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The Trusted Messenger Podcast

The Trusted Messenger Podcast

Written by: The Trusted Messenger Program
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About this listen

There are no more trusted messengers in America than health care providers. But they aren’t trained or supported in communication. We’re here to talk about that. And to change it.

© 2026 Trusted Messenger Program
Episodes
  • Embracing the Messy Yes
    Jan 16 2026

    This week's health care communication topics include:

    • the critical role of pharmacists in public health,

    • ways to reduce resistance and increase receptivity from patients

    • the advantages of sound bites and talking points,

    • the importance of tailoring messages for specific audiences, and

    • what it means to "embrace the messy yes" of patient interactions.

    Guest Messenger
    Dr. Christina Madison, a clinical pharmacist specializing in public health with a focus on communicable diseases and founder of The Public Health Pharmacist

    Chapters
    0:00 Intro
    2:46 Christina’s Origin Story
    5:09 Every Day I Was Helping Someone
    7:36 Every Pharmacist is a Public Health Pharmacist
    9:34 Communication is Even More Important For Pharmacists
    11:21 Making That First Connection (and Meaning It)
    13:34 Christina's Only Formal Communication Training
    17:07 Sound Bites & Talking Points
    19:10 Disciplined Messages & Back-of-Napkin Summaries
    20:30 The Snapchat of Vaccinations
    21:28 You Can’t Use The Same Message for Everyone
    22:31 That’s a You Problem, Not a Them Problem
    24:05 I Realized I Failed Them
    27:25 The Best Thing You Can Do is Shut the Hell Up
    28:48 Asking Permission
    32:04 Moving the Needle to Receptivity
    34:04 The Blowhard at the End of the Bar
    35:35 We Optimize Health Care by Working as a Team
    37:10 The Evolution of the Pharmacy Tech
    40:50 EveryHCP Needs a YouTube Channel
    46:24 Is it Really a Soft Skill?
    49:08 Embrace the Messy Yes
    51:40 Educator Shout-Out: Dr. Dennis Fuller

    New episodes drop every Friday.

    Video versions here.

    Check Out Our Web Site
    http://trustedmessengerprogram.org

    Follow Us On LinkedIn
    http://linkedin.com/company/trusted-messenger-program

    Good communication is essential to good health care.

    Show More Show Less
    55 mins
  • I'm Just Teaching Infection
    Jan 9 2026

    This week's topics include:

    • teaching as a way of connecting with patients,

    • trusting the intelligence of your patients (and yourself),

    • finding the common ground necessary for patient conversations, and

    • learning communication in both the classroom and the exam room.

    Guest Messenger
    Dr. Cedric "Jamie" Rutland, pulmonary critical care physician and producer/creator of Medicine Deconstructed and The Health Exchange Podcast.

    Chapters
    0:00 Intro
    2:29 Jamie’s Origin Story
    5:39 The Lack of Connection to What Patients Understood
    6:36 I Would Enter the Room and Start Teaching
    8:01 You Oughta Start a YouTube Channel
    10:45 Teaching Physicians How to Communicate
    12:20 The Problem With COVID
    13:43 The Geometry of Immunology
    14:56 I’m Just Teaching Infection
    17:07 The Struggle to Connect
    18:27 Trusting the Intelligence of the People to Whom We’re Speaking
    20:26 The Ground Where Discussion Can Take Place
    23:49 You’re Smart Enough to Explain This
    26:52 Patients Don’t Have to Take Board Exams
    28:30 Memorizing Minutiae vs. Learning Communication
    30:17 Small Problem: The Family Was Racist
    32:22 You Need to Learn How to Storytell
    35:33 The Problem is the Role-Modeling
    36:42 Where Med Schools are Failing Miserably
    38:40 I Can Make Anyone a Good, Solid Communicator
    41:17 Go in There and Tell Her She Has Cancer
    44:01 A Story About Speakers’ Training
    48:28 Give Me More Todd
    49:50 The Importance of Being Open-Eared
    53:19 Educator Shout-Out: Dr. Mohammed Milhem
    54:11 Eagles-49ers Predictions

    New episodes drop every Friday.

    Video versions here.

    Check Out Our Web Site
    http://trustedmessengerprogram.org

    Follow Us On LinkedIn
    http://linkedin.com/company/trusted-messenger-program

    Good communication is essential to good health care.

    Show More Show Less
    57 mins
  • Storytelling is a Cheat Code
    Jan 2 2026

    This week we dig in to:

    • storytelling as a tool for health communication,

    • strategies for delivering information & building health literacy in entertaining ways,

    • why the human brain prefers stories over logic, and

    • the power of narrative to educate, engage, and empower patients.

    Guest Messenger
    Tim Jones, co-founder and CEO of Health Nuts Media

    Chapters
    Tim0:00 Intro
    2:00 Tim's (Emmy-Award Winning) Origin Story
    4:00 Talking to Teens About Cancer & Chemotherapy
    5:40 Dropping Names & Saving Lives
    6:59 Addressing Health Literacy & Underserved Populations
    9:23 Storytelling is a Cheat Code
    10:34 The Human Brain is a Story Processor, Not a Logic Processor
    12:23 Curling Up on the Couch With a Good Spreadsheet?
    13:00 Empathy Machines...
    14:05 …vs. Data Machines
    16:29 The Power of Metaphor
    18:45 We All Want Closure
    19:29 Why So Serious?
    21:34 Graduating at 70% Effectiveness
    22:46 The Real Danger of the Algorithms
    25:15 Optimizing the Health Care Communication Ecosystem
    26:50 Preparing for Those Precious 8 Minutes
    28:37 Wheel of Fortune & Taking Some of the Burden Off
    33:33 Animation & The Elimination of Bias
    34:39 Family Guy & The Best COVID-19 Vaccine Explainer Ever
    36:54 Health Nuts Clip: "50 Things You Might See in the Hospital"
    39:45 Health Nuts Clip: "NPO Instructions"
    43:53 Communicating to People Where They Are
    46:04 Talk to Me About Hospice When You’re Shoveling Dirt on My Coffin
    48:15 David Byrne, Lyrical Tricks, and Opening the Door for Patients
    50:07 Our Job is Not to be Encyclopedic
    50:52 Everything is Tuberculosis
    52:35 The Idea of Narrative Medicine
    54:50 Educator Shout-Out: Professor Michael Mott
    55:49 Mystery, Not Muddle

    Show Links
    Family Guy COVID 19 Video Explainer

    New episodes drop every Friday.

    Video versions here.

    Check Out Our Web Site
    http://trustedmessengerprogram.org

    Follow Us On LinkedIn
    http://linkedin.com/company/trusted-messenger-program

    Good communication is essential to good health care.

    Show More Show Less
    58 mins
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