“Health Matters” will set a milestone this weekend with its 900th episode.
The program entitled “Real Epidemiologists Don't Shake Hands” will be broadcast on Morehead State Public Radio (WMKY at 90.3FM) at 10:00AM Saturday, June 20 and repeated at 6:00AM Sunday, June 21.
Hosted by Dr. Anthony (Tony) Weaver, “Health Matters” focuses on the health care needs of the mountain region. The weekly program is a co-production of Morehead State Public Radio and the Northeast Kentucky Area Health Education Center.
“Our approach has remained consistent through the years,” said Dr. Weaver. “We regard this as a medical news program and focus on topics that are relevant to our listeners’ health and fairly simple to explain. We also feel it is very important to include our personal experiences so we are sharing rather than lecturing.”
Dr. Weaver is joined on the program by co-hosts Shelley Irving, PA-C and Rick Phillips.
“Rick is argumentative, but clever, and that dialogue is at the heart of the radio show. He is intensely loyal and has stayed with the show for its entire run,” said Dr. Weaver. “I’ve worked with Shelley Irving in clinical practice for years and have an immense respect for her clinical abilities. She dedicates hours of work to develop content. I suspect most listeners are not aware of how much she contributes to the program.”
In 2013, “Health Matters” was honored to receive the National Media Award by the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons.
“We owe a great debt to NPR programs such as Car Talk, which showed us how to convey useful information and be entertaining at the same time,” said Dr. Weaver. “We still laugh at the episode where St. Claire HealthCare dietitian Jean Jones described her husband as a ‘lawn comet,’ streaking across the lawn with the riding mower on fire.”
As part of MSPR’s mission to provide hands-on educational opportunities, Morehead State University students are responsible to record, produce and edit the weekly radio show for broadcast.
“Health Matters has always been about education and Morehead State Public Radio provides students the opportunity to produce and edit the radio show,” said Dr. Weaver.
Morehead State Public Radio (WMKY at 90.3FM) broadcasts from historic Breckinridge Hall on the campus of Morehead State University. Additional information on the series is available online at http://www.wmky.org
