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Dr. Aaron Carroll (Healthcare Triage)

Real name: Aaron E. Carroll

Pediatrician and Professor of Pediatrics at Indiana University School of Medicine. Hosts the Healthcare Triage YouTube channel covering health policy and medical research methodology. Writes for The New York Times.

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Biography

Dr. Aaron Carroll is a pediatrician and professor at the Indiana University School of Medicine, where he has been a faculty member and health policy researcher for many years. He earned his MD from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and completed residency training in pediatrics. He has served as Chief Health Officer at Indiana University and is a widely published researcher in health policy and clinical epidemiology. He is also a contributor to The New York Times and the author of several books, including The Bad Food Bible.

Carroll created Healthcare Triage in partnership with Complexly — the production company founded by John and Hank Green — as a YouTube series explaining healthcare policy and medical research to general audiences. Each episode applies evidence-based reasoning to topics including public health claims, nutrition myths, pharmaceutical policy, and the methodology of clinical research itself. The channel has received recognition including the first annual Health Care Digital Media Award from the National Institute of Health Care Management Foundation, and has grown to approximately 400,000 subscribers. Carroll's approach is methodologically focused: rather than simply declaring claims true or false, he typically walks viewers through what the evidence actually shows and how to interpret it.

What distinguishes Carroll's work is his dual focus on both the content of health claims and the processes by which medicine generates and evaluates evidence. His academic background in health policy means he addresses systemic questions — such as why medical guidelines change, how research gets misrepresented in the press, and what it means for a health claim to be evidence-based — alongside specific myth-busting. This combination makes Healthcare Triage a resource for developing health literacy rather than just consuming verdicts.

Credentials

MD, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

Doctor of Medicine from an accredited Ivy League medical school

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Board Certified in Pediatrics

Full board certification after residency training in pediatrics

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Professor of Pediatrics, Indiana University School of Medicine

Faculty position at a major accredited research university medical school

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Former Chief Health Officer, Indiana University

Institutional leadership role in university health policy

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Notable Debunks

Does the Research Really Say We Should Drink 8 Glasses of Water a Day?The Bad Food Bible: How and Why to Eat Sinfully (book)Drink Water Not Soda — But Maybe Not as Much as You Think