Radio show provides health information
Dr. Zachary Baeseman views his radio show on WILW-LP 96.3 FM as a way to provide community members with vital health information.
“Instead of sharing a piece of education about high blood pressure with a single patient, for example, I can share it with the whole Waupaca community,” said Baeseman, a family medicine physicians at ThedaCare Physicians-Waupaca. “The show is a great way to catch as many people as possible with health information.”
WILW-LP is community run and was looking for different program ideas.
Baeseman approached station leaders with his idea for the Rural Remedies show, a bi-monthly show focused on health care.
Each 30-minute show is played multiple times each month so it may reach a wider audience.
It is also posted on the station’s SoundCloud page so people may listen to it whenever they want.
Baeseman varies program topics and has covered everything from Lyme disease to losing weight.
“I try to get other people from the community or clinic involved in the show whenever possible,” he said. “I want listeners to come away knowing something that can improve their health, whether it is identifying the signs of an illness to picking up a tip or two to improve their health.”
Before recording every show, Baeseman writes up a script.
“I usually start out by posing a question about the topic and then answer it myself or bring in an expert to respond,” he said. “Having someone else on with me varies it up a bit so you just don’t hear my voice. I always end by answering a question from a listener.”
A few of his patients mentioned hearing him on the radio, and he admitted to sometimes plugging his own show.
“If I have just done a show on something that may be of interest to the patient, I’ll mention he should listen to it as a way to learn even more about the topic,” he said. “Anyway we can help patients be better informed about their health is good.”
While some people may freeze up before a radio microphone, that is not a problem for the extroverted Baeseman.
“Rural health care is important to me. I have a master’s degree in public health and want to be an influence in helping to make the community healthier,” he said. “The radio show is one way I can do that.”