Who Was Medicine Designed For?: Dr. Joel Bervell, Internal Medicine Resident and “The Medical Mythbuster”

"I'd already finished my cardiovascular unit. I'd finished my pulmonary unit. I had never heard about this in any of my classes." That was Dr. Joel Bervell's reaction to discovering that a device used every day in hospitals -- the pulse oximeter -- reads less accurately on darker skin tones. He posted a 30-second video about this consequential discrepancy that, to his utter surprise, gained over 500,000 views by the next morning.

That video launched Dr. Bervell into orbit as a social media presence and created his identity as The Medical Mythbuster. In just a few years, he’s built a following of two million people, earned a Peabody Award and was named to the inaugural Time 100 Creators list, all while finishing his residency. 

On this episode of Raise the Line, host Lindsey Smith welcomes Dr. Bervell to explore the roots of this kind of bias and the real world impact of drawing attention to it. “The most impactful biases in medicine exist because no one stops to ask who was included in the original data and who was left out,” Dr. Bervell explains.

Stay tuned to also learn about:

• His YouTube animated series The Doctor is In which helps kids understand how their bodies work, as well as providing medical role models;
• How to build trust with marginalized communities;
• His forthcoming book, The Default Body which examines who medicine was actually designed for.

Mentioned in this episode:
Dr. Bervell on Instagram
TikTok Channel
Facebook
"The Doctor Is In" Show

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