Second Opinion

4.5 (68)
Health & Fitness
Updated Biweekly

An examination of medical ethics and the practitioners who define them. Sign up to receive the Second Opinion topics in newsletter form at kcrw.com/newsletters .

4d ago

No Room In The Hospital

It's not the sniffles clogging our ERs. It's a hospital system with nowhere left to put people.
Sep 20

When Good Enough Is Never Good Enough

An A-minus isn't a crisis. But for some high achievers, it can feel like one. When does striving for excellence become something harmful?
Sep 13

The Pressure to Succeed

American teens are anxious, exhausted, and getting too little sleep. Are phones really the whole problem—or should we also be looking at our culture of achievement?
Sep 6

Would You Get Sick for Science?

They were conscientious objectors who refused to fight in World War II. So they found another way to serve: they offered their own bodies for dangerous medical experiments.
Aug 30

Maybe We've Been Fighting the Wrong Enemy

For 100 years we've been trying to kill mosquitoes. What if the real problem was us?
Aug 23

Mosquitoes Are Winning

We've spent decades trying to kill mosquitoes. So why do they seem to be getting better at living with us?
Aug 16

The Missing Ingredient in Fighting Ebola

You can bring doctors, laboratories, and protective equipment to an Ebola outbreak. But you can't ship trust in a box.
Aug 9

The Choice Dementia Takes Away

Who should make the final decision about your death? You, your family, your doctor...or a disease that slowly takes away your mind?

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4.5

out of 5

68 Ratings

Not that kind of doctor

11/23/2025

Fernandina M

I’ve been listening for a long time and today’s was the first episode I found disappointing. In “not that kind of doctor”, Dr Wilkes describes an NP with a doctorate degree as misrepresenting herself as a doctor, without mentioning her exact degree. He ends it by saying “NPs are great but they aren’t doctors” . This is contradictory- in this example, the NP is a Doctor of Nursing Practice. So she may say that as long as she states her full title. In the current political climate where the DOE is stripping nurses of their “professional” distinction (an action which will affect student loans and further contribute to the nursing shortage) this is a really harmful take. FWIW, I am an NP. I introduce myself as an NP. I correct patients when they call me doctor. But they continue to call me doctor anyway. Not much I can do, and I’m sorry to say that many patients simply don’t care what your actual title is as long as you can help them. While I agree it is wrong for a DNP to simply introduce him/herself as a doctor, there is no reason they Should not be able to use their full title they worked so hard for.
Ticks and one health

04/30/2022

Sylverwylf

While I agree with the assessment of physicians and veterinarians should work together. Facts were wrong in the episode. Ticks require 3 blood meals over its life span, a blood meal at each stage larva, nymph, and adult. When a disease causing agent is ingested at an earlier stage, the tick can transmit it during the next stage, which is why ticks are a good transmitter of disease. Tapeworms are not directly transmitted from the pet to the person, therefore a physician would not need to know the pet had tapeworms. A human is most commonly infected with tapeworms by eating undercooked meat. Please get your facts right.
One opinion, Lop sided, physician centric

02/05/2022

Auditory Aficionado

Podcast brings a single perspective to common problems with the US healthcare system. At a time when debate, dialogue and collaboration are necessary more than ever before, the 4-minute long episode is unable to bring dissenting voices to the table. I’d rather spend my time on spirited debate and innovative problem solving, than sign on to an agenda.
Love it

06/05/2021

lsmakarova1717b

Love it!

An examination of medical ethics and the practitioners who define them. Sign up to receive the Second Opinion topics in newsletter form at kcrw.com/newsletters .