Podcast: Purging polio, medic mental health and surgical simulations

In this edition: Final efforts to eradicate polio, helping medical students beat depression and practicing surgery on sophisticated fake patients.

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OR listen to individual chapters:

News: Bees and pesticides, and no safe level of alcohol – We discuss research into bees potentially becoming addicted to pesticides, and new numbers about drinking around that world that indicate the best bet is to drink none.

Purging polio – Despite a drastic decline in cases, polio is hanging on. We find out why it’s so hard to eradicate the disease, and what’s being done to pass these final hurdles.

Medic mental health – Nearly one-in-three medical students experience depression at some point during their studies, so a team of third-year undergrads at Imperial designed a performance to let students know how to get help.

Surgical simulations – We visit the surgical innovation suite as surgeons perform a unique operation – a real medical case but on a virtual patient, allowing trainees and established doctors alike to practice their technique.

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The podcast is presented by Gareth Mitchell, a lecturer on Imperial's MSc Science Communication course and the presenter of Click Radio on the BBC World Service, with contributions from our roving reporters in the Research Communications group.

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The Imperial College Podcast is now also available on the brand new visual podcast app, Entale.

If you have an iPhone, download the app and search for ‘Imperial College Podcast’. You’ll see how our episodes really come alive on the exciting new platform. Download Entale for free on iOS.