AAMC Reporter: December 2007

Family Physician Moves the Needle

University of Minnesota Medical School professor Jon Hallberg, M.D., has the same interests as many others in family medicine and community health departments in medical schools around the country. He likes to discuss the HIV/AIDS virus, or the ways in which drugs affect the brain. The only thing is, Hallberg's message is not just going to a classroom or a handful of coworkers. Up to 65,000 people sit in his audience.

A medical analyst on Minnesota Public Radio's general news program "All Things Considered," Hallberg covers a wide range of health concerns over the airwaves. He has done about 140 shows on everything from sports doping to mental health to Hurricane Katrina. Whatever the issue, Hallberg uses his standard, jargon-free style of speaking.

"I talk to the host the same way I would with a patient," he said. "I'm very conversational. I don't try to pepper my talk with medical terms. Plus, I use a lot of examples and metaphor."

But despite his easy manner on the microphone, the self-proclaimed radio enthusiast does admit to regular cases of the butterflies.

"I am never not nervous before a show," Hallberg said. "The bar of public radio is raised really high."

Nevertheless, Hallberg said he relishes this chance to educate the public, and in particular to get listeners more interested in primary care. Hallberg has taken his interest in broadcasting back to the academic setting, where he teaches students how to produce health-focused audio stories in an elective medical school class. He also co-directs the university's Center for Medical Humanities and the Arts.

Being on the air has aided Hallberg in more traditional physician settings.

"Doctors are natural communicators," he said. "This experience has helped me communicate with patients and colleagues. I am really a better physician because of it."

—By Elissa Fuchs

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