Episodes 47
Avg. Duration 34m
Activity Highly Active
Apple Rating 4.8 (40)
Since Jan 2023
Latest Episode Jun 2026

Publishing Details

Schedule
Every 2 Weeks
Format
Serial
Consistency
91%
Hosting
intention-to-treat-podcast.nejm.org

About This Podcast

Welcome to “Intention to Treat,” a podcast exploring the critical issues shaping medicine today. In a new 8-week series, The Race Equation, we confront harmful assumptions about race in clinical medicine—from diagnostic algorithms to guidelines—exploring how these practices took hold, why they endure, and what it will take to change them. ​

Hosted by health care journalist Rachel Gotbaum, the “Intention to Treat” podcast from the New England Journal of Medicine delves into groundbreaking research and clinical advances while sharing the personal stories from doctors and their patients, offering listeners a behind-the-scenes look at discoveries that are changing medical practice on the front lines of health care. ​

Listen to The Race Equation and follow “Intention to Treat” on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. 

Explore Statistics

Recent Episodes

S2E6 The Myth of Race and Genetics

Jun 10, 2026 26m

We now know that humans are more than 99.9% genetically alike. So why does medicine still link certain diseases to race? And what do genetics actually tell us about race, ancestry, and disease? A…

S2E5 BiDil — The Story of the Black Pill

Jun 03, 2026 25m

How did a drug for congestive heart failure get approved and marketed for Black people only?   A full transcript of this episode is available at https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2601978.

S2E4 When Race Matters

May 27, 2026 26m

The story of the pulse oximeter demonstrates that sometimes consideration of race is critical to diagnosis and treatment — as came starkly into light during the Covid-19 pandemic. A full transcript…

S2E3 Money and Misdiagnosis

May 20, 2026 24m

Many Black veterans live below the poverty line, often struggling to manage their illnesses. As V.A. hospitals began to stop using race-corrected interpretation of Black patients’ spirometer…

S2E2 How Did Race Get Into Lung Testing?

May 13, 2026 31m

The history of race-based correction of lung-capacity measures can be traced to a pre–Civil War belief among slave owners that slaves had naturally inferior lung capacity. Despite work to show that…

S2E1 Meet the Equation

May 06, 2026 32m

Many clinical algorithms, including the eGFR test for kidney function, have actually had race baked into them and produce different results for Black patients. Most of us assume these algorithms are…

S2 Intention to Treat | Season 2: The Race Equation (Trailer)

Apr 27, 2026 2m Trailer

What happens when medicine gets race wrong? In a new 8-week series, The Race Equation confronts harmful assumptions about race in clinical medicine, why they endure, and what it will take to…

S1E38 Brain Injury and Consciousness

Sep 25, 2024 25m

New research using functional brain imaging reveals that many patients considered to be in a coma or vegetative state and who are unresponsive may actually be conscious and aware. A full transcript…

S1E37 What Exactly Is Long Covid?

Sep 11, 2024 26m

The millions of people worldwide who are suffering from a vast array of disabling symptoms long after being infected with SARS-CoV-2 may eventually benefit from a new consensus definition of long…

S1E36 Restoring Lost Speech

Aug 14, 2024 22m

In recent years, substantial progress has been made in developing brain-computer interfaces that could restore the ability of patients with neurodegenerative diseases and other conditions to…

S1E35 Race-Based Diagnosis, Part 3

Jul 31, 2024 25m

As race-based diagnostic tools, such as pulse oximeters that function poorly on darker skin, continue to lead to inequitable care, a growing movement is working to weed them out of U.S. health…

S1E34 Race-Based Diagnosis, Part 2

Jul 24, 2024 23m

A key measure of kidney function and a risk calculator for vaginal birth after cesarean delivery are among the many tools that have long contributed to health and health care inequities for Black…

S1E33 Race-Based Diagnosis, Part 1

Jul 03, 2024 27m

Claims that Black people had lower lung capacity than White people led to race-adjusted spirometry and poorer care for Black patients with lung disease. New equations are starting to change that. A…

S1E32 Are We Prepared for Bird Flu?

Jun 19, 2024 19m

A new strain of H5N1 influenza is spreading in dairy cows in the United States. Will it cause an epidemic in humans? And what does our public health system need to do in order to be ready if it…

S1E31 Treating Obesity in Kids

Jun 05, 2024 25m

In the face of a growing childhood obesity epidemic, some parents and clinicians are turning to new tools such as GLP-1 receptor agonists. This episode explores the implications of that trend. A full…

S1E30 New Hope for a Common and Deadly Heart Condition

May 15, 2024 24m

This episode considers a new treatment for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, the world’s most common inherited heart condition, which most affected people don’t even realize they have. A full transcript…

CAR T-Cells and Safety Signals

Apr 24, 2024 25m

This episode examines CAR T-cell therapy’s early successes, broader promise, and emerging risks, as the FDA considers reports of occasional secondary cancers. A full transcript of this episode is…

S1E28 Progress for Parkinson's?

Apr 03, 2024 26m

This episode explores the fastest-growing neurologic condition in the world, Parkinson’s disease. What have we learned in recent years, and where are the greatest hopes for the future? A full…

S1E27 Doctors and Guns

Mar 13, 2024 25m

In this episode, parents who have lost children to gun accidents and physicians working for gun safety discuss the number-one killer of U.S. children and what doctors can do about it. A full…

Race Relations and the First Paramedics

Feb 28, 2024 29m Bonus

This episode of “Intention to Treat” tells the story of the Freedom House Ambulance Service — a group of Black laypeople in Pittsburgh who underwent intensive training to become the first paramedics…

Frequently Asked Questions

How many episodes does Intention to Treat have?

Intention to Treat has published 47 episodes since January 2023, covering topics in Health & Fitness, Medicine.

Is Intention to Treat still active?

Intention to Treat is currently highly active with new episodes every 2 weeks. Average episode length is 34m.

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