The Scope Radio

According to findings from Dr. Margaret DeAngelis of the Moran Eye Center, the health of your eyes isn’t always dependent on your overall health. She talks about new research that identifies new factors in what makes eyes more prone to disease. She discusses extraordinary findings about a population in Timor, Indonesia – and why the people there also have some of the healthiest eyes in the world.

Power tools, auto fluids and cans of paint – you keep a lot of potentially dangerous things in your garage. Some are more dangerous than others. Poison specialist Brad Dahl warns about the dangers of what’s hiding on the shelves of your home. He also discusses what to do when a dangerous substance is ingested and immediate action is required.

Only 2,500 hearts are available nationwide for transplant, but about 100,000 patients with advanced heart failure could benefit from such surgery. Dr. Craig Selzman, associate professor of cardiothoracic surgery, talks about the changes in artificial heart technology that are filling that void. These devices can bring new lives and restore promising futures to heart patients facing otherwise hopeless outcomes.

Patients that have undergone repeated operations for kidney stones can develop severe, chronic and inexplicable pain. Dr. Blake Hamilton specializes in a remarkable procedure called autotransplantation, which can ease pain and save functioning kidneys. Listen in as Dr. Jeffery Campsen and Dr. Hamilton hold an engaging discussion about how the operation works when other options have been exhausted.

Newborns can’t always control their developing eyes and sometimes go cross-eyed. But if your child is older than 2 months and you notice her or his eyes looking in different directions, something else might be going on. Dr. Cindy Gellner describes how to tell if your child’s eyes are developing in a healthy way. She also gives some great advice for getting your child to wear glasses.

Doctors have cloned and made genetic modifications to animals, but did you know they’ve also created glow-in-the-dark dogs and flu-free chickens? We often talk about what biotechnology means for humans, but what does it mean for animals? Emily Anthes, author of Frankenstein’s Cat: Cuddling Up to Biotech’s Brave New Beasts discusses her book and the role of animals in science. She also talks about hot debates surrounding the cloning of endangered species and the use of animals for scientific experiments.

If you’re searching for a great career in medicine, becoming a physician assistant (PA) might be your answer. Amid growing pressures for more cost-effective treatment options, demand for physician assistants is skyrocketing. PA Jennifer Coombs discusses the many reasons why becoming a PA is more appealing than ever.

Emergency rooms in smaller communities don’t always have access to resources that their counterparts in larger hospitals do. As a result, some patients are required to be transferred to get the care they need. Dr. Marc Breen tells us how Community Hospital in Grand Junction, Colorado is going use technology to solve that problem.

As Miss Utah, Kara Arnold used her position to encourage women and girls to explore careers in STEM fields. Now a University of Utah medical student, Arnold discusses how she discovered her passion for medicine, what women can bring to the sciences and why it’s important for them to get involved in science.

Dr. Bryce Williams is an oral surgeon, but he works in the ear, nose and throat (ENT) division. How are oral surgeons and ENT specialists related and how do they work together? Dr. Williams provides some insight on the connections the two types of doctors share.

Smaller hospitals face unique challenges in providing the best care to their patients. In some instances, their survival depends on overcoming those challenges. Chris Thomas, CEO at Community Junction Hospital in Grand Junction, Colo., talks about what that locally owned hospital is doing to meet its challenges and provide the best care to the Grand Valley for many years to come.

It seems like professional athletes are masters at performing under pressure. Sports psychologist Nicole Detling says dealing with pressure is a learned skill. She’s coached Olympic athletes through mental obstacles and dealing with stress, and says her exercises can apply to non-athletes in real world situations. She gives you tips for dealing with pressure and performing under stress.

Exercise benefits your health both mentally and physically. But being mentally healthy is much more complicated than having a good diet and getting plenty of physical activity. Dr. Jason Hunziker talks about why it’s important to have a healthy state of mind. He also gives some tips for having a healthy brain and a good outlook on life.

Not long ago, schoolteachers in Grand Junction, Colo., had a health care plan that cost each family $8,000 a year for a policy with a $12,000 deductible. That’s when the district started looking for a better way. Chris Thomas, CEO at Community Junction Hospital in Grand Junction, tells us about the innovative partnership the hospital implemented with the school district, and later county government, that not only provided better health care but also significantly reduced costs.

Business incubators are the hottest new trend for entrepreneurs--a space where small businesses can get started without too much investment of capital, where entrepreneurs can access resources that they can't afford to purchase on their own. The newest resource in the health sciences is a similar concept: a research and innovation incubator that helps investigators and operations leaders turn their good ideas into publishable and actionable data. It's a small team called Health System Innovation and Research (HSIR), and Rachel Hess, M.D., is the new Director. "Good ideas are everywhere," Hess says, "and whether it's a physician with a clinical trial or an operations person with a Lean project, we can help them map and execute their project to completion."