The hospital can turn into a blur the second you get admitted, and we wanted to slow it down and make it make sense. 🔴 Dr Ben and Friends

Dr. Jennifer, a board-certified hospitalist in Nashville, joins us to explain what a hospitalist actually does, how patients move from the ER to the floors, and why inpatient medicine is equal parts detective work and coordination.

Comedian Marcus Saputo keeps the laughs coming while asking the kinds of questions most people are thinking but never say out loud.

We get into the real mechanics of modern hospital care: when you can be treated at home versus admitted, how discharge plans come together, and what patients and families should ask so they understand the diagnosis and the next step. Dr. Jennifer shares the value of advocacy with simple prompts like “What is this test supposed to show?” and “What are we waiting on for me to go home?” We also explain hospital emergencies in plain language, including what “code blue” means and why high-quality CPR and chest compressions are time-critical.

Then we zoom out to the future of healthcare technology. We talk electronic medical records, AI in healthcare, and ambient transcription tools that can draft notes from the patient conversation so doctors spend less time documenting and more time at the bedside. We also hit telehealth, clinician burnout, and prevention basics that keep you out of the hospital in the first place, from taking meds correctly to smoking cessation and routine primary care visits.

If you like smart healthcare talk with actual laughs, subscribe, share this with a friend who works in medicine, and leave a review so more listeners can find the show. What’s the best question you have ever asked a doctor, or wish you asked sooner?

THANKS TO OUR GUESTS:

Dr Jennifer: Internal Medicine, Hospitalist

Marcus Saputo: IG/TT/YT/FB @marcussaputo https://marcussaputo.com/

Subscribe wherever you listen, share this with a friend and leave a review so more people can find honest conversations about healthcare and a little comedy along the way.

This episode was produced by Angie Debelak with post-production editing by Ben Hill Sound.

Thanks for listening to Dr Ben and Friends. Laughter is the best medicine...unless you're treating bowel or bladder incontinence. See you next time!

Team Dr Ben

Share a message with Dr Ben and Friends!

Support the show

Follow and listen for free on Dr Ben and Friends website, YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and iHeart Radio!

Fan of the show? Record yourself! on Dr Ben's website and YOU could be featured on the next episode!

DISCLAIMER: Dr Ben and Friends Podcast

Quick heads-up folks: Dr Ben and Friends is your weekly dose of laughs and stories. We celebrate healthcare heroes and pro comics.

This is infotainment-- think popcorn, not prescriptions or medical advice.

If you're feeling funky, see your medical professional. Your health? That's on you. We'll stick to the punchlines.

Your skin does two jobs you never think about until it’s gone: it keeps fluid in and it keeps infection out.

So what happens when a major burn breaks that barrier and every decision has to be made fast, with the right words, the right math, and the right plan? We jump into a rapid-fire round of “What The Heck Is That?” with Dr. Tommy and pro comedian Tara Brown, turning burn surgery terms into clear, usable concepts you can actually remember.

We start with TBSA (total body surface area) and the surprisingly simple tools clinicians use to estimate burn size, including the patient’s palm as a quick 1% reference. From there we get precise about what a third degree burn really means and why it’s about depth, not surface area.

One of the most misunderstood words in wound care? Debridement. We tackle what it looks like when dead tissue has to come off before healing can begin.

Then we dig into skin grafting vocabulary you’ve probably heard but never had decoded: autograft versus allograft versus xenograft, plus why temporary graft coverage can be essential while a burn evolves and donor sites recover.

We connect the dots to burn fluid resuscitation and the Parkland formula, and we wrap with hydro surgery, a “water knife” approach that shows how technical burn care has become.

If YOU like smart medicine with real-world explanations and a little humor, hit play, subscribe, share with a curious friend, and leave a review with the next medical term you want us to decode.

THANKS TO OUR GUESTS:

Dr Tommy: LinkedIn: tommytranmd IG @tommytranmd, www.tommytranmd.com

Dr Tommy jumps out of plane for patient:

https://www.newschannel5.com/news/i-will-jump-for-you-burn-survivor-gets-his-doctor-to-go-skydiving

Tara Brown: IG/TT @tarabrowncomedy, X @TaraBrownComedy, FB/YT Tara Brown Comedy, www.tarabrowncomedy.com

Tara’s TEDx The Laughter Assignment:

https://youtu.be/Fjy2eQF7kcs?si=L5usforWt12v0V8B

Subscribe wherever you listen, share this with a friend and leave a review so more people can find honest conversations about weight loss, health, and a little comedy along the way.

This episode was produced by Angie Debelak with post-production editing by Ben Hill Sound.

Thanks for listening to Dr Ben and Friends. Laughter is the best medicine...unless you're treating bowel or bladder incontinence. See you next time!

Team Dr Ben

Share a message with Dr Ben and Friends!

Support the show

Follow and listen for free on Dr Ben and Friends website, YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and iHeart Radio!

Fan of the show? Record yourself! on Dr Ben's website and YOU could be featured on the next episode!

DISCLAIMER: Dr Ben and Friends Podcast

Quick heads-up folks: Dr Ben and Friends is your weekly dose of laughs and stories. We celebrate healthcare heroes and pro comics.

This is infotainment-- think popcorn, not prescriptions or medical advice.

If you're feeling funky, see your medical professional. Your health? That's on you. We'll stick to the punchlines.

Two headlines hit the board, and only one can be real. One claims cracking your knuckles builds extra bones over time. The other claims a man’s hands ooze yellowish cholesterol nodules after living on an extreme meat, cheese, and butter diet. We make our picks, talk through why certain health myths stick, and then reveal the truth behind the grossest story of the day.

From there, we get surprisingly practical about the science: what that knuckle “pop” likely is, why joint noise doesn’t automatically equal damage, and why visible cholesterol deposits can be more than a weird headline. We also talk about the uncomfortable question the story raises: if cholesterol is high enough to show up on your skin, what might be happening in your arteries? It’s part medical comedy podcast, part myth-busting, and part reminder to take real warning signs seriously.

Then we fully commit to the bit and scrub in. Caps, gloves, an N95-style mask confusion, and a surgical “timeout” lead into the Dr. Ben Buzz Battle, where we put comedian Tara Brown on the clock with a 60-second surgery challenge while Dr. Tommy and Dr Ben comment on every focused move.

If you like funny health conversations, medical myths, cholesterol education, and a behind-the-scenes feel for why real surgery takes skill, hit play. Subscribe, share this with a friend who loves wild health headlines, and leave a review. Which headline would you have believed first?

THANKS TO OUR GUESTS:

Dr Tommy: LinkedIn: tommytranmd IG @tommytranmd, www.tommytranmd.com

Dr Tommy jumps out of plane for patient:

https://www.newschannel5.com/news/i-will-jump-for-you-burn-survivor-gets-his-doctor-to-go-skydiving

Tara Brown: IG/TT @tarabrowncomedy, X @TaraBrownComedy, FB/YT Tara Brown Comedy, www.tarabrowncomedy.com

Tara’s TEDx The Laughter Assignment:

https://youtu.be/Fjy2eQF7kcs?si=L5usforWt12v0V8B

Subscribe wherever you listen, share this with a friend and leave a review so more people can find honest conversations about weight loss, health, and a little comedy along the way.

This episode was produced by Angie Debelak with post-production editing by Ben Hill Sound.

Thanks for listening to Dr Ben and Friends. Laughter is the best medicine...unless you're treating bowel or bladder incontinence. See you next time!

Team Dr Ben

Share a message with Dr Ben and Friends!

Support the show

Follow and listen for free on Dr Ben and Friends website, YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and iHeart Radio!

Fan of the show? Record yourself! on Dr Ben's website and YOU could be featured on the next episode!

DISCLAIMER: Dr Ben and Friends Podcast

Quick heads-up folks: Dr Ben and Friends is your weekly dose of laughs and stories. We celebrate healthcare heroes and pro comics.

This is infotainment-- think popcorn, not prescriptions or medical advice.

If you're feeling funky, see your medical professional. Your health? That's on you. We'll stick to the punchlines.