In this special crossover episode with Physicianary, previous Gut Talk guest, Austin Chiang, MD, and Physicianary host, Hansa Bhargava, MD, discuss the influence of social media in medicine and how AI continues to change the health care landscape.

• Intro 0:30
• Austin Chiang, MD, MPH 0:36
• Tell us about your journey. 1:02
• How did you get involved with being a social media officer at your institution? 3:58
• Where do you think doctors should see themselves in the future of social media in medicine? 6:49
• What are the ways in which you see AI tech making a difference? 9:12
• Do you agree that it is helpful for doctors to be involved with product development and integration on an industry level? 12:14
• Can you give us some insight on the process of putting through new CPT codes as a company? 14:41
• Tell me more about your book, Gut: An Owner's Guide (The Body Literacy Library). What motivated you to write this book, and what do you think people will get out of it? 18:35
• If you were the “king of health care”, what would you work on first? What is the most important aspect of health car that you think needs fixing? 21:23
• What’s your favorite food? 25:24
• How to reach Chiang. 26:01
• Thanks 26:20

Austin Chiang, MD, MPH, is the first chief medical officer for the endoscopy business of Medtronic, the global leader in health technology. He is also currently an assistant professor of medicine at an academic teaching hospital in Philadelphia, PA, and serves as the director of the Endoscopic Weight Loss Program.

Listen to Gut Talk’s very first episode with Dr. Chiang from 2019, Social Media in Medicine.

We’d love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to guttalkpodcast@healio.com. Follow us on X @HealioGastro @sameerkberry @umfoodoc. Follow Dr. Bhargava on X @hansabhargavaMD and on Instagram @doctorhansaMD. Follow Dr. Chiang everywhere on social media @AustinChiangMD.

Disclosures: Bhargava reports no relevant financial disclosures. Chiang reports he is the chief medical officer for Medtronic Endoscopy.

In this podcast episode, Prateek Sharma, MD, about how program directors can help shepherd GI fellows into clinical research spaces, providing quality exams for upper endoscopy and more.

• Intro :24
• The interview/about Sharma :43
• Tell us about your family and where you grew up. 1:00
• Did you encourage your son to go into medicine? 2:17
• What kinds of doctors were your parents? 3:40
• Who were your big, early influences? 4:08
• If you didn’t always want to be a doctor, what convinced you to change your mind? 6:11
• When did you make the decision to go into academic medicine as a career? 7:16
• Are you seeing fewer and fewer fellows interested in pursuing a career in academic medicine? […] Are there ways to counsel fellows to be more interested in this type of work? 9:49
• How long have you been a program director, and are you still enjoying the work? 13:58
• How did you choose to into internal medicine and GI? 17:22
• As leaders of academic research centers, what have you done or plan to do in the face of potential cuts to the NIH overhead rates? 18:40
• How are we doing right now as a country and globally in terms of early detection of Barrett's neoplasia? 22:08
• Why has performing high-quality surveillance and screening of procedures like colonoscopy been so much more successful than performing high-quality exams for upper endoscopy? 25:33
• If the biggest hurdle to performing these exams is time, do you feel that more education around how to perform a high-quality exam will move the needle, or are other incentives needed? 28:32
• Do you think AI-based detection is overhyped or underhyped in GI? 30:33
• What are your thoughts on DNA-based testing for conditions like Barrett’s neoplasia, and how should they be incorporated into standard practice? 34:24
• What are your priorities as president of the American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy this year? 38:42
• What do you see as the biggest threats or concerns to gastroenterologists? 42:25
• Final thoughts? 46:32
• Thank you, Prateek 47:13
• Thanks for listening 47:15

Prateek Sharma, MD, FASGE, FACP, FACG, is professor of medicine and director of the GI fellowship program at the University of Kansas School of Medicine.

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 Sharma, follow @KUcancercenter and @ASGEendoscopy on X and Instagram.

Disclosures: Berry and Chey report no relevant financial disclosures. Sharma reports consulting for Boston Scientific Corporation, CDx Labs, Cipla, Exact Sciences, Medtronic, Olympus Corporation, Salix Pharmaceuticals, Samsung Bioepis and Takeda and provides grant/research support to ERBE USA Inc., Fujifilm Holdings America Corporation, Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Inc. and NEC.

In this podcast episode, Maria Abreu, MD, current president of the AGA, discusses the unique upbringing of health care professionals who are children of immigrants, formal versus on-the-job leadership training and more.

• Intro :24
• The interview/about Abreu :31
• Can you tell us about where you grew up and the impact your family had on the work you’re doing now? :54
• Chey and Abreu on the profile in Gastroenterology in May 2024, which announced Abreu as the current AGA president and summarized her personal and professional life. 3:08
• Abreu on her father’s involvement with the Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba. 7:00
• Chey and Abreu on the impact of an upbringing as children of immigrants. 12:02
• How did you get interested in GI, specifically in IBD? 13:00
• When did it become apparent to you that you were interested in more than traditional academia and clinical medicine, and wanted to inspire and have a broader impact? 17:37
• What would you say to a younger physician or someone earlier in their career about formal leadership training versus on-the-job training? […] Do you think this generation needs formal training in how to manage people as health care becomes more complex? 21:11
• Do you think that the future of academia and the phenotype of who is going to lead in academic divisions will change? 28:40
• What are your priorities during your presidential year at AGA? 34:24
• What have you learned so far as president of the AGA? Has anything struck you as surprising? 42:03
• Thank you, Maria 44:12
• Thanks for listening 44:45

Maria T. Abreu, MD, is the current president of the American Gastroenterological Association. She is the fifth woman to lead AGA as president and the association’s first Latino president. Dr. Abreu currently serves as the Martin Kalser Endowed Chair of Gastroenterology; professor of medicine, microbiology and immunology; and director of the Crohn’s and Colitis Center at the University of Miami.

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 Abreu, follow @ibddocmaria on X.

Disclosures: Berry and Chey report no relevant financial disclosures. Abreu reports receiving consultant fees from serving on pharmaceutical advisory boards.

In this podcast episode, Larry Kosinski, MD, founder of SonarMD, discusses reclaiming GI services for patients and physicians, developing new tools for IBD patients and more.

• Intro :24
• The interview/about Kosinski :29
• Can you tell us about your upbringing and the experiences that got you to where you are today? What got you interested in gastroenterology? :55
• Of the many “chapters” in your story, can you talk about your merger and acquisition experience in the medical field? How has the process of different GI groups coming together changed over time? 5:40
• Why did the investors of SonarMD want to confine activities to just IBD and not scale it? 20:49
• Chey and Kosinski on the issues of moving away from patients being at the center of the decision-making and equal partnership in mergers and acquisitions. 22:03
• Chey and Kosinski on what drives physician burnout in gastroenterology. 25:06
• Do you feel that solutions focused on addressing cost in IBD is going to be as effective as solutions in addressing costs associated with functional diseases? 28:02
• What do you see next for SonarMD, and how has your own transition into your next “chapter” been? 32:24
• Berry, Chey and Kosinski on the development of tools to assist patients with IBD and diagnose GI conditions. 40:10
• What have you learned from the different projects you have worked on, and what advice would you give gastroenterologists interested in this type of innovation? 42:20
• Thank you, Larry 44:09
• Thanks for listening 44:33

Lawrence R. Kosinski, MD, MBA, AGAF, FACG, is a retired gastroenterologist who practiced for 35 years in suburban Chicago and is one of the founders of Illinois Gastroenterology Group, the largest independent GI practice in Illinois.

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 Kosinski, follow @lrkosinski on X.

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

In this podcast episode, Tom Serena, chief executive officer of the American Gastroenterological Association, discusses the role of private equity in specialty societies, the hunger to be involved in innovation and more.

• Intro :24
• The interview/about Serena :29
• Can you tell us about your upbringing and how it helped you become who you are today? :50
• Were there certain early individuals or experiences that you think have been impactful or important to your career today? 1:43
• Have you always been a natural leader, or did you grow into it? 2:38
• What are some things you learned from your coach? 3:30
• Is there a pathway that you unintentionally took that led you to medical societies and medical society leadership? 5:09
• Over the thirty years you have been involved with the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA), when did you know that you were going to be a core part of the leadership team? 6:38
• How have you seen the GI field change over the last thirty years? 8:24
• Do you think there has been a shift in the culture of our specialty for major organizations like AGA to be more open to a wider range of physicians and stake holders? 11:00
• Where do you think we’re going over the next few years with private equity? 14:08
• Can you tell us more about the AGA’s GI Opportunity Fund? What prompted the AGA to partner with venture capital and how has the experience been so far? 19:19
• Are there things that organization leaders are more likely to invest or not invest in? 21:47
• Berry, Chey and Serena on non-traditional ways physicians are looking to make use of their medical training. 23:24
• How have larger legacy societies like AGA and ACG view the emergence of more nuanced clinical societies, and how do they impact the way the AGA tries to execute its mission? 27:05
• Can you talk about ABIM’s impact on health care and the GI specialty? 30:01
• What are some of the biggest challenges facing AGA and GI as a field moving forward? 33:17
• Outside of the Opportunity Fund, what are other ways that the AGA is working to solve challenges around physician burnout, autonomy and reimbursement? 34:43
• Any life lessons you want to share with listeners? 36:22
• Thank you, Tom 37:39
• Thanks for listening 37:58

Tom Serena is chief executive officer of the American Gastroenterological Association. Tom joined AGA in 1994 and has served as the organization’s CEO since 2010. His previous role was VP of finance. He has been heavily focused on governance, helping the governing board to become the stewards of AGA’s future, with an emphasis on strengthening board - committee - staff relationships.

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 Serena, follow @TSerenaAGA on X. For more from the AGA, visit www.gastro.org and follow @AmerGastroAssn on X.

Disclosures: Berry and Chey report no relevant financial disclosures. Serena reports he is an investor in the GI Opportunity Fund.

In this podcast episode, Brad Stillman, executive director at American College of Gastroenterology, discusses adapting with the GI landscape to prevent physician burnout, the role organizations play in ensuring physicians have the right tools to aid patients and more.

• Intro :24
• The interview/about Stillman :35
• Can you tell us about your background? 1:17
• Who are your early influences? Who was foundational for the way you think and the person you are? 1:54
• Since your father was an artist, did you ever think about a career in art? 5:11
• How did you choose law as your vocation? 7:23
• From law, how did you get to the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG)? 8:47
• Over the twenty-three years that you have been involved with ACG, what has struck you about how gastroenterology has changed as a subspecialty and as a profession? 14:26
• Chey and Stillman on the structural challenges facing GI practices and screenings. 18:01
• What needs to happen to address the crisis of training additional gastroenterologists to meet rising demands? 23:39
• Chey, Berry and Stillman on creative solutions and being disruptive innovators in medical education reform. 29:09
• How has the ACG changed over the course of your tenure? What have the most profound changes been in this organization? 33:07
• Outside of education, how has it been managing the distinct components of the ACG, and what do you see in the future for the structure of the ACG? 37:57
• Do you have any “Stillman quotes” you’d like to share with us? 44:17
• Can you share anything about the upcoming strategic plan that is slated to be released at the ACG's 2024 Annual Scientific Meeting & Postgraduate Course? 46:33
• Thank you, Brad 49:10
• Thanks for listening 49:29

Brad Stillman is the executive director at American College of Gastroenterology, the leading professional organization for GI clinicians with more than 20,000 members. He oversees all aspects of the College as well as the ACG Institute for Clinical Research and Education where he also serves on the board.

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 Stillman, follow @AmCollegeGastro on X.

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

In this podcast episode, Tom McCourt, chief executive officer of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, discusses the evolving relationship between physicians and pharma, breakthroughs in GI drugs and more.

• Intro :59
• Welcome to this episode of Gut Talk 1:23
• The interview/about McCourt 1:32
• Tell us about your family and where you grew up. 2:15
• What did you take away from your football career at University of Wisconsin? 4:19
• How long were you a clinical pharmacist? 7:57
• McCourt on his experience as a health science associate. 8:55
• Where is the line between academics and the pharma industry? 10:49
• When you launched drugs like omeprazole and esomeprazole, did you have any idea what impact they would have? 13:00
• What changed to make the pharma industry go from respected to villainized? 16:39
• What’s your perspective on innovation and billing architecture for pharmaceuticals? […] Where do you think we’re going to see the most exciting changes in the near-term? 19:33
• Chey and McCourt on challenges the US health care system faces in comparison to other countries. 24:47
• How can we make breakthrough drugs and technology available to everyone without stifling innovation? 27:05
• Did patients valuing their quality-of-life factor into your decision to switch from AmGen to Ironwood Pharmaceuticals? 29:12
• From a pharmaceutical perspective, do you think there are examples of successful health policy? 36:30
• Thank you, Tom 42:13
• Thanks for listening 43:20

Tom McCourt is the chief executive officer of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, a commercial biotechnology company working to revolutionize the treatment of gastrointestinal (GI) diseases and redefine the standard of care for millions of patients.

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 McCourt, follow @ironwoodpharma on X.

Disclosures: Berry and Chey report no relevant financial disclosures. McCourt is chief executive officer and a member of the board of directors of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals; serves on the board of directors and member of the compensation committee of Pliant Therapeutics, Inc., a public company, and on the board of trustees for the American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE).