The Interesting MD Podcast

How much are Americans and Canadians actually paying for healthcare?

In this solo episode of The Interesting MD Podcast, Dr. Rob Beck breaks down healthcare spending on both sides of the border, looking beyond the usual argument that Canadians pay through taxes while Americans rely on private insurance.

Dr. Beck examines taxes, Medicare and Medicaid, employer-sponsored insurance, premiums, deductibles, co-pays, employer contributio...

Pay attention. Wake up. This is not the country you were born into.

In Part 2 of this two-part interview, Cassandra Marra continues her family's story of speaking out, standing firm, and searching for safety.

In this episode: This is Part 2 of a two-part interview. Dr. Rob Beck continues his conversation with Cassandra Marra, whose wife, Dr...

In Part 1 of this two-part interview, Dr. Rob Beck sits down with Cassandra Marra, whose wife, Dr. Janelle Marra, has served for nearly two decades as a physician in the U.S. Navy.

Cassandra shares her family’s account of what happened after her wife became the subject of a widely circulated social media post related to her involvement in transgender healthcare. She describes ...

In Part 2 and the final episode of this two-part series, Dr. Rob Beck continues his conversation with Dr. Peter Shin, breaking down the process of moving from the United States to Canada as a physician.

Dr. Shin walks through the practical steps he took, including finding a job, verifying his medical credentials, applying for provincial licensing, obtaining CMPA malpractice coverage...

In this episode of The Interesting MD Podcast, Dr. Rob Beck speaks with Dr. Peter Shin, an internist who recently moved from Chicago to British Columbia with his wife and four children.

Dr. Shin shares his experiences practicing medicine across the United States and in New Zealand, why he had been considering leaving the U.S. for years, and how changes to Canadian physician licensin...

In the third and final part of this three-part interview, Dr. Rob Beck continues his conversation with Dr. Alona Sukhina, a pediatrician who relocated from Arizona to Vancouver, British Columbia.

Dr. Sukhina shares why she ultimately decided to leave the U.S., the emotional difficulty of making that decision, and why she has no reg...

In Part 2 of this three-part interview series, Dr. Rob Beck continues his conversation with Dr. Alona Sukhina, a pediatrician who moved from the United States to Canada.

Dr. Sukhina shares what practicing pediatrics in Canada actually looks like compared with her experience in the U.S. She discusses simpler billing and documentation, fewer patients per day, longer appointments, greater aut...

This is Part 1 of a three-part interview with Dr. Alona Sukhina, a board-trained pediatrician who recently relocated from Tucson, Arizona, to Vancouver, British Columbia.

In this episode of The Interesting MD Podcast, Dr. Rob Beck speaks with Dr. Sukhina about her experience caring for refugee, immigrant, and underserved communities in the United States. She explains the important role Fed...

In this episode of The Interesting MD Podcast, Dr. Rob Beck continues his conversation with Dr. Fraser Mackay of the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians (CAEP) about the systemic causes of emergency department overcrowding in Canada.

They discuss hospital patient flow, Alternate Level of Care patients, the need for more transparent public reporting, and why short-term initiatives ...

In this episode of The Interesting MD Podcast, Dr. Rob Beck speaks with Dr. Fraser Mackay, an emergency physician and advocate with the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians (CAEP), about the growing crisis of emergency department overcrowding in Canada.

Dr. Mackay explains why long wait times are a symptom of broader healthcare system challenges, including hospital capacity, staffi...

In this episode of The Interesting MD Podcast, Dr. Rob Beck speaks with Dr. Marc Jeschke, an internationally recognized burn surgeon and scientist, about groundbreaking advances in regenerative burn care.

Dr. Jeschke discusses how severe burns impact the immune system, the evolution of stem cell and exosome research, and the first clinical use of exosome therapy to treat a young patient wi...

In this episode of The Interesting MD Podcast, Dr. Rob Beck speaks with Dr. Khashayar Farzam, a dual-trained family medicine and emergency physician who completed his medical training in the United States before returning to practice in Ontario, Canada.

Dr. Farzam shares his experiences navigating the transition between healthcare systems, discussing physician licensing, billing, practice ...

In this episode of The Interesting MD Podcast, Dr. Rob Beck is joined by Dr. Daria for a conversation about the growing role of artificial intelligence in healthcare.

Together, they discuss how AI tools are helping physicians access evidence-based information, improve clinical decision-making, and reduce administrative workload while maintaining the importance of human judgment in patient ...

In this episode of The Interesting MD Podcast, Dr. Rob Beck talks with Dr. Jacob Kelly, a Duke-trained cardiologist based in Anchorage, Alaska, about his journey from traditional cardiology to a more personalized model of care.

Dr. Kelly shares why he moved away from fee-for-service medicine to create Rule Health, a practice focused on prevention, lifestyle medicine, and building stronger ...

In Part 2 of her conversation with Dr. Rob Beck, Dr. Mariam Washington shares the realities of moving from the United States to Canada to continue her medical career.

The discussion covers physician licensing, immigration pathways, provincial differences between Alberta and British Columbia, and the financial and emotional challenges of relocating an entire family. Dr. Washington also reflects on the cultural adjustments she experi...

In this episode of The Interesting MD Podcast, Dr. Rob Beck speaks with Dr. Mariam Washington, a physiatrist who transitioned from practicing medicine in the United States to working in Canada.

Dr. Washington shares her experience navigating significant student loan debt, building her career in the U.S., and ultimately deciding to make a major professional and personal change. The discussion explores physician compensation, healthc...

In this episode of The Interesting MD Podcast, Dr. Rob Beck speaks with Dr. Teresa Purzner, a neurosurgeon and developmental neurobiologist whose work is transforming how pediatric brain tumor care is delivered.

Dr. Purzner shares how she applied startup-style design thinking to identify and solve major inefficiencies in patient care pathways. By engaging patients, families, clinicians, and administrators, her team developed simple...

In this episode of The Interesting MD Podcast, Dr. Rob Beck speaks with Brooke Finlay, a regulated Canadian immigration consultant and founder of Navio Immigration.

Brooke shares expert insights into Canada's immigration system and the pathways available to healthcare professionals interested in relocating. The conversation covers Express Entry, Provincial Nominee Programs, work permits, permanent residency, and the importance of b...

In this episode of The Interesting MD Podcast, Dr. Rob Beck speaks with Mona Kaiser, healthcare engagement strategist for the Cowichan District Hospital Replacement Project on Vancouver Island, BC.

They discuss the vision behind one of Canada’s most innovative new hospitals—from physician and nurse involvement in the design process to the hospital’s focus on sustainability, Indigenous inclusivity, staff well-being...