Dr. Mike's Winning Combination: Podcasts and Pediatrics

Dr. Mike Patrick in the PediaCast recording studio.

As a child, Mike Patrick '90, wanted to be a DJ at his parents' roller skating rink in Springfield, Ohio.

"Saturday mornings were for the kids to skate, and the DJ was a cool person everyone looked up to," he recalls.

Mike soon achieved his DJ dreams at the skating rink, but today, he is cool in an entirely different way, as host of the most-listened-to pediatric podcast in the world, PediaCast, at Nationwide Children's Hospital.

Mike maintained his interest in broadcasting after his early DJ days, but he did not want to pursue it professionally. When he arrived at Ohio Wesleyan, Mike says he was a science guy.

"I was pre-med," he says. "But I did host a WSLN radio show with my roommate—it was called 'The Bill and Ted Show with Mike and Bob.'"

Mike went on to receive his medical degree from Ohio State and began private practice in an underserved area of Springfield. "I didn't turn anyone away," he explains, "But that did not leave a lot of time for education in the treatment room."

At that time, there were not many online medical resources for patients, and WebMD was in its infancy.

"I still had an interest in broadcasting, and I was listening to podcasts about how to make podcasts," Mike laughs. In 2006, he began his own podcast, PediaCast, as a way to share information with parents about their children's health.

"It really took off. iTunes put PediaCast on the front page of the kids and family section, and it started gaining a national following right away."

The PediaCast following grew so quickly that the number of subscriptions crashed Mike's server, and he scrambled to find unlimited bandwidth, which was an issue at that time.

"I reached out to Nationwide Children's to see if they would be interested in being a bandwidth provider," he says. Ultimately, Mike pitched the idea of broadcasting PediaCast on Nationwide Children's campus, and they accepted his proposal.

Today, Mike is an attending physician in emergency medicine at Nationwide Children's, and he is an assistant professor of clinical pediatrics at Ohio State University. PediaCast has millions of downloads and listeners in all 50 states and more than 100 countries. Mike began a second podcast, PediaCast CME, offering educational credit for providers.

"I really enjoy making a difference through PediaCast and demystifying issues for parents," Mike says. "A lot of the show is interviewing doctors to share the information they want to get out as well as answering parent questions. PediaCast CME also is very rewarding because I'm helping to spread the news that makes a difference in how providers treat their patients."

Mike does all of his own production work for both podcasts and says the support from Nationwide Children's is tremendous.

Mike also appreciates the support and preparation he received at OWU.

"I was a pre-med major, but Ohio Wesleyan gave me permission to also pursue more creative and artistic interests at the same time."

You can download PediaCast episodes and learn more at www.pediacast.org.

– Written by Ericka Kurtz (12/22)


Mike Gebremedhin '91, Laura Gosling '90, Heather Robinson '94, and Pierre Tchetgen '00 (from left) enjoyed a full OWU reunion in Accra, Ghana. They all work at the U.S. Embassy in Accra. (12/23)


Todd Showalter '91 was named a 2022 Forbes Best-in-State Wealth Advisor. He is currently a Wells Fargo private wealth financial advisor in Chicago, IL, with more than 25 years of wealth management and capital markets experience. (12/22)


Amy Zepp '92 wrote a book about her mother, Margaret Zepp Brown '57, titled Mamaw Has Alzheimer's. It follows her mother's decline from the disease from her children's point of view. It is available on Amazon. (12/22)


Ritwick Ghoshal '93 was appointed managing partner and CEO of Bay Capital Investment Advisors Private Limited. He previously was director for private clients at Barclays Private Bank. Ritwick has 27 years of experience in wealth management, including in Indian, Middle Eastern, U.S., and European markets. (5/23)


Christopher LeFevre '93 was inducted into the Conotton Valley High School Athletic Hall of Fame (OH). He lettered four times in football and baseball and was selected as All-Ohio for football as a senior. (5/23)


Scott McBride '93 was named associate deputy chief counsel for trade enforcement and compliance at the U.S. Department of Commerce. Scott has practiced international trade law on behalf of the U.S. government for more than 22 years—arguing before the World Trade Organization, litigating in U.S. federal courts and before North American Free Trade Agreement dispute panels, drafting international trade legislation and regulations, and counseling the International Trade Administration on the administration of trade remedy laws. (5/23)


Deydre Teyhen '93 received the Catherine Worthingham Fellow of the American Physical Therapy Association, the association's highest membership category, recognizing APTA physical therapists who have worked to advance the profession for more than 15 years. Fewer than 300 of these recognitions have been awarded. Deydre has served in positions of leadership in and out of military treatment facilities and research labs for more than 29 years in the United States and overseas, as well as in a combat zone in Iraq. (5/23)


Michael Tiedemann '93 was named CEO of Alvarium Tiedemann Holdings, a product of a merger between New York-based registered investment advisor Tiedemann Group and London-based wealth management and investment firm Alvarium Investments. (5/23)


Adam Lieb '94 was named senior client strategist for Bank of New York's Mellon Wealth Management Global Family Office. Previously, he worked at Fidelity Family Office Services for over 13 years, most recently serving as vice president. (12/22)


Bradley Moore '94 was named president and CEO of Roche Diagnostics North America, a biotechnology company. He joined Roche in 2016 as head of North America Diabetes Care before leading the newly created Core Lab and Point of Care commercial business unit as senior vice president in 2020. (5/23)


Jeremy Pinchot '94 was named vice president of environmental, social, and governance at FNK IR, an investor relations consultancy based in New York City. Jeremy has worked in a variety of senior roles, previously serving as the vice president of strategic initiatives and as compliance officer for Ranger Capital Group in Texas. (12/22)


Amanda Irene Hoyt Rush '94 published her debut memoir, The Gathering Girl, in March. Pulling from her background in humanities and classics, and guided by family artifacts, Amanda strives to make meaning of the cumulative and relatively quiet damage wrought by her parents' divorce, her mother's mental illness, and a childhood in which she was generally left to fend for herself. The book is for anyone who has been impacted by adverse childhood events and family dysfunction. Amanda is a psychiatric nurse practitioner in Columbus, OH. Her other published writings are available at amandairush.com. (12/23)


Christina Diersing Zamarro '94 was named executive vice president and chief financial officer of Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. After several years working for Ford Motor Co., she joined Goodyear in 2007 and has strengthened the company's financial strategy and treasury and investor relations functions. (5/23)


Christina Zamarro '94 was elected to the board of directors of L3Harris Technologies, an aerospace and defense technology company. She currently serves as vice president of finance and treasurer at the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company in Akron, OH, overseeing its global treasury, strategic planning and analysis, and more. (12/22)


Andy Hatton '95 was selected superintendent of Findlay (OH) City Schools and will assume the position August 1. He is currently the associate superintendent of learning and leadership for Upper Arlington (OH) City Schools. He earned an Ed.D. in educational leadership from Miami University and has served as a middle school teacher at Columbus City Schools, principal of Dempsey Middle School in Delaware City Schools, and director of curriculum at Dublin City Schools. (5/23)


Jody Peacock '95 was named CEO of Ports of Indiana, the statewide port authority, which operates three ports on the Ohio River and Lake Michigan. Jody has served in various leadership positions for the Ports of Indiana since 2001, and he most recently was senior vice president for business development. (5/23)


Terree Stevenson '95 was appointed dean of students at California State University, Fresno (Fresno State). Since 2018, she had served as dean of students at Central State University in Wilberforce, OH. (12/23)


Lori Lauer-Roszman Rowland '96 was hired as vice president of finance for the Ohio District 5 Area Agency on Aging in 2021. Her team oversees the program funding and budgets for the nine North Central Ohio counties served by AAA5. The agency helps aging adults remain independent and safe in their homes for as long as possible. With her husband, Scott, she lives in rural Crawford County. (5/23)


Irfan Nooruddin '96, the Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani professor of Indian politics in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, is co-author of the book The Everyday Crusade: Christian Nationalism in American Politics, which was published in 2022 by Cambridge Press. Irfan says that as an immigrant, he is interested in the idea of American exceptionalism and how, for instance, the way President Obama spoke of America was the same way President Bush spoke of America. Irfan began his research while he was a professor at Ohio State in 2008. Irfan and his colleagues examined 12 years of public opinion data collected from 2008 to 2020 through academic, scientifically based methodology. He says they did not approach their research in a negative light, as people worldwide believe their countries are exceptional and created by a higher power, noting the Hindu nationalism movement in 1990s India as an example. In their research, Irfan and his colleagues found that Americans, regardless of their race or political party, have a deep-rooted belief that the United States is exceptional, and the ideas of exceptionalism are used to justify very different sets of causes. Irfan was surprised to find just how deep-rooted religious exceptionalism in America is, and how the belief holds across party lines. Irfan says the notion that Americans either love or hate America is not supported in the data that was collected. He notes that one of the other important takeaways from the book is "The future of democracy might feel overheated to a lot of people right now, and democracy does need to be reviewed and defended every so often." You may learn more about Irfan's research in his book and in The Washington Post article, "Americans Are Growing More Accepting of Christian Nationalism." (12/22)


Daniel Richardson '96 was appointed to the Vermont Superior Court in April. Governor Phil Scott made the appointment, saying, "Dan has demonstrated a deep commitment to service and a dedication to Vermont throughout his career." Previously, Dan served as city attorney and corporate counsel for the City of Burlington and as partner at Tarrant, Gillies & Shems. He also has volunteered in many roles, including the Vermont Bar Association and Access to Justice Coalition. (12/22)


Benjamin Harrison '98 was named the board of trustees chair of Foundation for Financial Planning, a nonprofit organization providing financial planning for those in crisis or need. Benjamin is a managing director and member of the executive committee for BNY Mellon's Pershing. (12/22)


Karla McCain '98 was hired as vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty at Cottey College (MO). Prior to joining Cottey, she served as the provost of Blackburn College and was a faculty member at Austin College (TX). (12/23)


Michael Mullady '98 was promoted to vice chairman at the Columbus, OH, office of CBRE, the highest title for producers at the company. He is the first professional in Columbus to achieve the vice chair title. He specializes in the acquisition and disposition of major industrial facilities globally and serves as a tenant advisor for the site selection and lease negotiation process. During his career, Mullady has consistently ranked as the top producer in Columbus and repeatedly ranked in the top 3% and 10% of producers nationally at CBRE. (5/23)


Larry Saunders '98, who earned an MBA from the Aix-Marseille University in France in 2015, began working for Ohio-based Premier Bank in March 2021, and in May 2022 became a commercial credit analyst. In this new role, he works with other Delaware and OWU connections, including Cliff Lanthorn (women's basketball assistant coach) and Tyler Fletcher '06. He lives with his wife, Jessica, and two teenage daughters in Defiance County, Ohio. (12/22)


Eimile Tansey '98 was named chief people officer at ATI Physical Therapy, an outpatient physical therapy provider. She has dedicated more than 20 years in human resources and operations, including more than 15 years in leadership and executive roles. Eimile was previously chief people officer at elder-care provider InnovAge and vice president of human resources at CVS Health. (5/23)


Maggie Smith '99 published her debut memoir, You Could Make This Place Beautiful, in April. She dives into the process of rebuilding her and her kids' life after the disintegration of her marriage, as well as the nuances of modern womanhood, traditional gender roles, and defining one's own life. Maggie has published a variety of other award-winning written works, including Good Bones, Goldenrod, and Keep Moving: Notes on Loss, Creativity, and Change. (5/23)


Kristin Kelling '99 (right) and Melody Maxwell '10 (left) discovered their OWU connection during a country team meeting in Brazil, where they both work at the U.S. Embassy in Brasilia. Kristin is a diplomat serving as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Health Attaché. She works at the intersection of global health and diplomacy, focusing on the bilateral relationship between the United States and Brazil. She has more than 20 years of federal management and leadership experience, including a long history of engagement and collaboration with Latin America through her work at the U.S. Department of State and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She earned a Master of Health Science degree in International Health from Johns Hopkins University and is pursuing a doctoral degree at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Melody is a veterinarian and diplomat for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. In her current location, she is the APHIS Area Director and Agricultural Attaché for seven countries in South America. She focuses on facilitating agricultural trade and safeguarding U.S. agriculture by strengthening host countries' local capacity to identify and control plant and animal pests and diseases. She was previously posted in Dakar, Senegal, covering 24 West and Central African countries and is looking forward to her next posting in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2024. She completed Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and Master of Public Health degrees at Ohio State University. (12/23)


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