Deep Cuts: Exploring Equity in Surgery
Episodes
Hospital Violence Recovery Programs: Improving Trauma-Informed Care for Hurt Communities
18 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On today’s episode of Deep Cuts: Exploring Equity in Surgery, we have a conversation with Dr. Annie Polcari, Dr. Franklin Cosey-Gay, and Violence Re...
Screening for Colon Cancer: Is it Time?
10 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In today’s episode, we join Dr. Martin Uwah, a skilled colorectal surgeon, and Dr. Edwin McDonald and Dr. Ross McMillan, expert gastroenterologists,...
Pre- and Post-Operative Care: What can Patients Expect Before and After Surgery?
01 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Deep Cuts: Exploring Equity in Surgery, Dr. Ross Milner and Kathy Kaluhiokalani on what patients can expect before, during, and aft...
Surgical Care for Children
09 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Deep Cuts: Exploring Equity in Surgery, Dr. Carmelle Romain and Dr. Kylie Callier provide an overview of the field of pediatric sur...
Comprehensive Cancer Care for the South Side
01 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In today’s episode, Dr. Mitchell Posner, Dr. Sarah Shubeck, and Dr. Jelani Williams on the University of Chicago Medicine’s new Comprehensive Canc...
Obesity and Weight Loss Surgery with Dr. Yalini Vigneswaran and Dr. Kayla Councell
15 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
On today’s episode, we speak with Dr. Yalini Vigneswaran and Dr. Kayla (Polcari) Councell about bariatric surgery, also known as weight-loss surgery...
Why Inclusion and Equity Matter in the Physician Workforce with Dr. Chelsea Dorsey and Dr. Brandon Baird
01 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Dr. Chelsea Dorsey and Dr. Brandon Baird share their stories as physician trailblazers, including their path to medicine and how they...
The Migrant Crisis and Access to Health Care with Dr. Russell Reid and Dr. Arielle Hirschfeld
01 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In today’s episode, we hear Dr. Russell Reid, a plastic surgeon at the University of Chicago, and Dr. Arielle Hirschfeld, a family medicine physicia...
Solutions to Community Violence: Grassroots Movements and Pathway Programs with Dr. Abdullah Pratt
15 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode of Deep Cuts, one of our most powerful and personal episodes yet, our guest is Dr. Abdullah Pratt, Assistant Professor and Emergency M...
The Truths of Gun Violence in America
15 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Deep Cuts, Dr. Selwyn O. Rogers on how to understand and begin to tackle gun violence in the United States. We’ll discuss the fac...
Why are our mothers dying? – Disparities in Maternal Death
16 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of “Deep Cuts: Exploring Equity in Surgery”, Dr. Jana Richards and Dr. Lateia Taylor discuss racial disparities in maternal mortal...
No Blood? No Problem: Heart Surgery for Jehovah’s Witnesses with Dr. Valluvan Jeevanandam; Deanna Bassette, APN; Maureen Wilson, RN; and Dr. Chase Corvin
02 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In today’s episode, Dr. Valluvan Jeevanandam, Deanna Bassette, Maureen Wilson, and Dr. Chase Corvin discuss the Bloodless Heart Surgery Program at t...
How can the arts help heal violent trauma? with Dr. Doriane Miller
18 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Today, we discuss community health advocacy on the southside of Chicago, including what work is being done in and around UChicago Medicine to promote ...
Disparities in Obstetrics and Abortion Care with Dr. Neha Bhardwaj and Dr. Hillary McLaren
20 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we discuss obstetrics care — care for women giving birth — and abortion care at the University of Chicago Medicine. WIth Drs. Neh...
What do surgeon interactions with the police look like in the hospital? — Dr. Priya Prakash, Sharnae Phagan, Dr. William McKinley, Dr. Annie Polcari, and Dr. Lea Hoefer
16 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We are kicking off our first episode of Deep Cuts Season 2! This episode, we explore what surgeon interactions with the police look like in the hospit...
Deep Cuts — Season 2 Trailer
27 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome back to Deep Cuts! We’ve got a packed season ahead in 2023. In this short trailer, current host Dr. Jen Vigneswaran and incoming host Dr. An...
What You Need to Know about Breast Cancer — Forms, Treatment, and Disparities Correction between white and black women with Dr. Sarah Shubeck and Dr. Kyra Nicholson
30 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Today, Dr. Sarah Shubeck and Dr. Kyra Nicholson, two surgeons on breast cancer and how we might begin to correct the disparities that exist between bl...
How do we check for the safety of new drugs and surgeries? — Randomized Control Trials with Dr. Jessica Donington, Dr. Elizabeth Tung, and Dr. Tanvi Subramanian
30 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Today, we’re talking all things RCT — that’s randomized control trials. The idea sounds complicated, but at their essence, RCTs are studies we d...
The Ins and Outs of Organ Transplantation: Dr. John Fung, Dr. Michael Millis, Dr. Milda Saunders, Dr. Kumaran Shanmugarajah
23 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
There’s a lot behind organ transplantation. Which organs can we transplant? When does someone need a transplant? How do we choose who gets one? And ...
How do we earn the trust of communities we serve? — Acute Care Surgery with Dr. Priya Prakash, Dr. Vanessa Buie, and Dr. Anthony Douglas
31 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Today, Dr. Priya Prakash, Dr. Vanessa Buie, and Dr. Anthony Douglas. Our conversation with these 3 acute care surgeons began with an exploration of ac...
Why Cultural Context Matters When It Comes to Bariatric Surgery — Dr. Mustafa Husain and Dr. Harry Wong
28 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Today, Dr. Mustafa Hussain & Dr. Harry Wong, 2 bariatric surgeons, discuss the overlaps between food deserts, culture, and bariatric surgery. Food des...
Why We Don’t Treat All Prostate Cancers…At Least Not Immediately — Dr. Parth Modi and Dr. Tanya Watts Kristof
31 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
What even is the prostate? This is a question many patients ask at the clinic. It’s part of the reproductive system for individuals assigned male at...
Anal Cancer — Who should be screened? What are treatments? And how can we prevent it? Dr. Kinga Skowron Olortegui, Dr. Ross Zeitlin, and Dr. Lindsey Zhang
27 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Anal cancer screening isn’t a topic one often discusses with their doctor, but that’s changing. Dr. Kinga Skowron Olortegui, Dr. Lindsey Zhang, tw...
When Do Vascular Surgeons Have to Amputate a Limb? What Can Be Done Before This Outcome? — Dr. Ross Milner and Dr. Kha Tran
26 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
When does a limb have to be amputated? This is the question Dr. Ross Milner and Dr. Kha Tran — 2 vascular surgeons who operate to restore blood flow...
The Communities We Serve: Dr. Michael Millis and Dr. Brian Williams
24 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
How do we begin to paint a more complex picture of health, one that considers the economy at large, one’s housing situation, environmental justice, ...
Trauma Surgery: Gun Violence with Dr. Brian Williams and Dr. Ken Wilson
12 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In the inaugural episode of Deep Cuts, two trauma surgeons, Dr. Brian Williams and Dr. Ken Wilson, discuss gun violence on the South Side of Chicago.F...
Deep Cuts: Exploring Equity in Surgery — Trailer
31 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Jen Vigneswaran is a surgery resident at The University of Chicago Department of Surgery and the host of Deep Cuts, a show that brings conversatio...