List of Recommended TED Talks for Pre-Meds

Med School Insiders
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Lya

Lya

Full Member
10+ Year Member
Joined
May 13, 2013
Messages
1,227
Reaction score
294
From all the TED Talks you've seen in the past, what is one video that you feel should be must-watch for pre-meds?

I understand that a similar thread was started two years ago in pre-med DO forum. However, hoping that more people can come across this, I just wanted to compile some of the videos they recommended back then and hopefully other people in this forum can chime in for the upcoming interview season and beyond.

You may use the YouTube tag, so that people can watch the video directly in the thread.

So I'll start with 4 videos for now.


1)

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKmxL8VYy0M[/YOUTUBE]

We tend to think we live in the evidence-based community, but think again. If I have to pick only one video, I would pick this one.


2)

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxnlvwprf_c[/YOUTUBE]

The most important invention in medicine during the past several decades is your hands. This one was also inspirational. I wouldn't mind if some people chose this over the first one above.


3)

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUbfRzxNy20[/YOUTUBE]

The video starts with a reference to baseball, talking about the culture of medicine that tends to stay away from mistakes all the time, instead of talking about them to prevent the future ones.


4)

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXWurAmtf78[/YOUTUBE]

You think you are a human being; but technically "you are 90~99% bacterial."
Members don't see this ad.
 
Lya said:
2)

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxnlvwprf_c[/YOUTUBE]

The most important invention in medicine during the past several decades is your hands. This one was also inspirational. I wouldn't mind if some people chose this over the first one above.
Click to expand...

I've seen this one before and really enjoyed it. I also like this one.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3QkaS249Bc[/youtube]
 
I started watching a group of Ted Talks called Doctor's on the cusp.

They had a video on the 3D organ printing that was pretty mind blowing. Can't link right now though I'm sure it's easy to find.

Thanks for starting this thread. Should be interesting.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
wholeheartedly said:
I started watching a group of Ted Talks called Doctor's on the cusp.

They had a video on the 3D organ printing that was pretty mind blowing. Can't link right now though I'm sure it's easy to find.

Thanks for starting this thread. Should be interesting.
Click to expand...
I saw that one also, I believe they had made a partially functional kidney. Amazing stuff
 
[YOUTUBE]2FMBSblpcrc[/YOUTUBE]

Since we spend a lot of time in the lab, this will help save the environment. I made my entire lab watch it and we cut down our paper towel use a ton. We each went from using 3-5 towels to 1.
 
This one is really cool; try to imagine how your patients may feel in situations of vulnerability like this!

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyyjU8fzEYU[/YOUTUBE]
 
These are awesome! Thank you! Keep 'em coming.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Here's the whole list of TEDMED videos: http://www.ted.com/talks/tags/medicine

The other one by Ben Goldacre (Battling bad science) is also great.

Ivan Oransky (Are we over-medicalized?) is another good speaker.

Check out Mark Koska (1.3m reasons to re-invent the syringe) if you're interested in global health.
 
I have posted this in another thread but feel like this must be shared here. My favorite TED:

[YOUTUBE]7LZK1evm8-Q[/YOUTUBE]
 
SunsFun said:
I have posted this in another thread but feel like this must be shared here. My favorite TED:

[YOUTUBE]7LZK1evm8-Q[/YOUTUBE]
Click to expand...


Great video. I just watched it now.

I was reading this article the other day, as a follow up to what he was talking about:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/06/130610223722.htm


Obesity can occur also due to a problem in our food-reward pathway in our brain. Due to a lower dopamine release in insulin-resistant patients, they tend to eat more and more to reach that dopamine level that normal people can eat much less to reach the same level. In short, obesity can be a neurological problem, and it just blew my mind. I thought that obesity is all about problems with our metabolism and poor lifestyle habits, but I was wrong.

Thanks for sharing!


EDIT: About the refined sugar and other ingredients, I would highly recommend watching A Place at the Table. This documentary really embraces what he meant by the increased intake of refined ingredients. Obesity is also linked to the poverty in the U.S., coupled with the profit-driven agribusinesses. One of must-watch documentaries for pre-med or anyone else, in my opinion. Obesity is such a complex, underestimated area of study, and I am surprised by the number of people, even many scholars, oversimplify the underlying, governing dynamic of obesity.

http://www.magpictures.com/aplaceatthetable/
 
Last edited:
I don't want to derail this thread too much, but...

Taubes and Attia have been beating the insulin drum for a long time now. They are still both very wrong. There are mountains of evidence supporting the "conventional wisdom" that Attia alludes to at the beginning of the video. There is minimal evidence supporting the "hormone hypothesis."

Also note that insulin sensitivity generally improves with weight loss, even on a relatively high carbohydrate diet. Alan Aragon, Lyle McDonald, and James Krieger have all written extensive critiques of Taubes' work. Worth looking into if you're interested.

-Bill R.
 
Last edited:
BillrothI said:
I don't want to derail this thread to much, but...

Taubes and Attia have been beating the insulin drum for a long time now. They are still both very wrong. There are mountains of evidence supporting the "conventional wisdom" that Attia alludes to at the beginning of the video. There is minimal evidence supporting the "hormone hypothesis."

Also note that insulin sensitivity generally improves with weight loss, even on a relatively high carbohydrate diet. Alan Aragon, Lyle McDonald, and James Krieger have all written extensive critiques of Taubes' work. Worth looking into if you're interested.

-Bill R.
Click to expand...


Thanks for your comments.

I would expect that it is rather a two-way street among obesity, insulin/other hormones, and lifestyle/dietary factors, so I am not surprised by critiques going either direction. I would also suspect there are other factors we did not consider in depth yet, but I understand your point how conventional wisdom does have extensive evidences. Thanks for the suggestions.
 
BillrothI said:
I don't want to derail this thread too much, but...

Taubes and Attia have been beating the insulin drum for a long time now. They are still both very wrong. There are mountains of evidence supporting the "conventional wisdom" that Attia alludes to at the beginning of the video. There is minimal evidence supporting the "hormone hypothesis."

Also note that insulin sensitivity generally improves with weight loss, even on a relatively high carbohydrate diet. Alan Aragon, Lyle McDonald, and James Krieger have all written extensive critiques of Taubes' work. Worth looking into if you're interested.

-Bill R.
Click to expand...

I don't think that was his point at all. He mentions in the video that he doesn't have the answers and he welcomes all hypotheses. The big issue is physicians passing judgement on their patients because they believe that it is pretty much 100% that person's fault that they are obese and now have to suffer the consequences while increasing everyone's tax burden.

This mentality is highlighted in here:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=1032392
 
SunsFun said:
I don't think that was his point at all. He mentions in the video that he doesn't have the answers and he welcomes all hypotheses. The big issue is physicians passing judgement on their patients because they believe that it is pretty much 100% that person's fault that they are obese and now have to suffer the consequences while increasing everyone's tax burden.

This mentality is highlighted in here:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=1032392
Click to expand...

I agree wholeheartedly with that sentiment, as I'm sure do most pre-meds. However, I have a problem with Attia continuing to propagate misinformation under the guise of open-mindedness. It's counter-productive at best, dangerous at worst, and it always bothers me when someone with such impressive credentials touts nonsense.

But all that aside - I do agree that physicians have a responsibility to treat patients with respect and compassion even in cases of morbid obesity, T2D, smoking-induced lung cancer, etc. I just wanted to point out that the nutrition aspect of his talk was not based on sound science.

-Bill R.
 
BillrothI said:
I agree wholeheartedly with that sentiment, as I'm sure do most pre-meds. However, I have a problem with Attia continuing to propagate misinformation under the guise of open-mindedness. It's counter-productive at best, dangerous at worst, and it always bothers me when someone with such impressive credentials touts nonsense.

But all that aside - I do agree that physicians have a responsibility to treat patients with respect and compassion even in cases of morbid obesity, T2D, smoking-induced lung cancer, etc. I just wanted to point out that the nutrition aspect of his talk was not based on sound science.

-Bill R.
Click to expand...

I don't know enough about his beliefs specifically to agree or disagree with you and those 5 minutes he talks about them doesn't give nearly enough info to form an informed opinion so I will just reserve my judgement here.

I am glad we agree on the big issue of treating all patients well that I thought was the highlight of his talk though.
 
YES! Gotta second Atul Gawande's talk. His New Yorker articles are worth a skim as well.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

WildWing
[Announcement] Physicians of Tomorrow Scholarship (for Pre-Meds)
Replies
10
Views
1K
WildWing
WildWing
J
Pre Med advisor
Replies
3
Views
375
Mr.Smile12
Mr.Smile12
N
Letter of recommendation conundrum
Replies
2
Views
409
Mr.Smile12
Mr.Smile12
B
Question about Biology pre-requisites for medical schools
Replies
5
Views
725
eigen
eigen
L
PRE MED
Replies
6
Views
1K
L.rodrigues
L
Top