Pomegranate Health

Welcome to Pomegranate Health, a podcast about the culture of medicine. You’ll hear clinicians, academics and advocates discuss some big questions; How to difficult clinical and ethical decisions free from cognitive bias? How can communication with patients and peers be improved? And how to deliver healthcare most equitably and efficiently?
This is also the home of [IMJ On-Air], where authors from the College's Internal Medicine Journal present their work. [Journal Club] showcases RACP academics published in other journals. Meanwhile, the [Case Report] series is developed to guide Basic Physician Trainees on presentation of long-cases at their examinations.
Why a pomegranate? The fruit has featured on the coat of arms of the Royal College of Physicians of London since 1546. Listen here for the unlikely tale of how it made its way from ancient myth onto this podcast by way of Henry VIII.
Please continue the discussion in the comments section for each episode and send any feedback or ideas to podcast@racp.edu.au
Subscribe
Search for ‘Pomegranate Health’ in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Castbox or any podcasting app. For some apps you may need to import . It also provides a single page you can search for topics that might interest you in specific podcast episodes. You can also sign up for an email alert when a new episode is published about once a month.
CPD
At each episode page there is a MyCPD link for Fellows to log hours of participation in a Category 1 Educational activity. Consider "levelling up" this experience into a Category 2 Performance Review activity. For example, you could organise peers into a journal club to discuss the podcast. This could be done in person, or virtually. Reflect on aspects of the story that relate to your own practice and how it could be improved and visit MyCPD Handbook for further guidance or discussion templates.
Latest episodes
Ep102: Staying on script with semaglutide
Semaglutide has proven effectiveness for glycaemic control and weight loss as well as predictable benefits for cardiovascular and metabolic health. But the unprecedented demand from the wider population has posed a problem for regulators and prescribers.
Ep100: Conversations with ChatGPT
Natural language processor models could save hours of time spent writing clinical notes and searching through preexisting ones. But there are problematic aspects to networks on the scale of the astounding ChatGPT.
Ep99: When AI goes wrong
Uncertainty around the medicolegal aspects of AI-assisted care is of the main reasons that practitioners report discomfort about the use of this technology. It's a question that hasn’t been well tested in the courts but there is evidence about the types of adverse events that result.
[IMJ On-Air] A tiger in the mallee: Victoria’s JEV cluster
In early 2022 Victorian physicians saw a cluster of patients presenting with fevers, confusion and Parkinsonian symptoms. These would be identified as the first cases of Japanese encephalitis virus acquired on Australia’s mainland in 24 years.
Ep97: The governance of AI
The inexplainability of deep learning models creates discomfort for some clinicians and regulators. But AI-based clinical interventions can still be tested to the standards of evidence-based medicine we are accustomed to.
Ep96: The ergonomics of AI
AI-assisted medicine can help overcome some of the natural limits of human cognition. But it all depends on how seamlessly the machine learning devices fit in with decision-making in the clinical workflow.
Ep95: Machine Learning 101
Artificial intelligence can help interpretation of diagnostic images and perform very nuanced risk stratification based on medical records. But machine learning algorithms must be trained on good quality data to avoid error and bias from being introduced.
Ep94: Facing up to racial bias
There is systematic variation in delivery of care to culturally diverse patients in all fields of medicine. This podcast highlights the subtle biases that affect clinical decision-making by practitioners and provision of services at an institutional level.
Ep93: The rise and fall of mpox
In 2022 a sexually transmitted form of mpox virus made its way around the developed world but it had long been endemic in African countries. In this podcast we talk about the conditions that allowed new strains to evolve and the rapid community health response that reigned the global outbreak in.