FIU College of Medicine launches TV show

Dr. Pedro “Joe” Greer, Jr., Ileana Varela, Dr. John A. Rock during taping of HWCOM’s first television show

The FIU Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine (FIU HWCOM) has launched a local health television show, For Your Health.

The half-hour program features HWCOM doctors and other FIU experts sharing their knowledge on timely and important health and medical issues. The first edition aired Sunday, Oct. 19, at 12:30 p.m. on WPLG-TV, Channel 10. Subsequent programs are planned on a quarterly basis.

“As South Florida’s first public medical school we want to be a solution center for our community, and this program gives us a perfect opportunity to help educate the public and make an impact outside our campus,” said John Rock, M.D., founding dean and senior vice president for Health Affairs.

Rock co-hosts the program with Emmy-award winning broadcast journalist Ileana Varela who is the associate director for marketing and public relations for the HWCOM.

Guests on the first For Your Health program included infectious diseases professor Dr. Aileen Marty who just returned from a mission to West Africa and spoke about the importance of bedside manners, even when dealing with Ebola, and Dr. Yogi Hernandez Suarez, CEO of FIU Health, whose personal experience raising an adult child with autism inspired FIU Embrace, a comprehensive health care program specifically designed for adults with autism.

Dr. Joe Greer, associate dean for community engagement, also explained why a person’s zip code may be a better predictor of health than his or her genetic code, and why these “social determinants” of health are at the core of the Green Family NeighborhoodHELP™ program, part of the HWCOM’s unique and innovative medical education curriculum.

Watch the first episode now:

To read more about the show, visit http://medicine.fiu.edu/foryourhealth/