How to use: Go for a walk. Pick a topic. Record yourself explaining it into your phone as if you're hosting a podcast episode for a listener who knows nothing about cPNI. No script. No notes. Just you and the topic. Listen back later to find your gaps.
Why this is different from normal revision:
Each episode follows this structure (aim for 10-15 minutes per walk):
Why should anyone care about this topic? What disease, symptom, or clinical problem does it connect to?
Explain the concept as if to a smart friend who's never studied biology. No jargon without explanation.
Now go deeper. Name the molecules, the pathways, the receptors. This is where your knowledge is tested.
How does Pruimboom or cPNI think about this differently from conventional medicine? What's the evolutionary perspective? The integrative insight?
How does this show up in a patient? How would you assess it? What would you do about it?
Pick one per walk. By the time you've done all 30, you've covered the major exam material.
| # | Topic | Key question to answer |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Innate vs adaptive immunity | What's the difference and why does it matter clinically? |
| 2 | TLR-NF-kB pathway | How does LPS lead to gene transcription? |
| 3 | Cytokines: TNF-a, IL-1b, IL-6 | What does each one DO and why are they elevated in chronic disease? |
| 4 | The eicosanoid class switch | How does the body switch from making prostaglandins to making lipoxins? |
| 5 | Resolvins, protectins, maresins | What are SPMs and why is omega-3 essential for resolution? |
| 6 | The selfish immune system | How does immune activation steal energy from other systems? |
| 7 | Sickness behaviour | Why do you feel terrible when you're inflamed? Is it adaptive? |
| 8 | M1 vs M2 macrophages | What triggers the switch and why does it matter? |
| 9 | Low-grade inflammation | What is it, how do you measure it, and why does it cause everything? |
| 10 | Autoimmunity basics | How does self-tolerance fail? |
| # | Topic | Key question to answer |
|---|---|---|
| 11 | HPA axis | Walk through CRH → ACTH → cortisol → negative feedback |
| 12 | Cortisol: friend or foe? | Acute pulse vs chronic plateau — what's the difference? |
| 13 | The vagus nerve | Why is it 80% afferent? What's the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway? |
| 14 | Serotonin: gut vs brain | 90% in the gut, doesn't cross BBB — so what's it doing? |
| 15 | The kynurenine pathway | How does inflammation steal tryptophan from serotonin? |
| # | Topic | Key question to answer |
|---|---|---|
| 16 | Gut barrier integrity | Tight junctions, zonulin, and what breaks them |
| 17 | The microbiome | Key species, what they produce, why diversity matters |
| 18 | Butyrate | Why is this short-chain fatty acid so important? |
| 19 | Leaky barriers beyond the gut | BBB, lung, skin — same principle, different location |
| 20 | GALT | Peyer's patches, M cells, IgA — the gut's immune army |
| # | Topic | Key question to answer |
|---|---|---|
| 21 | Insulin resistance | How does inflammation cause it at the molecular level? |
| 22 | AMPK vs mTOR | The cellular seesaw — fasting/exercise vs feeding/sedentary |
| 23 | Mitochondrial function | Why are mitochondria central to fatigue, aging, and disease? |
| 24 | Omega-3 fatty acids | EPA, DHA, and their downstream products |
| 25 | Vitamin D as immune modulator | Not just bones — Treg differentiation, barrier integrity |
| # | Topic | Key question to answer |
|---|---|---|
| 26 | Evolutionary mismatch | Name 5 mismatches and the diseases they drive |
| 27 | Intermittent living | What is it and why does oscillation matter more than dose? |
| 28 | The five metamodels | Walk through all five using a hypothetical patient |
| 29 | Circadian rhythm and immunity | How does the light/dark cycle regulate immune function? |
| 30 | The cPNI model vs conventional medicine | What does cPNI see that a GP misses? |
After recording an episode:
After 10 episodes, you'll have a personal podcast library of ~2.5 hours of self-generated revision audio.
After 30 episodes, you've covered the core exam material and you have a revision tool nobody else has — because it's in YOUR voice, from YOUR understanding.
The cPNI Year 2 exam has a practical component: a patient consultation. You need to:
"Teach the Path" trains EXACTLY these skills. Every episode is a practice consultation. By July, you'll have done 30+ of them.