Episodes

Nov. 4, 2021

Diagnosis: malformation of a health care system

"The diagnosis is well-established. A cure is within our reach, and the wisest among our practitioners of the healing arts are offering valuable counsel. When the U.S. government and science, in its most principled form, work together, insulated from...

Episode page
Nov. 3, 2021

Professional gay: Charting a career in LGBTQ health

"After much searching, I was fortunate to find a fellowship that though inexperienced in LGBTQ health recognized an opportunity. Faculty and mentors worked from a growth mindset rooted in finding what I needed to succeed rather than what they knew...

Episode page
Nov. 2, 2021

How medical training teaches doctors to be financially unhealthy

"We physicians must come to terms with the trauma caused by the financial insecurity built into our training and the ripple effect it has even after we finish training, both as a way to repair ourselves individually and as a …

Episode page
Nov. 1, 2021

How to heal and revitalize our beloved profession

"We have to heal ourselves first. That begins with caring for our own minds and bodies, and souls. It means not avoiding (as I did) caring for our own physical and especially our mental health. It means we must be …

Episode page
Oct. 31, 2021

Family meals' surprising power

"If you are encountering families with feeding concerns, I strongly encourage you to ask them if sitting down together for meals is part of their regular routine. The more prescriptive 'eat this, not that' or calorie counting model that has …

Episode page
Oct. 30, 2021

Taking care of yourself during medical school

"Like some insidious conditions, feelings can fester. They can spread like cancer, and sap the spirit of nourishment until it starts to die, riddled with doubt and sensations of inadequacy. They can degrade the soul, as though it were suffering …

Episode page
Oct. 29, 2021

I bought into the stigmas about the mentally ill, until I became one …

"Bipolar runs in my family, so I knew the harsh realities of this untreated illness. A family member faked his own death after a counterfeiting spending spree. My grandfather told people that I would die in a car accident, and …

Episode page
Oct. 28, 2021

Tomgirl and tomboy: Rethinking gender stereotypes

"How do we create a world where all of us can express our unique selves the way we choose without derisiveness and shame? I am not here to criticize the wonderful parents and caregivers who are reading this – they …

Episode page
Oct. 27, 2021

I do not want to be resilient

"We all know watching a module on resilience, sitting in a lecture about mindfulness, being told to practice more yoga and breathing techniques does not make you feel less burnout. It’s having the support and buy-in from your workplace, to …

Episode page
Oct. 26, 2021

Why now is the time to get patients back to in-person routine care

"As the next wave of the pandemic unfolds, the rise in cases is once again straining health care systems. But that’s not the only reason hospitals and health systems could experience an influx of emergency or critical care visits. Findings …

Episode page
Oct. 25, 2021

Carry on, my weary one: Persevering in the aftermath

"Frontline workers may have temporarily experienced a heightened sense of personal success and gratification, but I doubt many of us are still able to feel satisfied at this point, after all the repeated moral injuries and losing so many patients....

Episode page
Oct. 24, 2021

Physician suicide: Where are the leaders?

"As a mother, a physician, and an educator, I refuse to accept this as normal. It is not! What should we tell the parents of these young physicians? How do we explain to them that their dream of being a …

Episode page
Oct. 23, 2021

Why clinicians can’t keep ignoring care coordination

"Provider organizations may look at their budgets and think the traditional model of fax machines and landlines is serving their entity in optimizing revenue streams. They may even look at their providers’ full schedules and believe there isn’t a...

Episode page
Oct. 22, 2021

Technology's impact on dermatology

"During COVID, the medical training system had to adapt because people couldn’t meet in person and even those that could didn’t have access to patients or facilities in the same capacity. However, the explosion of remote training tools that became...

Episode page
Oct. 21, 2021

A son's brain cancer. A father's story.

"As you wait, you have a lot of time to think. You comb through the past in search of something you might have missed. If we had acted sooner on the signs of his illness—had the cancer been diagnosed earlier—would …

Episode page
Oct. 20, 2021

I was thinking about retiring, and COVID-19 gave me a push

"Last March, I was working in a small primary care practice on the west side of Denver. COVID-19 came to town. On Thursday, March 12, we were told the schools would be closing. On Friday, we were told that clinic …

Episode page
Oct. 19, 2021

Why physician-owned businesses need our attention and support

"There has been a growing wave of entrepreneurial physicians finding joy and value in starting consulting and coaching businesses. Many use their expertise to work with physicians exclusively. Our company has been excited to play a part in better...

Episode page
Oct. 18, 2021

What we can learn from an orthopedic surgeon who publishes a novel

"Transections, eviscerations, exsanguinations, amputations, decapitations, disembowelments, penetrations, disarticulations, emasculations, enucleations, incinerations—these things he has seen. But of late he chooses to see only the glimmering vials....

Episode page
Oct. 17, 2021

A story of a physician photojournalist

"Her face is decorated in colors of the earth. With events on Earth Day and throughout the week, New York City celebrates sustainability and ways to live in harmony with the planet. Scheduled festivities include a march down Broadway with …

Episode page
Oct. 16, 2021

When celebrities attack children with food allergies

"A child is born with a food allergy. They do not choose to have their immune system compromised. Parents do not get the choice to opt-in or out of having their child’s body recognize ordinary food as a threat. Food …

Episode page
Oct. 15, 2021

Patient complaints have psychological repercussions

"I believe there is an art to medicine, a psychological connection to your patients through a hands-on patient encounter. There are nuances AI may take decades to compete with. For now, in my lifetime, I hope that people examine patients …

Episode page
Oct. 14, 2021

Why the business school mindset doesn’t mind physician burnout

"We can’t expect those with a business school mindset to solve physician burnout. What is needed is leadership throughout health care organizations by those with expertise in the core business, deep commitment to health care workers and patients,...

Episode page
Oct. 13, 2021

A nurse's story of health care workplace violence

"I can imagine the horror of watching a colleague being attacked. I worry about the coworker who Lynne protected that day, since being a survivor can be so bittersweet. I can feel the shock of how quickly the violence escalated, …

Episode page
Oct. 12, 2021

When clinicians are bullied at a school board meeting

"The first amendment protects your right to free speech. But it does not make you more right, more ethical, or more kind. And nor does it give one license to rewrite history as has been occurring since July 27th, adding …

Episode page