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WIDLIMS #25 – From midwife to medic with Dr Rumbi
In this week’s episode, I sat down and spoke with Rumbi, behind @rumbithemedic on Instagram and TikTok. She has an interesting background, having qualified and worked first as a midwife, then as a medical doctor in the UK. She has an interest in educating others and often does so through accessible clips and posts on social media, which is where we first connected. This episode covers a few different topics, including: Rumbi’s journey into medicine via midwivery different routes into doing a medical degree/becoming a doctor increasing accessibility to people from a range of different backgrounds, who may typically be in a worse position than middle class kids when applying…
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WIDLIMS ep #21 – ‘The NHS is letting down trans people’ – barriers to equality in trans healthcare
In this week’s episode, I was delighted to be joined by not one but TWO guests. Dr Kate Nambiar (she/her), and Dr Sophie Quinney (she/her), both involved in care for transgender and non-binary individuals in the United Kingdom. Dr Nambiar works in England, and Dr Quinney in Wales, and while there are differences in healthcare systems within the UK, there are similar challenges and issues relating to the treatment transgender individuals receive in the NHS, whether it be directly related to transgender-specific health issues or other reasons for which trans patients seek healthcare. There was no way I could do this massive field any justice in a short podcast episode,…
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WIDLIMS ep #20 – Nutrition in medical education with Nutritank
In today's interview, I spoke to Ally Jaffee (she/her) and Dr Iain Broadley (he/him) who founded Nutritank, a well-known UK hub for making lifestyle medicine and nutrition incorporated in medical education. We discuss.. when Ally and Iain first came across the concept of lifestyle medicine what Nutritank is, as well as their mission and previous successes and highlights why it is so difficult to get lifestyle medicine in medical school curricula in the United Kingdom why it is important for medical students and doctors to learn about nutrition, despite there being dedicated dieticians and nutritionists in our healthcare system what the concepts of culinary medicine and social prescribing involve how…
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WIDLIMS ep #15 – Time for Plant-based Nutrition in Medicine with Dr Shireen Kassam
In this week's episode, I chat to the amazing Dr Shireen Kassam (she/her) who is a consultant haematologist, as well as founder and president of Plant-Based Health Professionals (a CIC in the UK) and facilitator of the UK's first university-based Plant-based nutrition course (and she regularly reviews and updates it!). We talk about... why plant-based nutrition education is needed the evidence behind consuming more plants and less animal products how she counsels her patients, including those recently diagnosed with cancer, to make lifestyle changes wider issues: human and planetary health, social inequalities, the NHS and some of the problems with how our governments and healthcare systems are structured Find out…
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WIDLIMS ep #13: Anti-diet lifestyle approaches to PCOS with Dr Nitu Bajekal
In this week's episode, I was honoured to talk to an inspiration of mine, Dr Nitu Bajekal (she/her) about... what PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) is and how it manifests lifestyle approaches to managing PCOS symptoms AGEs, anti-inflammatory foods, benefits of a whole food plant-based dietary pattern the importance of sustainable, non-restrictive diets the role of soya in PCOS and women’s health in general why lifestyle medicine is so important to have in our toolkits Dr Nitu Bajekal’s website is absolutely brimming with resources for people with a uterus/who menstruate/are post-menopausal, and you can find it here. You can also follow her on Instagram and Twitter, where she regularly updates followers…
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WIDLIMS Podcast ep #9 – Endometriosis, pain bias & the ‘strong Black woman’ stereotype
New podcast episode with Anita Jones, journalist and Endometriosis UK Ambassador In this week's episode, I chat to Anita Jones (she/her) about... her personal experience with endometriosis the endometriosis diagnosis gap what the general public and doctors need to become well-versed in and learn so that the diagnosis gap is shortened sexism and gendered racism in the endometriosis field a whole lot about endometriosis symptoms, periods and seeking help You can follow Anita Jones on Instagram @anitannekajones, and find out more about endometriosis via Endometriosis UK on their website and social media channels. As always, this is an episode for educational purposes only. I would highly recommend reading the article…
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WIDLIMS podcast ep #7 – Weight stigma and obesity: what is known vs what is done – Dr Stuart Flint, Professor of the Psychology of Obesity
In this week's episode, I was delighted to talk to Dr Stuart Flint, an expert on weight stigma and obesity. This discussion was super interesting, and raised points I had not even considered myself. You can expect to hear us talk about... what weight stigma is and how it manifests whether weight stigma is justified to ‘tackle’ obesity – is obesity not a ‘problem’ after all? how language and attitudes when it comes to higher weight status differs to those in for example cancer what the science has shown (for years!) about approaches to managing health the UK government’s ‘wake-up call’ obesity strategy launched in July 2020 You can find…
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WIDLIMS podcast ep #5 – Weight ‘management’ approaches – have we got it wrong?
In this episode, I spoke to my friend and classmate Hanna, who has an interest in public health, non-communicable diseases (i.e. diseases that are not contagious, such as heart disease), eating disorders and obesity. We spoke about... weight stigma and the obesity paradox – are we wrong to think obesity is a marker for increased risk of death? how overweight is typically managed – through calorie restriction and increased physical activity à la ‘eat less, move more’ better methods of managing weight that are non-restrictive, sustainable and weight inclusive the principles of Intuitive Eating and Health at Every Size what we must think of in terms of the bigger picture…
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WIDLIMS podcast ep #3 – Racism in medicine with BAME Medics
New podcast episode with Aishah & Vishwani from BAME Medics In this week’s episode of the podcast “WIDLIMS – What I Didn’t Learn in Medical School”, we meet two amazing women and future medical doctors – Aishah (she/her) and Vishwani (she/her). We (virtually) sat down to discuss how the effects of racism are seen not only during the Covid-19 pandemic, but also in Aishah and Vishwani’s experiences throughout medical education and research. You can find the podcast via the links here, or simply by searching “WIDLIMS” in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and Stitcher. Follow BAME Medics on Instagram by clicking here, and Aishah by clicking here. Of course, this…
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WIDLIMS Podcast ep #1 – Why Lifestyle Medicine should be mainstream with Dr Rob Lawson
New podcast episode with Dr Rob Lawson from the British Society of Lifestyle Medicine In this episode, I chat to Dr Rob Lawson (he/him) about... what lifestyle medicine is lifestyle medicine and Covid-19 why we should all care about it how the current model of teaching in medical school is missing out crucial information to tomorrow’s doctors his vision for a lifestyle medicine curriculum – soon reality? Dr Rob Lawson is a retired GP heavily involved in various lifestyle medicine organisations – you can find out more about him and his work here. The British Society of Lifestyle Medicine website may be accessed here, and they are also on Facebook…
