A Global Perspective on Health and Medicine – James Sanders, MD, MPH

Most of us are very privileged when it comes to healthcare. We expect not only to get better from whatever ails us, but that we have easily accessible care equipped with all the necessary medicines, diagnostic tools, and staff. Unfortunately, many parts of the world have much less in the way of healthcare!  Dr. James Sanders is a global health expert having practiced in setting such as Zambia, The Republic of Georgia, and Southeast Asia among other locations. In this episode, Dr. Sanders shares his insights on what preventive care, or just medical care in general, looks like in various parts of the world and the lessons he applied from his travels to his care as a local physician. This episode is fully of many stories so make sure to listen to the whole thing! Dr. Sander's doesn't have social media! Show Notes * Can you tell us a little bit about your career and why you were interested in global health at a time it wasn’t really popular? * What does preventive medicine mean to you? * What is the MPH degree, why did you get it on top of the MD, and how did you utilize it during your career? * Given the vast differences in resources, what are the biggest differences in care when it comes to the wealthy and the poor? Many people say that those who are poor have worse health because of personal choices, is this the case? * What does healthcare look like in a country like Zambia which did not have a family medicine training program until your arrival? Many of our listeners might not even know what that looks like! * In the united states we talk about preventive medicine from a very privileged position largely with nutrition, exercise, yearly checkups, etc. What does preventive medicine look like in a country with lesser resources such as The Republic of Georgia? * How do impoverished populations differ in other parts of the world than in the united states? * What lessons have you learned during your career as a clinician that are guiding your decisions now on the insurance side of things? * If someone asked you how to get healthy while you were waiting for your coffee at starbucks, what would you tell them in 2 minutes? Join our Mailing List HERE: Mailchimp