The Trusted Messenger Podcast

The Trusted Messenger Program

There are no more trusted messengers in America than health care providers. But they aren’t trained or supported in communication. We’re here to talk about that. And to change it.

Episodes

  1. Jan 16

    Embracing the Messy Yes

    This week's health care communication topics include: • the critical role of pharmacists in public health, • ways to reduce resistance and increase receptivity from patients • the advantages of sound bites and talking points,  • the importance of tailoring messages for specific audiences, and • what it means to "embrace the messy yes" of patient interactions. Guest Messenger Dr. Christina Madison, a clinical pharmacist specializing in public health with a focus on communicable diseases and founder of The Public Health Pharmacist Chapters 0:00  Intro 2:46  Christina’s Origin Story 5:09  Every Day I Was Helping Someone 7:36  Every Pharmacist is a Public Health Pharmacist   9:34  Communication is Even More Important For Pharmacists  11:21  Making That First Connection (and Meaning It) 13:34  Christina's Only Formal Communication Training 17:07  Sound Bites & Talking Points 19:10  Disciplined Messages & Back-of-Napkin Summaries 20:30  The Snapchat of Vaccinations 21:28  You Can’t Use The Same Message for Everyone 22:31  That’s a You Problem, Not a Them Problem 24:05  I Realized I Failed Them 27:25  The Best Thing You Can Do is Shut the Hell Up 28:48  Asking Permission 32:04  Moving the Needle to Receptivity 34:04  The Blowhard at the End of the Bar 35:35  We Optimize Health Care by Working as a Team 37:10  The Evolution of the Pharmacy Tech 40:50  Every HCP Needs a YouTube Channel 46:24  Is it Really a Soft Skill? 49:08  Embrace the Messy Yes 51:40  Educator Shout-Out: Dr. Dennis Fuller New episodes drop every Friday. Video versions here. Check Out Our Web Site http://trustedmessengerprogram.org Follow Us On LinkedIn http://linkedin.com/company/trusted-messenger-program Good communication is essential to good health care.

    55 min

  2. Jan 9

    I'm Just Teaching Infection

    This week's topics include: • teaching as a way of connecting with patients, • trusting the intelligence of your patients (and yourself),  • finding the common ground necessary for patient conversations, and  • learning communication in both the classroom and the exam room. Guest Messenger Dr. Cedric "Jamie" Rutland, pulmonary critical care physician and producer/creator of Medicine Deconstructed and The Health Exchange Podcast. Chapters 0:00  Intro 2:29  Jamie’s Origin Story 5:39  The Lack of Connection to What Patients Understood 6:36  I Would Enter the Room and Start Teaching 8:01  You Oughta Start a YouTube Channel 10:45  Teaching Physicians How to Communicate 12:20  The Problem With COVID 13:43  The Geometry of Immunology 14:56  I’m Just Teaching Infection 17:07  The Struggle to Connect 18:27  Trusting the Intelligence of the People to Whom We’re Speaking 20:26  The Ground Where Discussion Can Take Place 23:49  You’re Smart Enough to Explain This 26:52  Patients Don’t Have to Take Board Exams 28:30  Memorizing Minutiae vs. Learning Communication 30:17  Small Problem: The Family Was Racist 32:22  You Need to Learn How to Storytell 35:33  The Problem is the Role-Modeling  36:42  Where Med Schools are Failing Miserably  38:40  I Can Make Anyone a Good, Solid Communicator  41:17  Go in There and Tell Her She Has Cancer 44:01  A Story About Speakers’ Training 48:28  Give Me More Todd  49:50  The Importance of Being Open-Eared 53:19  Educator Shout-Out: Dr. Mohammed Milhem  54:11  Eagles-49ers Predictions New episodes drop every Friday. Video versions here. Check Out Our Web Site http://trustedmessengerprogram.org Follow Us On LinkedIn http://linkedin.com/company/trusted-messenger-program Good communication is essential to good health care.

    57 min

  3. Jan 2

    Storytelling is a Cheat Code

    This week we dig in to: • storytelling as a tool for health communication,  • strategies for delivering information & building health literacy in entertaining ways,  • why the human brain prefers stories over logic, and  • the power of narrative to educate, engage, and empower patients. Guest Messenger Tim Jones, co-founder and CEO of Health Nuts Media Chapters 0:00  Intro 2:00  Tim's (Emmy-Award Winning) Origin Story 4:00  Talking to Teens About Cancer & Chemotherapy 5:40  Dropping Names & Saving Lives 6:59  Addressing Health Literacy & Underserved Populations 9:23  Storytelling is a Cheat Code 10:34 The Human Brain is a Story Processor, Not a Logic Processor 12:23  Curling Up on the Couch With a Good Spreadsheet? 13:00  Empathy Machines... 14:05  …vs. Data Machines 16:29  The Power of Metaphor 18:45  We All Want Closure 19:29  Why So Serious? 21:34  Graduating at 70% Effectiveness 22:46  The Real Danger of the Algorithms 25:15  Optimizing the Health Care Communication Ecosystem 26:50  Preparing for Those Precious 8 Minutes 28:37  Wheel of Fortune & Taking Some of the Burden Off 33:33  Animation & The Elimination of Bias 34:39  Family Guy & The Best COVID-19 Vaccine Explainer Ever 36:54  Health Nuts Clip: "50 Things You Might See in the Hospital" 39:45  Health Nuts Clip: "NPO Instructions" 43:53  Communicating to People Where They Are 46:04  Talk to Me About Hospice When You’re Shoveling Dirt on My Coffin 48:15  David Byrne, Lyrical Tricks, and Opening the Door for Patients 50:07  Our Job is Not to be Encyclopedic 50:52  Everything is Tuberculosis 52:35  The Idea of Narrative Medicine 54:50  Educator Shout-Out: Professor Michael Mott 55:49  Mystery, Not Muddle Show Links Family Guy COVID 19 Video Explainer New episodes drop every Friday. Video versions here. Check Out Our Web Site http://trustedmessengerprogram.org Follow Us On LinkedIn http://linkedin.com/company/trusted-messenger-program Good communication is essential to good health care.

    58 min

  4. 12/26/2025

    (Really, Truly) Meeting People Where They Are

    This week's topics include:  • the intersection of competence and communication,  • strategies for teaching communication in both med school and residency,  • some skill sets that improve every patient visit,  • the NURSE mnemonic for patient interactions, and  • the importance of (really, truly) meeting patients where they are both physically and emotionally. Guest Messenger Dr. Andy Nowalk, Clinical Director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Chapters 0:00  Intro 1:10  The Robert Klein to Our Johnny Carson 2:59  Communication is a Muscle 3:46  Families Have Trouble Seeing Competence 5:58  Combining My Educator Hat & My Infectious Disease Hat 7:35  Kurt Russell, Used Cars, & Essential Oils 8:51  Several Levels of Benefits 10:50  Residency Program Communication Strategy 13:22  A Clarification About Todd & Clinical Errors 14:15  Interventions That Start You Off on the Right Foot 16:52  Listening for Emotion & Using the NURSE Mnemonic  20:46  Actually Meeting People Where They Are 23:35  You Do This Every Day 25:25  If You Ignore it, the Visit is Over  26:58  I Can Give You a Tool Set That Makes Every Visit Better 28:49  People Don’t Realize How Long Bad Communication Takes 31:37  Building a General Tool Set 33:30  How Do You Get Them to Use Their Stethoscope? 35:35  Like Reaching for the Right Antibiotic 37:44  One of the Things Drove Me Out of Academia 39:40  Introductions & Expectations 41:40  The Death Knell of Most Medical Conversations 42:30  A Little Bit of Teach-Back Goes a Long Way 43:52  The Kitchen Table Test 44:52  Circling Back to Where We Started 47:37  Standing on the Shoulders of Giants New episodes drop every Friday. Video versions here. Check Out Our Web Site http://trustedmessengerprogram.org Follow Us On LinkedIn http://linkedin.com/company/trusted-messenger-program Good communication is essential to good health care.

    49 min

  5. 12/19/2025

    The Muddied Waters of Health Care

    Our topics this week include: • shared clinical decision-making, • the often muddy waters of health care in 2025, • the importance of creating support tools for front-line clinicians, and  • some helpful, practical tips for health care providers to use in practice. Guest Messenger Dr. Charlene Wong, pediatrician and Executive-in-Residence at the Common Health Coalition Chapters 0:00  Intro 0:35  Shoutout to Our Theme Musician  1:38  Dr. Wong’s (Highly Impressive) Background 4:56  Communicascope Training 6:42  The Importance of Proactive, Strategic Communication 8:49  Tiny Tears of Joy 9:48  How Do We Enhance Our Public Trust? 10:59  RSV Communication & What "Feels Real" 14:38  Distilling the Message for Front-Line Clinicians 16:50  In 2025, It’s Not Just Face-to-Face  19:24  What the CDC Says Matter Less Than We Think 21:13  The Common Health Coalition 25:29  Creating Clinician Support Tools 27:14  It’s Gotten Trickier Out There 28:46  Shared Clinical Decision-Making 32:11  A Muddying of the Health Care Waters 33:44  Important Points on Vaccine Coverage & Documentation 36:03  So Many Providers Were Asking the Same Questions 39:01  Avoiding the Ol' "Safe and Effective"  39:56  Why are We Doing This in the First Place? New episodes drop every Friday. Video versions here. Check Out Our Web Site http://trustedmessengerprogram.org Follow Us On LinkedIn http://linkedin.com/company/trusted-messenger-program Good communication is essential to good health care.

    43 min

  6. 12/12/2025

    In the Era of Algorithms & Instant Gratification

    This week we explore:  • the pros, cons, and cautions of social media,  • the tension between what you learn in med school and what patients want in the exam room,  • the necessity of engaging patients both in-person and online, and  • the need for common humanity in health communication. GUEST MESSENGER Dr. Margot Savoy, Chief Medical Officer of the American Academy of Family Physicians CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro 1:40  When Todd Met Margo... 3:58  The Wild, Wild West of Social Media 5:31  The Best Social Media Platform is... 7:35  Questioning & Challenging the Discourse 10:54  If You Like Us in the Office, You’ll Love Us Online 12:07  Serving Patients in the Era of Algorithms & Instant Gratification 14:03  Finding & Normalizing HCPs 16:22  The Lessons of Selfies & Sourdough 20:20  Social Media Abhors a Vacuum 22:44  The Trust You Have is Transferrable 24:30  The Value of Social Listening (Before it Was Called That) 26:35  Building Trust By Admitting What You Don’t Know 31:00  Med School Doesn’t Teach Us to Be Warm & Fuzzy 35:42  We Just Need to Do Better 37:28  This Core Idea of Humanism  39:46  Your Single Best Diagnostic Tool 41:02  There are at Least Four Truths 43:41  Real Trust & Connection by Just Being You 45:31  The Three Most Important Words in Communication 46:30  You Should Come Back Next Week New episodes drop every Friday. Video versions here. Check Out Our Web Site http://trustedmessengerprogram.org Follow Us On LinkedIn http://linkedin.com/company/trusted-messenger-program Good communication is essential to good health care.

    48 min

  7. 12/05/2025

    Origin Stories & Value-Based Comms

    In our first episode, co-hosts Chad Hermann and Dr. Todd Wolynn talk about their work at the Trusted Messenger Program, consider how (and why) local health care providers are America's most Trusted Messengers, explore why good communication is essential to good health care, and drop a few hints on the focus of future episodes. Chapters 0:00 Intro 1:30  The Todd & Chad Origin Story 5:10  Communication Makes Everything Better 6:07  Long Before We Talked the Talk, We Walked the Walk 7:57  A Culture of Communication, Locally & Nationally  9:35  The Difference Between Use & Power 11:15  A Year of Radical Meltdowns   14:25  Trust is Local 17:14  Taking the Social Out of Social Media 20:01  The Only Issue in America on Which Everyone Agrees 22:02  Empowering All Health Care Providers 24:08  When None of the Hands in the Room Go Up 25:02  Your Clinical Acumen Means Absolutely Nothing 26:26  C-Suites, Burnout Data, & Value-Based Care Gaps 30:24  Free CME & Impromptu Comedy Routines 33:41  We Have a Lot of Ground to Cover 34:56  The Rise of Digital Natives 41:39  From Green Day to Jeff Verszyla 43:22  People Who Read People (& Chad’s Happy Face) 45:45  Where We’re Failing 47:35  Good Communication is Essential to Good Health Care 48:22  Quality, Efficiency, & Effectiveness New episodes drop every Friday. Video versions here. Check Out Our Web Site http://trustedmessengerprogram.org Follow Us On LinkedIn http://linkedin.com/company/trusted-messenger-program Good communication is essential to good health care.

    52 min
  • 7 Episodes

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

There are no more trusted messengers in America than health care providers. But they aren’t trained or supported in communication. We’re here to talk about that. And to change it.

Information

  • Creator
    The Trusted Messenger Program
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    7
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Trusted Messenger Program
  • Show Website
    The Trusted Messenger Podcast