyond our borders!

On this episode of the Peer Med Podcast, we welcome high-school student and Founder of Humanity in Health, Sreenidhi Saripalli to speak about her initiative. Living in the United States of America, a place that is home to so many people of different backgrounds, cultures, religions and ethnicities, this episode dives into the work the organization is doing to tackle the lack of cultural competency in healthcare. Inspired by her school's Health Occupations Students of America chapter which exposed her to cultural diversities and disparities, Sreenidhi realized the role racism and culture have in influencing individual perceptions and access to healthcare. On a quest to answer: "why do healthcare disparities occur?" she now educates her peers through a variety of workshops, informative blogs and podcast conversations with physicians, where she invites them to join her in becoming more culturally competent.

On this episode of the Peer Med Podcast, we welcome medical students from McGill University to speak about their initiative Collaboration Interprofessionnelle Montréalaise Étudiante (CIME). They share the common goal of diminishing healthcare gaps experienced by asylum seekers in Montréal. Through health promotion workshops, health navigation consultations and student screening clinics held at the William Hingston Center and at the CLSC Parc-Extension, CIME seeks to promote the health and wellness of these vulnerable populations by trying to improve access to health care and community services in Montreal.
For more information visit their Facebook page.

On this episode, we welcome Helping Hands, a student-led initiative by McGill medical students to speak about their involvement in the community. They have provided more than 500 feminine hygiene kits containing care supplies to various women in Montreal via their multiple partners, including CLSC Parc Extension and the Chronic Viral Illness Service. This episode welcomes Renuka Sivanathan, Nardin Farag and Dean Noutsios who share the work they've done, and the impact its had for them. To get in touch to volunteer with Helping Hands, feel free to reach out to them on Facebook or instagram.

On this episode of the Peer Med Podcast, we welcome Tanya-Michelle Contente to speak about Women in Medicine and Society. It reviews the past, present and looks to the future. This episode discusses the complex challenging issues prevalent in society for women, and reflects on the achievements of women in the past, physicians Elizabeth Blackwell and Emily Stowe. Tanya Michelle Contente is an inspirational Canadian empowering young females throughout Canada and the World.

On this episode of the Peer Med podcast, we explore humility as a virtue guiding individual authenticity. Listeners are faced with the question - how to be true to their-self in a changing world? This episode tackles the virtues of humility and authenticity by encouraging listeners to be unapologetically and fearlessly themselves.

On this episode of the Peer Med podcast, we welcome world renowned speaker Abhijit Naskar. He is a leading neuroscientist, an international best-selling author of more than 40 books, and a global advocate of peace. He tackles fascinating questions about the human mind, neuroscience and dives into the psyche of the deeper emotions, thoughts and behaviours of human beings. He started off studying computer engineering but things took a different turn for Mr Naskar when he discovered his passion for scientific research and the study of human life. He is a champion of human rights and actively advocates for eradicating religious differences and all forms of discrimination; and for this he has been popularly hailed as a humanitarian guiding civilization as a whole. This episodes captures the two in conversation about his book Time to Save Medicine and asks for his advice to clinicians serving on the front-lines of the current health care crisis.