Don’t get bogged down with medical journals -- watch Dr. Z instead!
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We sure miss Dr. Marcus Welby and his vast bank of medical knowledge and reassuring demeanor. That kind of doctor is hard to come by these days — or so we thought, until we heard about Dr. Z of drZ.tv.
Dr. Z is Dr. Stephen Zinner, an internal medicine and infectious disease specialist who is also the Charles S. Davidson professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and chairman of the department of medicine at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, Mass. (Translation: He’s a pretty smart guy.) The goateed Zinner just launched a website in which he summarizes important medical studies in something that’s a cross between a vlog and a webisode. A vlogisode? Anyway, up now are topics such as the recent salmonella outbreak, West Nile virus, MRSA and the relationship between coffee and mortality. Most wrap up with some sage advice; in the salmonella segment we learn about proper washing and handling of fresh vegetables.
‘I hope that people can learn something and get a little more in-depth information,’ says Zinner, who once hosted a medical show aimed at physicians on Lifetime Medical Television (raise your hands if you remember that, because we’re seriously drawing a blank). ‘I’m trying to capture the essence of what the investigators found — I’m not doing critical reviews for scientists. And I’m encapsulating the message in a take-home fashion, so that people can figure out how it’s going to help them and their family.’ He adds that he’s not dumbing down the information, just packaging those often dense research studies for easier consumption.
Zinner is such a comforting presence that we didn’t even squirm or feel uncomfortable during the episode on intercourse and erectile dysfunction. He always wears his white doctor coat, which adds that dash of Dr. Welby reassurance.
‘I’m really trying to get people to stay informed about their health,’ he says.
-- Jeannine Stein