Not many people think twice about the medical advice or diagnosis given to them by their doctor. However, the public health forum starting this month might have more patients seeking second opinions.

In collaboration with the Sacramento Bee, Capital Public Radio will be hosting "Second Opinions" Community Health Forums. The first forum is titled, "Can You Trust Your Doctor?" and will feature a panel of health experts from various organizations including:

• Marion Leff, M.D, Director of the Sutter Health Family Medicine Residency Program;
• Marge Ginsburg, MPH, RN, Executive Director of Sacramento Healthcare Decisions;
•  Beth Mertz, MAPA, Program Director, Center for the Health Professions University of California, San Francisco; and
• Shahram Ahari, a former pharmaceutical sales representative from Eli Lilly's Neuroscience Division, who left the industry to pursue public health and social justice issues.

This forum will be the first of many focusing on the health of the community. Capital Public Radio has organized these community health forums to provide an interactive environment where people can learn through direct contact with health care professionals in a townhall-style meeting.

A "Day in the Life of the Doctor" video will be shown and an online Q&A with the panelists from the forum will go live starting Friday and will for two weeks after the forum ends. Many questions will be gathered from the website submission and addressed at the forum.

The Pacific McGeorge School of Law will host the forum on Wednesday, Feb. 25 from 6 - 8 p.m. There is no cost to attend this event. Seats can be reserved by visiting www.secondopinions.org.

Dr. Michael Wilkes, Director of Global Health and Professor of Medicine at the University of California, Davis School of Medicine will be moderating the forum which is designed to give attendees practical knowledge regarding the health care system so that they are equipped to improve their own doctor-patient relationships.

As stated on their website, the mission of the Second Opinions Community Health Forum is to inform people about practical solutions to health care problems, improve the community's health care literacy and quality of care, through providing consumer-oriented information and promote greater transparency and accountability in local health care systems.

For those who cannot make it to the forum, streaming video and podcasts will be posted online. More information can be found on the website www.secondopinions.org