S01_E01 - From Barcodes to Beta Blockers - Welcome to the Healthy Matters Podcast!

Welcome to the healthy matters podcast with Dr. David Hilton, primary care physician and acute care hospitalist at Hennepin healthcare in downtown Minneapolis, where we cover the latest in health healthcare, and what matters to you. And now here's your host, Dr. David Hilton.

Hey everybody. Welcome to the inaugural episode of the healthy matters podcast. I'm Dr. David Hilton, an internal medicine and primary care physician at Hennepin healthcare in downtown Minneapolis, Hennepin runs Hennepin county medical center, which is a big safety net hospital, right smack in the middle of the city. That cares for literally everybody that walks in in our door. I've been there since my medical career started about 20 years ago, and I'm an internal medicine physician, which means I'm a primary care doctor. I treat millionaires and I also treat people who are experiencing homelessness. Some of my patients just got off an airplane from another country and are new residents and neighbors. They don't speak English. Maybe they haven't been to a us hospital before some people have substance use issues. Some people have mental health problems. Some people are experiencing chronic illnesses. Other people are having some new trauma in their life. What's important about all of it is that I get to see a broad swath of humanity and I get to be part of people's lives at their best times. And sometimes at their worst times, some of my interactions with people are happy. Some are sad, some are downright tragic, but almost all are inspiring. And what I have learned is that people who are different than me, or even if they're not so different from me, they all share a common humanity. They share a common gratitude for their health and for the chance to become healthy or, and so it is just a privilege to be at a place where I can care for people from all walks of life. And it's been an honor from me to grow as a person by becoming part of the lives of people who are different than me. I hope some of that comes through on the podcast and that you will feel some of that perspective when you hear the stories from our county hospital. So I, wasn't always a doctor. Imagine if you will, just for a moment, a dork, nerdy engineering kid, about 24 years old making barcodes, this is what I did for a living. I made barcodes. Yeah. I'm talking about those things that are on your cheer box that you scan at your local target store. Somebody has to make those things. And well, that was me. And let me tell you, if you want to kill a conversation at a cocktail party, just tell'em you make barcodes for a living. People will start melting into the woodwork. You know, it, it, it, you're not the most popular guy at the party. Let's just put it that way. But, you know, and although making barcodes, I'm sure had some great value to society. I did that for about six years, but my wife, you know, probably getting tired of hearing me and moaning about my job said, why didn't you do that medicine thing that you talked about some years ago? So I did, we had already had a couple little choppers. We had a son and a daughter. They were, you know, toddlers at the time. And although we didn't have two nickels to rub together, did I applied to medical school? And I think I must have duped somebody in to let me in because the university of Minnesota, let me in for another crack at a degree. And I went to medical school. And after that, I did my residency at Hennepin county medical center. And I never left. I'm still there on the staff of Hennepin. And I think they maybe tried to get me to leave, but it didn't work because now I, uh, I teach there and I see patients at our county hospital. I also have other jobs. I, I do some hospital administration and I do a bit of teaching of medical students at the university of Minnesota medical school. Although the podcast is new. My talking to people about healthcare is now this podcast carries on in a 13 year long tradition of healthy matters. Let me tell you how it all got started. I was minded my own business somewhere back in about, I don't know, 2008. And, uh, I was a primary care doctor doing, you know, what primary care doctors do, which is seeing patients in clinic, getting them ready for their surgeries, treating their blood pressure, sadly, filling out a few, too many forms, uh, and, and basically helping people navigate their lives as it relates to their health and staying healthy. So I'm minding my own business, seeing patients in the clinic and we get like an all points bulletin from the hospital, administrators on an email saying, Hey, we're doing a radio show and we're looking for a host. So this goes out to all the several hundred doctors. And, and I don't remember what my initial response to that, but I got two emails from, I think on the same day from two of my colleagues. And, and they're still my friends to this day. One of them is a doctor named Ann and the other is a doctor named Heidi. And both of them sent me an email independently and said, you know what? They're looking for a radio show host. Why don't you do that? You never shut up. And, uh, that's what I love about my friends. They, they tell it like it is don't they? And so, uh, they good naturally proded me into the show. So we launched healthy matters on a big radio here in downtown Minneapolis on January 4th, 2009. And every Sunday, since I've been talking to the tens of thousands of people that have been listening, most of'em are from the upper Midwest, but I've had listeners from Arizona. I had a call from South Africa once, and this has been going on for 13 years, every single Sunday morning. Over that time, I've done 678 broadcasts. Over those 13 years, there have been some 15 or 18 million people who have heard the show. And to you, I say, thank you. And I welcome you to the podcast format where we're gonna carry on the healthy matters tradition. The podcast is gonna be a new way and an expanded way to stay connected. So here's what you can expect on the podcast. First trusted, reliable medical information. I will continue to give reliable, trusted, scientifically sound medical in a way that I hope is meaningful to you. There is so much out there. The, the, the disinformation and the just simply the massive information out there is overwhelming. I am a practicing physician at a real hospital, caring for real people. And I hope that the information you get here will be trusted and something you look forward to hearing. Second. I hope that you'll be inspired by the stories you hear. The healthcare is awfully complicated. We're gonna put a human face to it. I hope that you'll hear the stories from real doctors from real patients from our hospital. So we're gonna tell stories of what it's like from our perspective and try to humanize medicine. Third, we're gonna have a segment called Dr. Hilton's house calls, where I answer your questions about how to stay healthy and get healthy. No topic is off limits, uh, you know, keep it to healthcare, but, uh, um, simply drop us a line and I will try to answer your questions on future episodes. And fourth, the old adage is actually true. Left is the best medicine. And if we can have a little fun while we're talking about topics that are relevant to you and your family and your wellness, then doing it with a little bit of fun is the way to go. There's several ways that you can be in touch with us and interact with the show. First, drop us a line at 6 1 2 8 7 3. Talk. You can leave your medical questions there. You can leave topic ideas. You can do the same thing at our email, which is healthy matters. HC med.org. Third ways you can follow us on Twitter. It's Dr. David Hilton and send me a DM. And as soon as I learn how to use the darn thing, I'll try to get back to you, Dr. David Hilton on Twitter. And lastly, the website is@myhealthymatters.org, where you can find episodes and stay in touch with the show. Let me give you a little taste of what's gonna come next. I've invited for the next episode, my good friend, Dr. Megan Walsh. She and I have known each other for about the last 20 years. She's an internal medicine at the hospital where I work, and she's also in of all medical education at the hospital. And I've asked her to come on and talk to me about patient care, uh, situations that she remembers. Sometimes those, those stories might be funny. Sometimes they might be sad, but I think they'll always be somewhat inspirational. So tune into the next episode, it's sort of an insider's look at what doctors are seeing the hospital. So I hope you'll join us for future episodes of the healthy matters podcast. Please join the conversation, engage with the show and be healthy and be well.

Thanks for listening to the healthy matters podcast with Dr. David Hilton, to keep up to date with the latest in healthcare and your health, subscribe to this podcast, wherever you get your podcasts for more information on healthy matters, or to browse the archive, visit our website@healthymatters.org. And if you have a question or comment for the doctor, email us at healthy matters, HC M E, or give us a call at six one two eight seven three. Talk catch all the latest from Dr. Hilton and the healthy matters podcast. Follow us on Twitter at Dr. David Hilton. Finally, if you enjoyed this podcast and would like to support us, please leave us a review and share the healthy matters podcast with your friends and family. The healthy matters podcast made possible by Hennepin healthcare in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and engineered by John Lucas at highball executive producers are Jonathan kudo and Christine Hill. Please remember we can only give general medical advice during this program. And every case is unique. We urge you to consult with your personal physician. If you have more serious or pressing health concerns until time be healthy and be well.