Why Politics and Health go Hand-in-Hand | Abdul El-Sayed, MD, PhD

There is a lot more to health to health than what happens in an examination room. The decisions that are made at the municipal, state, and national levels make incredible impacts that often times can either make or break the health of a population at large. In fact, preventive medicine at the highest level has more to do with politics and policy than the supplement being touted on your feed as a miracle. 

In this episode, I talk with Dr. Abdul El-Sayed who has had many roles throughout his career; so many that he has a wikipedia page! Dr. El-Sayed trained as a physician with a gap to complete his PhD at Oxford in Public Health after which he became an assistant professor at Columbia University within the Department of Epidemiology. He then went on to become the youngest Health Director and Executive Director of the Detroit Health Department at just 30 years old before running for governor of Michigan in 2018. Unfortunately, he did not win that race but has continued writing and speaking about the relationship between politics and health through his two published books, podcast, and newsletter. He is a political commentator on television and continued to be active in improving the landscape for public health.

Dr. El-Sayed's Links:

Show Outline

  1. You have held a lot of roles and do many things, why do you do what you do?
  2. What does preventive medicine mean to you?
  3. What responsibilities does a top official of a health department have compared to a practicing physician? How much of an impact on the day to day lives of people does this role have?
  4. Why did you decide to run for governor of Michigan and how much impact can someone in this role have in the health of their constituents?
  5. What does the landscape for healthcare reform look like on the political level? Do politicians realize the issues that regular people face?
  6. If someone asks you how to get healthy while you are waiting for your coffee at starbucks, what do you tell them in 2 minutes?

 

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