On June 4, 2024, the FDA Psychopharmacologic Drugs Advisory Committee met to discuss the new drug application submitted by Lykos Therapeutics [for-profit public benefit corporation (PBC) initially part of MAPS (Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies)] for MDMA in addition to psychotherapy to treat post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). MDMA, otherwise known as midomafetamine, methylenedioxymethamphetamine, Ecstasy, or Molly is a Schedule I drug that shows great promise for treating otherwise very difficult to treat psychiatric conditions such as severe PTSD. The committee voted overwhelmingly against the effectiveness of MDMA for PTSD and voted that the benefits of this treatment do not outweigh the risks. In this episode, I unpack this decision, through the lens of all my potential biases as an emergency physician and toxicologist who also believes in the potential of psychedelic assisted psychotherapy. I'll be talking more about this topic in upcoming episodes, especially since the committee's decision is non-binding and the final FDA decision comes in August. Please rate&review, share, and follow the podcast!Instagram: @humanschoolpodcast & @patilarmenianmdMusic courtesy of Zach Effron, MD

In this episode, I discuss the lineage of mentoring, which is different than your ancestral or family lineage, but still very important. This is about the mentors that have guided you in your life and then, who you mentor yourself.  It's a never-ending cycle of teacher to student to teacher again. I spend some time telling stories about one of my mentors, Dr. Gene Kallsen. The mentor-mentee relationship is something I come back again and again on this podcast (see episodes 1, 2, 6, 10, 13, 14) as I talk about those who have mentored me and also been my peer mentors.Please rate&review, share, and follow the podcast!Instagram: @humanschoolpodcast & @patilarmenianmdMusic courtesy of Zach Effron, MD

As a medical toxicologist, I take care of people of all ages who have any type of poisoning, overdose, envenomation or medication misadventure.  One of our core tenets in toxicology is 'the dose makes the poison' and the cases I discuss in this episode demonstrate that very fact. Taking care of sick poisoned patients isn't just about the immediate care but also involves detective work, to figure out exactly what happened and sometimes place it in the context of the community at large. It's about digging deep until you get the answer and having the mental space to see when a story isn't adding up, indicating that more investigation is needed. Basically, it's about being a detective. I discuss two series of cases that taught me valuable lessons about being helpful to patients, their families and the community by not stopping until I figured out what happened- and working with great colleagues along the way. If you would like to read about these cases in more detail, see below. Don't keep scrolling if you don't want spoilers!References:1. Armenian P et al. Multiple MDMA (Ecstasy) overdoses at a rave event: a case series. J Intensive Care Med. 2013 Jul-Aug;28(4):252-8. PMID: 22640978.2. Armenian P et al. Notes from the Field: Unintentional Fentanyl Overdoses Among Persons Who Thought They Were Snorting Cocaine - Fresno, California, January 7, 2019. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2019 Aug 9;68(31):687-688. PMID: 31393864.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6687194/pdf/mm6831a2.pdfPlease rate&review, share, and follow the podcast!Instagram: @humanschoolpodcast & @patilarmenianmdMusic courtesy of Zach Effron, MD

I'm once again joined by my sister Garin Hussenjian, who co-hosts this episode. She's G and I'm P, in case you were wondering! This is the second episode in a 2-part series about my fertility process. Check out episode 18 for the first half of the series! This episode covers how I shifted my mindset and relationship with my body in order to have a successful pregnancy. I made many small changes which made a real difference and was helped by a community of family, friends, and both Western and Eastern medical professionals along the way. Please rate&review, share, and follow the podcast!Instagram: @humanschoolpodcast & @patilarmenianmdMusic courtesy of Zach Effron, MD

This is a short 5 minute meditation guided by Garin Hussenjian with handpan played by Garo Hussenjian. It's perfect for a still or walking meditation, as a micro break reset any time of the day. Please rate&review, share, and follow the podcast!Instagram: @humanschoolpodcast & @patilarmenianmdMusic courtesy of Zach Effron, MD

I'm once again joined by my sister Garin Hussenjian, who co-hosts this episode. She's G and I'm P, in case you were wondering! Today we delve into a very personal and sometimes difficult to discuss topic, fertility. Specifically, Garin asks all about my fertility process and we don't hold back. This is the first episode in a 2 part series and covers how I found out my husband and I had fertility issues and the road to starting IVF, or in-vitro fertilization. Next episode, I'll talk all about how I changed my mindset and approach in order for me to have a successful pregnancy. Please rate&review, share, and follow the podcast!Instagram: @humanschoolpodcast & @patilarmenianmdMusic courtesy of Zach Effron, MD

This is a soundbath meditation piece, best experienced while laying down with your eyes closed. It can also be used in seated or walking meditations, or just relaxation in general. This sound tapestry is woven by the women of the Sounds of the Light collective: Kathryn Sanchez and Wonda Correia. They use  crystal bowls, a gong, chimes, Shruti box, rain stick, and hand drums to both calm and energize you. Follow Sounds of the Light on Instagram:@soundsofthelight@kathryn_sarah_stylist@wondacorreiaTheir in-person soundbath schedule is posted on their Instagram, which I highly recommend if you're in Central California!Please rate&review, share, and follow the podcast!Instagram: @humanschoolpodcast & @patilarmenianmdMusic courtesy of Zach Effron, MD

Leslie Galbraith is an expert Astrologer who joins us on this episode to discuss general principles of Astrology.  Astrology isn't just about the 12 zodiac signs and which one you were born in. Rather, as Leslie puts it, it is a detailed symbolic language for understanding human nature and energetic patterns of behavior. As she describes, the natal birth chart is a map of your soul’s constitution and a guide to track the cycles of experience in your life. Like other birth place/time based systems of self-understanding, it is not about changing who you are or predicting the future, but about giving you permission to be who you've always been. In this episode, we cover general concepts about astrology and how to approach your chart, as well as current major world themes in astrology.  Look up your natal chart here:https://astro.cafeastrology.com/natal.phphttps://www.astro.com/free/free_chart_e.htm  (click on chart drawing, Ascendant)If you don't know your exact birth time, start with noon and look at the placement of the Sun, Moon, and planets in the different zodiac signs. This doesn't change by the hour. What the exact hour matters for is the house placements, which can introduce more nuance into your chart interpretation. Follow Leslie Galbraith on Instagram: @ourcosmicdaySchedule a reading with Leslie here:http://www.ourcosmicday.com/Please rate&review, share, and follow the podcast!Instagram: @humanschoolpodcast & @patilarmenianmdMusic courtesy of Zach Effron, MD

When taking care of really sick patients in the ER, we always begin with our ABC's: Airway, Breathing and Circulation. Those 3 things have to be secure in order to move on to the next step of helping someone. In this episode, I discuss how the airway taught me valuable life lessons about asking for help. Many of us are great at being helpful to others, but what about when we need help? The bottom line is, learn how to be really good at something, but also know when to ask for help. A lesson I'm still learning every day. Please rate&review, share, and follow the podcast!Instagram: @humanschoolpodcast & @patilarmenianmdMusic courtesy of Zach Effron, MD

Dr. Whitney Johnson is an emergency physician in Southern California and the Education Director for the Southwest Healthcare Medical Education Consortium Emergency Medicine Residency based at the Temecula Valley Hospital. She is also core faculty with EM:RAP, the largest emergency medicine educational platform, and serves as an associate editor for their online textbook CorePendium. She did her emergency medicine residency at UCSF Fresno and went to medical school at Georgetown University. But let’s not forget when she was an undergraduate student at the University of California, San Diego when she was named the NCAA D2 national field athlete of the year for setting the bar on triple jump in her senior year. What I’m trying to get at is that Dr. Johnson is an all star in whatever she does, and gets things done! We became friends when she was a resident at the EM program I’m faculty at and I loved working shifts with her because I knew we would be serious one second and laughing the next, all while doing the best for our patients. Dr. Johnson is educating the next generation of EM doctors with grace, humility, hard work and humor and I loved talking with her about learning styles, her innovations in education, work-life balance, and everything in between. As she says, be unapologetically you, which is advice that we can all take!Find EM:RAP here: https://www.emrap.org/Follow EM:RAP on Instagram: @emrapshowEM:RAP YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/EMRAPMEDICALPlease rate&review, share, and follow the podcast!Instagram: @humanschoolpodcast & @patilarmenianmdMusic courtesy of Zach Effron, MD

Dr. Ann Arens is an emergency physician and medical toxicologist at Oschner Health in New Orleans, Louisiana. Prior to that she worked at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She is the scientific content chair of the biggest annual toxicology conference, the North American Congress of Clinical Toxicology, which is taking place in Montreal this week! She has authored many research publications, most recently being a co-author on the 2023 American Heart association update on the management of patient with cardiac arrest or life threatening toxicity due to poisoning. This free document which I’ve linked below is one of the best summaries I’ve seen on this topic. It’s a great reference for any nurse or physician working in the emergency department or intensive care unit as well as for pharmacists and toxicologists consulting on these patients. Dr. Arens and I became friends from the moment we met, back when she was a fellow in medical toxicology at UCSF, the program I had just graduated from. Since then, we’ve acquired husbands, kids, and that double specialty life of emergency medicine and medical toxicology. I love her kindness, brutal honesty and sense of humor which you’ll hear in this conversation. We talk all things work, motherhood, advice that helps us when we feel stuck, lessons from RuPaul and so much more! American Heart Association 2023 Update on the Management of Patients With Cardiac Arrest or Life-Threatening Toxicity Due to Poisoning:https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/epdf/10.1161/CIR.0000000000001161Please rate&review, share, and follow the podcast!Instagram: @humanschoolpodcast & @patilarmenianmdMusic courtesy of Zach Effron, MD

This is a short musical piece, intended for use in still or walking meditations, or just relaxation in general.  Handpan played by Garo Hussenjian.Please rate&review, share, and follow the podcast!Instagram: @humanschoolpodcast & @patilarmenianmdMusic courtesy of Zach Effron, MD

Spoiler Alert/Disclaimer:  We discuss the podcast series "The Retrievals" in depth in this episode. If you haven't already listened to "The Retrievals" and do NOT want spoilers, don't listen to this yet! Come back after you listen to "The Retrievals." This episode I'm joined by a co-host, my sister Garin Hussenjian! She's G and I'm P, in case you were wondering. Garin and I voraciously listened to the Serial Productions and The New York Times podcast series "The Retrievals," and felt we had a lot to say about the story so deftly reported by Susan Burton. It reminded us of our experiences being patients going through complex medical procedures and of so much more. We waited until we hit the record button to talk about it. Listen to our conversation and drop us a line to tell us what you think!Follow Garin Hussenjian on Instagram:@armeniandailyListen to The Retrievals here:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-retrievals/id1691599042https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/22/podcasts/serial-the-retrievals-yale-fertility-clinic.htmlPlease rate&review, share, and follow the podcast!Instagram: @humanschoolpodcast & @patilarmenianmdMusic courtesy of Zach Effron, MD

Dr. Kent Olson is a clinical professor of Medicine and Pharmacy at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). From 1983 to 2017 he was the medical director of the San Francisco division of the California Poison Control System where he was instrumental in the toxicology education of thousands of medical students, pharmacy students, resident physicians, pharmacists, and medical toxicology fellows. He concurrently worked as an emergency physician and taught at the UC Berkeley - UCSF joint medical school. In the midst of all that, he published hundreds of papers advancing the knowledge of caring for poisoned patients and started a new textbook called Poisoning and Drug Overdose which is now in its 8th edition. Dr. Olson is an expert clinician, model teacher and the go-to person for advice for so many people (including me- he's the toxicology mentor in Episode 4 that I refer to)! And not just advice, but leading by example. His teaching style is socratic and kind, never humiliating learners, and his administrative style is not removed, but in the trenches with everyone so that he knows what everyone is going through in order to improve things. I loved hearing what he learned from his mentors and how he followed his gut to do the things he was interested in while having a healthy work-life balance.In our conversation we refer to Dr. Neal Benowitz, featured in Episode 2.For an explanation on the term 'pimping' in medical education, refer to Episode 2.Please rate&review, share, and follow the podcast!Instagram: @humanschoolpodcast & @patilarmenianmdMusic courtesy of Zach Effron, MD

Every day, we make hundreds, if not thousands of decisions both big and small. Whether it's at work, at home, during a commute or at play, we’re consciously and unconsciously making fast decisions. As you know, I speak through the lens of emergency medicine, but a busy ER has many parallels not just to other sectors of medicine but many other workplaces. Really, any place where rapid decision making is needed. In this episode we discuss the ways in which we set ourselves up to make the best fast decisions which are through a combination of learning, experience and intuition. You can think about the following guiding questions to come up with your own opinions about this topic!Do you use your intuition to make decisions?Do we make decisions the same way all our lives, through every level of our training?Do experts or novices use intuition?Do experts or novices use protocols?Who is an expert?How do we make rapid decisions?Please rate&review, share, and follow the podcast!Instagram: @humanschoolpodcast & @patilarmenianmdMusic courtesy of Zach Effron, MD

Erin Claire Jones is an expert in Human Design, a system based on your time, date and place of birth that reveals your energetic blueprint and how you are uniquely wired to thrive. As Erin puts it, Human Design brings together schools of ancient wisdom like astrology, the I Ching, the chakra system and the Kabbalah to give you an operating manual that shows how you are uniquely wired to work, make decisions, cultivate relationships, work with your challenges, leverage your strengths and more. Human design gives you the self-knowledge and tools to find your flow in your relationships, career and life with every decision you make. Most importantly, it's not about changing who you are but about giving you permission to be who you've always been. In this episode, we cover the basics of Human Design including type, profile, inner authority, definition, environment and digestion, and more! Look up your chart and follow along and you'll be surprised at how much of it makes sense for you! If you don't know your exact birth time, I'd recommend looking at each hour of the day you were born. Often you can get at least know your type and a few other parameters from the day itself. Follow Erin Claire Jones on Instagram: @erinclairejones & @humandesignblueprintLook up your Human Design here: https://humandesignblueprint.com/Get your blueprint here, a personalized guide to your unique design: https://humandesignblueprint.com/buy-a-blueprint-book/The code HUMANSCHOOL will give you 10% off your Blueprint book!If you want to study further, here's a link to study human design with Erin: https://humandesignblueprint.com/take-the-classes/Please rate&review, share, and follow the podcast!Instagram: @humanschoolpodcast & @patilarmenianmdMusic courtesy of Zach Effron, MD

It may sound over the top, but schedule is indeed life, especially if you're a shift worker like myself. In this episode, I discuss some of my life schedule tips and tricks and introduce the concept of the Zero Day. A zero, or off day is a day where you don't do anything work-related and give yourself a chance to reset and recharge. Think of organizing your schedule and to-do lists as a clarity exercise. Offloading these memory-requiring tasks onto your calendar and lists opens up your mind to think, daydream, and have fun.Please rate & review the podcast and share with your friends & family!Please rate&review, share, and follow the podcast!Instagram: @humanschoolpodcast & @patilarmenianmdMusic courtesy of Zach Effron, MD

Dr. Bernard Frischer is a professor of informatics at Indiana University and a true pioneer in Virtual Heritage. He received both his B.A. in Classics at Wesleyan University and his Ph.D. in Classics from Heidelberg University, followed by a fellowship in Roman topography and archeology at the American Academy in Rome. He has been a professor at UCLA, University of Virginia and Indiana University. Through his virtual heritage work, 3D technologies have been applied to research and instruction in fields such as anthropology, archaeology, art, architectural history, and conservation science. Dr. Frischer is the Founder of Flyover Zone Productions, to make 3D cultural heritage sites, cities and monuments available to all educational institutions and the general public. One of his greatest qualities is that Dr. Frischer is a natural mentor to everyone around him, always able to balance his own work with helping his students. We cover many topics ranging from using our intuition, to current life lessons and burnout in a conversation I'm sure you're going to enjoy!Follow Flyover Zone on IG: @flyover_zoneWebsites: www.flyoverzone.com; www.indiana.academia.edu/BernardFrischerApp: Yorescape (iOS, Android & streaming)Please rate&review, share, and follow the podcast!Instagram: @humanschoolpodcast & @patilarmenianmdMusic courtesy of Zach Effron, MD

This is the second episode in a 2 part series about my personal story of burnout. In this episode, I discuss how I slowly burned through to the other side, pulling myself out of burnout. It came with a realization that I couldn't change the others around me, but could change my reactions to people and events to improve my overall life experience. It required a combination of working on myself both physically and mentally while organizing my schedule better to carve out more free time. I made a list of 'things I could do for myself' to remind me of the big and small things I could do to take care of myself each day, which helped immensely.  I still use the tools mentioned in the episode to stay out of burnout, and I hope you find it helpful.Tools mentioned in the episode:To Be Magnetic: @tobemagnetic; tobemagnetic.comLeo Max: @restorative-hypnosis; restorative-hypnosis.comMelissa Wood Health: @melissawoodhealth; melissawoodhealth.comGakken Cornell Method Notebooks: https://www.amazon.com/Gakken-Sta-Cornell-Horizontal-Notebook/dp/B09RK3R78M/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2E5QQD5A2BDOR&keywords=cornell+gakken&qid=1683591865&sprefix=%2Caps%2C158&sr=8-2Please rate&review, share, and follow the podcast!Instagram: @humanschoolpodcast & @patilarmenianmdMusic courtesy of Zach Effron, MD

This is the first episode in a 2 part series about my personal story of burnout. In this episode, I discuss how I burned in for 2 years before I finally burned out. Burn-In is a term I use to describe when someone is keeping in their true thoughts and feelings for self-preservation. Simultaneously, I didn't have the time for my usual outlets of art and exercise that had kept me balanced in the past. That set me up for burnout at the peak of my career. Next episode, I'll talk all about how I got myself out and am staying out of the burnout tunnel. Please rate&review, share, and follow the podcast!Instagram: @humanschoolpodcast & @patilarmenianmdMusic courtesy of Zach Effron, MD