In this podcast episode, Tom Shehab, MD, managing partner at Arboretum Ventures, discusses supporting “doctorpreneurs”, alternative career paths for physicians and more.

• Intro :59
• Welcome to this episode of Gut Talk 1:23
• The interview/about Shehab 1:30
• Where did you grow up and who were your early influences? 2:02
• Can you give us some examples of your parents’ sacrifices that made your career possible? 3:19
• What did you learn from being an athlete and your time playing football at Bowling Green State University? 4:38
• Tell us about your education. 6:21
• How did you make the move from an academic career to venture capitalist? 7:03
• What can you teach our audience about paving this path? 10:55
• Is it better to thoughtfully consider major career decisions and changes, or just leap before you look? 12:45
• What other advice would you give budding “doctorpreneurs”? 14:35
• How are GI and liver a space for venture investment? 18:01
• Outside of endoscopy, why is there a dearth of information in the GI specialty from a venture perspective? 21:36
• Do you see this changing in the right direction toward GI specialists paying more attention on what needs attention and expertise, or are macroeconomic incentives preventing us from taking that perspective? 24:37
• What advice do you have for someone who is thinking about an alternative career pathway? 33:08
• What is the next step or time commitment for aspiring “doctorpreneurs” with ideas? 37:26
• What about the venture world? How should physicians go about funding and investing in their ideas? 41:33
• What are some of the upcoming macroeconomic trends that will impact GI in the short- and long-term? 46:47
• Thank you, Tom 52:02
• Thanks for listening 52:55

Tom Shehab, MD, practiced medicine for 15 years as a gastroenterologist serving as chair of medicine at Integrated Health Associates (IHA), and as chief of staff at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital for more than 1,000 physicians. Shehab currently serves as a board director for Avation Medical, Boomerang Medical, Fifth Eye, Motif Neurotech, SonarMD and Virtual Incision and led Arboretum’s investment in nVision Medical, which was acquired by Boston Scientific in 2018. Shehab also serves as a board member for several health care innovation initiatives, including the Cleveland Clinic Medical Device Advisory. He is also on the board of trustees for Bowling Green State University.

We’d love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to guttalkpodcast@healio.com. Follow us on X @HealioGastro @sameerkberry @umfoodoc. For more from Shehab, follow him on X @TomShehabMD.

Disclosures: Berry, Chey and Shehab report no relevant financial disclosures.

In this podcast episode, Megan Riehl, PsyD, discusses symptoms and solutions in GI psychology, building educational tools for patients and physicians on GI psychology and more.

•    Intro :02
•    Welcome to this episode of Gut Talk :23
•    The interview/about Riehl :33
•    Riehl on early influences on her career. :48
•    Growing up, how did your family system influence you? 2:12
•    How did you get into psychology, and who were the people that influenced you to go into this field? 3:45
•    How did you become interested in GI psychology?  5:27
•    Chey and Riehl on risk-taking behavior and building the GI psychology program at Michigan. 7:29
•    Were there other fields you were considering as a subspecialty in psychology? 10:23 
•    Is there something physiologic about gastroenterology that makes the path to psychology more appropriate than other specialties in the health care system? 13:33
•    Can you explain the difference between a GI psychologist and a general psychologist, and what types of patients will benefit most from GI psychology? 16:12  
•    Do you get inappropriate referrals from clinicians, such as patients with compliance and adherence issues or lack of belief in the validity of their diagnosis? 19:33
•    Do you think the term ‘GI psychologist’ is limiting, and have you thought of different words or terminology we can use to refer to this type of work? 22:20
•    Berry, Chey and Riehl on potential benefits, risks and the impact of digital therapeutics on behavioral health. 24:37
•    Berry and Riehl on the issues facing patients’ ability to access GI psychology, and how digital therapeutics can potentially address these issues. 28:04
•    What are the main types of interventions in GI psychology, and what do they do? 31:48
•    Riehl on her upcoming book, Mind Your Gut: The Whole-body, Science-based Guide to Living with IBS, co-written with Kate Scarlata, RDN. 36:09
•    Thank you, Megan 38:40
•    Thanks for listening 38:55

Megan Riehl, PsyD, is a GI psychologist with expertise in psycho-gastroenterology and the management of GI conditions. She is the clinical director of the GI behavioral health program at the University of Michigan, where she has a full-time clinical practice, leads GI behavioral health trainings and provides peer consultation.

We’d love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to guttalkpodcast@healio.com. Follow us on X, formerly known as Twitter, @HealioGastro @sameerkberry @umfoodoc. For more from Megan, follow @DrRiehl on X, formerly known as Twitter. 

Disclosures: Berry and Chey report no relevant financial disclosures. Riehl reports she is a co-parent owner of GI OnDemand with Gastro Girl, Inc.

In this podcast episode, Kate Scarlata, MPH, RDN, discusses how to help patients avoid over restricting their diets, the use of digital therapeutic tools in dietetics and more.

•    Intro :02
•    Welcome to this episode of Gut Talk :23
•    The interview/about Scarlata :31
•    Scarlata on her family and growing up in a family of nine children. 1:02
•    Who was more influential in shaping you? Was it your family, or people outside the family unit? 3:40
•    What got you interested in diet and nutrition? 6:27
•    Are there any defining moments personally or professionally that affected the direction of your career?  8:02
•    Can you tell us about your first job as a GI dietician and how it led to your role in the field today? 12:17
•    Berry and Scarlata on GI patient motivations and how they differ from the average patient. 16:51 
•    Are there things that you think are unique from a dietetics perspective to build that rapport with the patient and walk them back from deeply rooted thoughts they may have about their diet? 17:49
•    Have you encountered situations with patients where you felt like you could not move forward without the assistance of other specialists such as a trained GI psychologist? 19:47  
•    Chey and Scarlata on disordered eating and eating disorders and red flags to help identify and assist these patients. 22:25
•    Are you utilizing the FODMAP Gentle or bottom-up approach? 27:27
•    Berry, Chey and Scarlata on the emergence of digital automated tools developed to help patients get access to therapies without the use of a trained clinician. 29:11
•    Can you talk about the patient advocacy efforts you have been involved with, including the IBelieveinyourStory campaign and the EndHungerPain initiative? 34:43
•    Chey, Berry and Scarlata on the economic challenges facing multidisciplinary GI care and getting patients access to dietary needs including resources like Equip Health. 41:29
•    Scarlata on her upcoming book, Mind Your Gut: The Whole-body, Science-based Guide to Living with IBS, co-written with Megan Reihl, PsyD. 43:52
•    Thank you, Kate 45:06
•    Thanks for listening 45:17

Kate Scarlata, MPH, RDN is a US-based dietitian with over 30 years of experience. Kate’s expertise is in gastrointestinal disorders and food intolerance. Kate is the author of numerous books and articles on digestive health topics including the New York Times Best Seller, The 21 Day Tummy Diet.

We’d love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to guttalkpodcast@healio.com. Follow us on X, formerly known as Twitter, @HealioGastro @sameerkberry @umfoodoc. For more from Kate Scarlata, follow @KateScarlata_RD on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Disclosures: Berry and Chey report no relevant financial disclosures. Scarlata reports stock options with Epicured LLC and FODY Food Company, financial support from Dr. Schar, Mahana Therapeutics, Nestle Health Science, Olipop, Pendulum, QOL Medical.