Dr. Wesley Stepp is a resident at the University of North Carolina’s Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. UNC is a national leader in training the next generation of ear, nose and throat surgeons and Dr. Stepp brings an interesting perspective to this kind of work.

Not just because his first exposure to otolaryngology was having sinus surgery in his teens, which proved life changing and set him on his eventual academic and professional course. But also because in his work today as a senior resident, he’s seen firsthand how single-use endoscopy technology has impacted his practice in several ways — from workflow and efficiency to information sharing and medical decision making to patient education.

We talked about all this and more with Dr. Stepp, who graduated from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in 2019 and who will take his practice to the military soon. Dr. Stepp is an Ambu consultant.

Show notes:

Bio: Dr. Wesley Stepp

Dr. Stepp’s PubMed Listing

Video: Simplifying FEES Exams with the aScope 4 RhinoLaryngo Slim

Endoscopy Insights homepage

The conventional wisdom in interventional pulmonology has long been that reusable bronchoscopes perform better than their single-use counterparts, but new research counters that thinking.

A recent study, part of a poster presentation at the World Congress for Bronchology and Interventional Pulmonology (WCBIP) 2022 in Marseille, France, found that three of four single-use flexible bronchoscopes that were tested performed better in flexion and extension than reusable competitors.

The latest single-use flexible bronchoscopes, according to the study’s authors, are a significant advance­ment over prior generations.

One of those authors is Dr. Jonathan Kurman and he’s our guest on the latest episode of Endoscopy Insights. Dr. Kurman is an assistant professor of medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin and the director of interventional pulmonology for the Froedtert & Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) health network.

He completed an interventional pulmonology fellowship at the University of Chicago and pulmonary & critical care training at the Medical College of Wisconsin. He is board certified in interventional pulmonology, internal medicine, pulmonary medicine and critical care.

Disclosure: Ambu provided funding for the study’s evaluation and testing, and Dr. Kurman is an Ambu consultant.

Show notes:

Poster, “A Comparison of Single-Use Bronchoscopes and Reusable Bronchoscopes for Interventional Pulmonology Applications”

Single-Use Endoscopy, “Study: Single-Use Bronchoscopes Show Better Flexion Than Reusables”

World Congress for Bronchology and Interventional Pulmonology 2022

Bio: Dr. Jonathan Kurman

Endoscopy Insights homepage

Dr. Marybeth Spanarkel describes GI endoscopy as a labor of love. You can hear the passion in her voice when she talks about performing a procedure and the gratification that comes from getting an immediate medical answer to the clinical question that’s being asked.

Spanarkel, however, suffered a career-ending neck injury after 28 years in private practice in North Carolina. Without full strength in her right arm, she lost the ability to perform endoscopy procedures and provide those much-needed answers to patients.

That musculoskeletal injury brought her career to an end, but it was the catalyst sending her down a new path — keeping other GI endoscopists from suffering a similar fate by educating them on the unique ergonomics challenges they face.

She discussed that and more in our first conversation for Endoscopy Insights, which you can listen to here. In this episode, we talk more about her career path, her decision to choose clinical practice over academia, her experiences as a female clinical endoscopist and some of the unique challenges she’s faced and overcome.

Show notes:

• Endoscopy Insights: Dr. Marybeth Spanarkel, Part 1
• Q&A: Addressing Ergonomics Challenges in Colonoscopy
• Survey: Are All Endoscopic-Related Musculoskeletal Injuries Created Equal?
• American College of Gastroenterology
• ColoWrap