As we find her today, in February of 2017, Suzanne Watson is medical student finishing up her final year at Wake Forest School of Medicine. She's also a mother of four, a former minister, a widow, and she is 54 years old.

With a growing family, Suzanne voluntarily left medical school in her twenties but never gave up on her dream of becoming a physician. The dream never flickered, even through her career as an Episcopalian minister, all while raising her four children alone after the tragic death of her husband.

We're going to talk with Suzanne about what happened to her husband (a Neurologist) 15 years ago. We're going to see how that experience impacted her and her family. We're going to see how it guides her current mission to become a healer, and an advocate for those suffering with mental illness.

If I had to pick one word to describe Suzanne, it would have be resilience. As you'll see though, that one word alone really isn't enough to describe Suzanne. She's someone with incredible kindness, an inspiring mission, and someone, we predict, you'll be hearing more from in the future. It was a real privilege to speak with her at the beginning of this next journey in her life.

Lean Toward Risk: Conversation with 54 Year Old Medical Student, Suzanne Watson.

Today we have a fun episode for you. Dr. Gregory Lopez is orthopedic spine surgeon in Chicago with Midwest Orthopedics at Rush. He's a former collegiate and minor league baseball player who's experienced his fair share of injuries. It's those experiences that inspired his path toward medicine. He's also an innovator and that's where are story gets fun. 

As a baseball player, Greg recognized the critical  importance of regular practice. During residency, Greg uncovered a real need for more hands on surgical  practice. Unfortunately, time was limited and cadavers and bone models are expensive. So Greg decided to build his own surgical simulator to help his peers (and himself) improve basic psychomotor skills. Surgical simulators are complex and expensive, so where did Greg go to start his project? A large medical device company, a sawbones manufacturer, kick-starter maybe? 


Nope, Greg headed right over to his local Home Depot and started shopping. As we'll learn, Greg (along with several colleagues) created a simple, yet elegant system for practicing basic surgical hand skills, all for about $350 bucks! Today this system is used in teaching hospitals around the country and around the world.

We're going to learn all about it and we're going to explore the broader challenges related to medical education and maintenance of skills.

Practicing for Gameday: Baseball, Orthopedics and a Home Depot Surgical Simulator: Dr. Gregory Lopez

So, where do the Air Force's elite bomber crews, fighter jet pilots and even drone navigators go when they need to see a doctor? They go see a guy like today's guest,  Dr. Ryan Gray. Ryan is an aerospace medicine physician, also known as a flight surgeon. As a flight surgeon, Ryan treated some Air-force's most elite fliers. He was also responsible for evaluating their flight readiness, sometimes having to ground pilots and crew members who were not medically cleared to fly. As you can imagine, not everyone was eager to find themselves in Ryan's clinic, fearing a medical disqualification that could literally ground their careers. We're going to learn how Ryan navigated this challenging dynamic, and the tactics he used to build trust with his patients. We're also going to learn how a young airman's question sparked a new mission for Ryan, the mission he now pursues as an educator and physician entrepreneur.

Today, Ryan is the founder and CEO of the MedicalSchool Headquarters, an incredibly successful enterprise dedicated to helping students enter and succeed in medical school. He is also a fellow podcast host, with not one, but four very popular podcasts all dedicated to helping the next generation of physicians.

This was a fun and fascinating episode I think you're really going to enjoy.  With that said, let's get started.

Treating Fighter Jet Pilots And Guiding The Next Generation Of Physicians: Dr. Ryan Gray

How many of you feel like your patients consider you the 2nd opinion after first consulting Dr. Google? How much of your time is spent fighting through a jungle of pseudo science and misinformation just to reach your patients? Why is it so hard to earn their trust?

With all the talk today of fake news, the erosion of journalism and the shallow miasma of modern media things look pretty grim. But this is Peerspectrum. Lamenting over the state of affairs is not what we do here. Despite the circumstances, there are some out there (particularly physicians) engaging these problems head on. Today's guest is one of them. 

Dr. Alok Patel is a Pediatrician and associate professor at Columbia University, in New York City.  He's also rising voice among physicians using modern media to defend and advance medicine.

Alok is a regular contributor to Medscape, and he has recurring segment on ABC News. While he rubs shoulders with people like Katie Couric and Whoopi Goldberg, he's not afraid to get his hand dirty, even dodging attacks and personally fighting it out on social media. 

This is great episode here folks and one of real importance today. Let's get started...

Evidence Based Medicine Strikes Back! CNN Producer, Dr. Alok Patel on Medicine in Modern Media

Name: Gavin Francis, MD

Location: Edinburgh Scotland

Specialty: General Practitioner, Emergency Medicine


Dr. Gavin Francis is a general practitioner based in Edinburgh Scotland. He's also a prolific traveler and an incredibly talented writer.

Today we're going the explore the 15 months Gavin served as the sole physician at Halley, the British research station in Antarctica. Gavin was it. With no medical team, no back up and pretty limited equipment, Gavin had to be ready for any medical emergency, large or small. During the winter months, Halley is completely cut off from the rest of the world. Ships can't enter, planes can't land and you won't see the sun until spring. It's hard to imagine being farther off the grid than this. Even the international space station has a Soyuz spacecraft ready for an emergency escape.

His book, “Empire Antarctica” is an account of those 15 months spent at Halley. It's a fascinating story, and a beautifully written book for which he received the prestigious Scottish national book award.

We all know plenty of doctors who also write. After reading his book, you may find that Gavin is a writer, who also practices medicine. Either way it was a real privilege to have him on. With that said, let's get started....

Solo Practice at the World's Edge. Author, Explorer & Antarctica Base Physician, Dr. Gavin Francis

Clinical research with Psychedelic compounds like psilocybin, LSD and MDMA have gotten a lot of press recently. Major institutions such as Johns Hopkins, UCLA and Yale are leading the charge with dramatic results in drug addiction, PTSD, end of life care, depression and other mental illness that is simply breathtaking.

When we think back to the psychedelic sixties, it’s hard to imagine that legitimate clinical research was taking place with psychedelics then, too; although much of it (think Timothy Leary) wouldn’t pass even the most lenient institutional review boards today. Much of this early research in the US came to a screeching halt with the passage of the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. Only now are we beginning to reawaken to the incredible healing and trans-formative effects these compounds can offer.

Today it’s our distinct privilege to speak with the researcher who carried the torch through a time when psychedelic research was nearly non-existent.

When it comes to the mechanisms of action, biochemistry and pharmacology of psychedelics, David Nichols is arguably the world’s foremost expert. He’s spent over 40 years researching and producing these compounds. And yes, all legally, as Nichols held one of the very few DEA licenses granted during this time.

If you’re skeptical about all this, hang in there. We’ll see how psychedelic tools can open new pathways to understanding neuroscience, mental illness and even perhaps change who we are and how we see the world. A majority of those who experience a psychedelic trip consider it among the most meaningful experiences of their entire lives. How is that possible? We’re going to find out. With that said, let’s get started…

Waking Up to Psychedelic Medicine. Neuropharmacologist, David Nichols, PhD.

Today's episode is about money, specifically your money. Now, if we're going to take a break from interviewing astronauts, Navy SEAL's, NFL surgeons and cutting edge researchers to do an episode on investing, you can bet we we have a very specific reason for doing so. You can also bet we have a rare and unique guest. 

That guest is renowned Economist, Burton Malkiel. You can google him later but here's a quick CV highlight reel: PhD from Princeton, Harvard MBA, author of 12 books and more than 150 articles,  dean of the Yale School of Management, member of the President's Council of Economic Advisers,  corporate board memberships including Prudential Financial , the American Stock Exchange, and the Vanguard Group. At 86 years of age he isn't stopping and currently serves as chief investment officer at Weathfront. 

All very impressive you say, but what does this have to do with me? Well, Burton is also the author of one the most influential investment books of all time. First published over 45 years ago, “A Random Walk Down Wall Street,” has sold over 1.5 million copies and is now (as of Jan 2019) in its 12th edition.  When it was first published in 1973, Burton called B.S. on the performance and excessive fees charged by professional money managers and other experts. He imagined a better, low cost investment tool that did not yet exist. Three years later that changed and today this simple investment tool is the vehicle of choice for 40% of the total invested stock market. Even Warren Buffet (the oracle of Omaha and one of the extremely rare few to actually outperform the market) now recommends this tool for investors. 

What is this tool and how did Burton Malkiel's ideas transform the financial world? How have his ideas become a sort of placebo control virtually no one can beat over the long run?  How can an 86 year old economist help you avoid the time and money wasting decisions so many have, and will continue to make?  Let's find out, and with that said, let's get started...

Level I Guidance: “A Random Walk,” with Economist & Investment Icon, Burton Malkiel, PhD

Think of someone accomplished, someone famous, someone you truly admire. Have you met them? If so, how did it go? What did you talk about? If not, what would you talk about? What questions would you ask them? 
For us, today’s guest is just that person.  His name is Cal Fussman and he is a long time writer-at-large for Esquire Magazine through their “What I learned” series. He is also host of the Big Questions podcast. Cal has interviewed everyone and I mean everyone…Mikhail Gorbachev, Jimmy Carter, Bill Maher, Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, Jack Welch, Robert De Niro, Clint Eastwood, Al Pacino, George Clooney, Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks, Bruce Springsteen, Dr. Dre, Quincy Jones, Walter Cronkite, Woody Allen, Barbara Walters, Pelé, Yao Ming, Serena Williams, Danny DeVito, Eric Clapton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Muhammad Ali. Just to name a few. 
For amateur interviewers like us, today’s conversation was like getting to play 18 holes with Arnold Palmer. It’s like being one degree away from Kevin Bacon. Cal interviewed both by the way. 
Cal is literally one of the best in the business. We discussed his extraordinary career and his new mission in our world of medicine. Most importantly we’ll cover how all of us can be more aware, more thoughtful and effective with the questions we use. With that said, let’s get started…

Big Questions with legendary interviewer & Esquire’s writer-at-large, Cal Fussman.

Welcome to PeerSpectrum, where we dive deep with uncommon conversations in and around medicine. Expand your practice by exploring the world and ideas beyond it and get ready to make your downtime count. Get ready for PeerSpectrum with Dr. Keith Mankin and Colin Miller.

Big Questions with legendary interviewer & Esquire’s writer-at-large, Cal Fussman.

PeerSpectrum | Journeys in Medicine