BODY BANTER

Welcome to Body Banter, a podcast where we explore different perspectives of the human body in all its forms! Our hosts, Dr. Claudia Krebs and Dr. Segun Oyedele, are joined by an amazing line up of guests to share their expertise and thoughts about what the human body means to them. Our guests come from all over the world and include researchers, clinicians, anatomy instructors, scholars of language and culture, and people with lived experiences navigating the healthcare system. Anatomy is for everybody and every body, and we are here to get the body banter going!

#23 | Tara Gaertner: The Musical Brain

06 December 2023 | 43:58

In this episode of Body Banter, we're joined by Dr. Tara Gaertner—a neuroscientist and music educator—to delve into the fascinating relationship between our brains and music. We talk about Tara's rich background ranging from music education, to neuroscience in the context of occupational therapy, and now psychiatry as a resident doctor. Tara shares how music can be used to better understand our brains and to support our health and wellbeing, as well as the bridge between the realms of science and music.

#22 | Anthony Saraco & Ursula Krebs: Unveiling the Mind's Eye: Aphantasia, Synaesthesia, and the Inner Experience of Visualization

22 November 2023 | 33:29

This week, Anthony Saraco and Ursula Krebs join us on Body Banter to explore their very different experiences of inner visualization and what they "see" in their mind's eye. Anthony shares how his inability to visualize shapes mentally, also known as aphantasia, impacts his day to day experiences, as well as his approach to teaching anatomy in what is usually considered a highly visual field of study. Conversely, Ursula reveals the colourful world of synaesthesia and discusses how she experiences sound and other sensory inputs as inherently linked with colours. Tune in for a captivating conversation that challenges the traditional views of what happens in the mind's eye and the role of visualization for different lived experiences.

#21 | Ni-ka Ford: Embracing Variation in Medical Illustration

01 November 2023 | 31:34

On this week's Body Banter, Certified Medical Illustrator Ni-ka Ford joins us to discuss the role of medical illustration in addressing bias in healthcare education and creating more inclusive and diverse representations of the human body. Ni-ka shares why she decided to enter the profession of medical illustration, her experience over the last two years as the Chair of the Association of Medical Illustrators (AMI) Diversity Committee, and the importance of community coming together to address inequities in anatomy and medical visualizations.

#20 | Jeffrey Hunger, Natalie Loschiavo, Rebecca Pearl: Inclusive Care For All Bodies: The Impact of Weight Stigma

18 October 2023 | 44:12

This week on Body Banter, we have an expert panel joining us to discuss the impact of weight stigma on healthcare and patient outcomes. Claudia and Segun first met our guests—Dr. Rebecca Pearl, Dr. Jeffrey Hunger and Natalie Loschiavo, RD, LDN, RYT—at the 2023 Anatomy Connected conference in Washington, DC where they were panelists on a roundtable discussion on weight stigma in health education and practice. In our conversation on the podcast, we discuss our three guests' perspectives on weight stigma in their different roles and how we can challenge these harmful narratives.

#19 | Sarah Purcell: Metabolism... It's Complicated

04 October 2023 | 32:14

This week on Body Banter, Claudia and Segun connect with Dr. Sarah Purcell whose research focuses on nutrition and metabolism. We talk about the individual and population differences in energy balance and how our food environment—which includes geography, food insecurity, access, and other systemic considerations—has an impact on our metabolism. Sarah also discusses how the simplified equation of "energy in = energy out" doesn't quite capture such a complicated concept.

#18 | Beverley Kramer: Creating a Global Anatomy Community

20 September 2023 | 38:44

This week on Body Banter, we are honoured to have Prof Beverley Kramer join us to discuss her amazing career in anatomy education and leadership. Prof Kramer is the President of the International Federation of Associations of Anatomists (IFAA), has been the head of several anatomy departments at universities in South Africa, and is also Segun's former PhD supervisor! We discuss Prof Kramer's passion for embryology, the importance of mentorship and the role of community in anatomy research and education, as well as how the digital age allows for international community building, knowledge sharing, and equitable access to opportunities on a global scale.

#17 | Sabine Hildebrandt: The (Un)Ethical History of Anatomy

05 April 2023 | 41:58

In our final episode of this season of Body Banter, Dr. Sabine Hildebrandt joins us to discuss her research on the history and ethics of anatomy, specifically the history of anatomy in Nazi Germany. We talk about the current state of body donation programs in North America, who has power over knowledge of the human body, and why it's so critical to talk about the dark parts of our history so we can use that knowledge to do better in our approaches to anatomy and science. Before you listen, please be aware that this episode includes discussion of anti-Semitism and war crimes committed in Nazi Germany, including non-consensual use of deceased bodies for medical illustration.

#16 | Michelle Turner: Pregnancy and the Body - A Midwife’s Perspective

16 March 2023 | 45:37

This week, Michelle Turner joins us to talk about her work as a Registered Midwife and PhD student. We discuss the remarkable transformation the human body undergoes during pregnancy, why it’s important for clinicians (and everyone) to question our history and approach to providing healthcare, and how midwifery can be leveraged to address equity issues in the healthcare system.

#15 | Bailey Lo: How to Make Medical Education Trauma-Informed… With Your Cervix

28 February 2023 | 41:40

Our guest this week is someone from within the Body Banter team... our very own Bee! Bailey (Bee) Lo is the coordinator for Body Banter and she’s coming out from behind the scenes to talk to Claudia and Segun about her work as a Clinical Teaching Associate, where she teaches medical students how to perform pelvic and breast exams using her own body. We talk about the power of vulnerability in health education, how traumatic clinical encounters can have lasting impact on individuals, and why creating safe spaces for learning in turn create safe spaces for patients. Before you listen, be aware that this episode of Body Banter contains description of a traumatic pelvic exam and health care encounter.

#14 | Kriota Willberg: The Power of Comics in Medicine

14 February 2023 | 50:38

In this week’s episode, graphic medicine cartoonist and Artist In Residence in The Master Scholars Program in Humanistic Medicine at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, Kriota Willberg, joins us to share her experience working with and teaching about the human body in many capacities. We cover her journey to becoming a cartoonist, the value of play and jokes in her work, and her thoughts on how to present graphic medicine—especially when the topics are difficult to reckon with.

The Hosts

Claudia Krebs

Dr. Claudia Krebs, MD, PhD, has been teaching neuroanatomy and gross anatomy to MD undergraduates, biomedical engineering and allied health professions at UBC for over a decade. She focuses on integrating technology and novel visual approaches in the classroom, particularly with AR and VR. In 2017, Dr. Krebs created the HIVE (Hackspace for Innovation and Visualization in Education), a multidisciplinary space for innovation in biomedical education, such as the creation of educational xR apps. Along with local and global collaborators, Dr. Krebs is creating a library of open educational resources, including videos, e-books and interactive web materials.

Olusegun Oyedele

Dr. Olusegun Oyedele, MD, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Teaching in the UBC Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences, as well as in the UBC Faculty of Medicine, Southern Medical Program (SMP), at the UBC Okanagan campus in Kelowna, BC. He also teaches and oversees the case-based learning curriculum at SMP. Over the past decade, Dr. Oyedele has taught anatomy and all its subdisciplines to pre-clerkship students in the UBC MD Undergraduate Program. His research focuses on medical education, particularly on small group learning pedagogies, and on how case-based learning equips medical students for clinical decision-making during clerkship and beyond.

Anatomy is for everybody and every body.