What should I ask Dr. Atul Gawande?
He's currently the global health lead for USAID, and he's has a wide-ranging career.
Later this week, I’ll be conducting a video Q&A with Dr. Atul Gawande for MedPage Today which will be cross-posted here on Inside Medicine.
Dr. Gawande is known for his writing in the New Yorker and his best-selling books on his life as a surgeon and thinker (from Complications to The Checklist Manifesto to Being Mortal). He’s also had an active research and policy career.
Currently, he serves as the lead for global health in the US Agency for International Development (USAID), a Senate-confirmed position for which he was nominated by President Biden.
Prepping this interview already feels a little different than our recent ones. Of the heavy-hitters I’ve sat for Q&A’s with (Dr. Deborah Birx, Dr. Francis Collins, Dr. Tony Fauci, Dr. Ashish Jha, Dr. Robert Califf), Atul is the person whose previous work I know the most but whose current work I understand the least. So, how much to ask about his books and writing versus his current role in the administration is something I’m thinking about.
What do you want to hear?
As readers of Inside Medicine, I want to know what questions have. Poke around the internet on USAID and see what you come up with.
As always, I’ll consider asking any question that I get from readers via email, or see on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, but I’ll be able to give closer consideration to premium subscribers who leave their questions in the Comments section below.
Ask him to comment on the astronomical cost of medical education and the effects on future physicians.
Since Being Mortal came out, have doctor/ patient conversations become more honest and realistic not just with end of life care but in general?