Episodes

Nov. 2, 2022

Doctors are like hamsters running on an exercise wheel to nowhere

“No wonder doctors feel like hamsters running on an exercise wheel to nowhere. And this sense of futility is driving burnout. How much patient care will you get out of docs who have moved on to nonclinical jobs, retired early, or committed suicide...

Listen to the Episode
Nov. 1, 2022

My sister went to the hospital seeking help. Instead, she died.

"I am heartbroken at the loss of my sister. No, breast cancer didn’t physically kill her, and for that, I am grateful. Its presence in her medical history, however, quite possibly did as it was apparently used as the justification for all that went...

Listen to the Episode
Oct. 31, 2022

Can the Inflation Reduction Act build back medicine better and reduce…

"There is great hope for this bill to accomplish the stated goals in the medical and energy worlds. There are many excellent summaries regarding this bill, and I would urge any interested readers to find a review of the bill and read through it. We...

Listen to the Episode
Oct. 30, 2022

A Hungarian Jewish man's fight for freedom

"Despite the terror of the Soviets, it was clear that not even their mighty tanks could eradicate the social tides that now, like a tsunami, could not be turned back. The power of the movement forced Ernő Gerő, just a few months into his rule, to...

Listen to the Episode
Oct. 29, 2022

Why psychological explanations for long COVID are dangerous

"Patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) and their allies will rally in DC, London, and Edinburgh this September to “demand bold, urgent governmental action” for the millions of people living with ME, long COVID, and other...

Listen to the Episode
Oct. 28, 2022

When patients want their doctors to heal

"I think it’s much more likely that my patients — some of whom are terminal and facing their own mortality; others who are suffering through a multitude of side effects from their cancers or our treatments – my beautiful patients haven’t let...

Listen to the Episode
Oct. 27, 2022

Giving language to empathy: lessons from palliative care

"The value of empathy in medicine is seldom debated. Just as the art of medicine is taught as the balance of knowledge and application, so has empathy been recognized as both a value to be fostered and a skill to be learned. Medical curricula have...

Listen to the Episode
Oct. 26, 2022

Want to improve telehealth? Ask people with disabilities.

"The tech industry needs to invest in developing platforms and devices with active, consistent, and frequent input from the disability community. This input must reflect a range of individuals with disabilities. A variety of identities exist beyond...

Listen to the Episode
Oct. 25, 2022

Meet the primary care doctor who's happy with his job

"There is no temptation to go back to my old life.  I hit rock bottom and have been enjoying a doctor's job.  My future is bright.  My income is growing.  My schedule still has plenty of room.  My patients are happy.  How...

Listen to the Episode
Oct. 24, 2022

Habits of highly effective interns

"The clocks have flash forwarded, and here I am supervising incoming interns on the 1st of July (which for the past two years has fallen on a weekend). As a frenetic day has finally come to a close and a walk along a park where the trees have acquired...

Listen to the Episode
Oct. 23, 2022

A cancer patient's last wish

"I smiled, put the lamb curry in front of her, and instructed her granddaughter on how much time to heat it up in the microwave. Val wasn’t in a condition where she could have a long conversation with me, but she knew exactly what was going on. I...

Listen to the Episode
Oct. 22, 2022

How AI-based technology can help improve hospital capacity management

"Health system leaders can master this 'chess game' by anticipating the next several moves well in advance with the assistance of AI-based predictive analytic tools. This adoption will lead to dramatically better outcomes than a purely reactive...

Listen to the Episode
Oct. 21, 2022

How the internet broke parenting

"Modern parenting comes with challenges that only a modern parent can understand. As both a pediatrician and a mother, I dispense with the advice I wish I had when my daughter was born. While there may be no one way to raise your kids, there are still...

Listen to the Episode
Oct. 20, 2022

Food allergies are not a joke

"I was truly gutted when watching the recent  that joked about nut allergies. My son Joshua, who is 16 years old, has an anaphylactic peanut allergy. I found the segment to be insensitive to the millions of people globally who live each day...

Listen to the Episode
Oct. 19, 2022

Boundaries for women physicians

"I learned the hard way what can happen when physicians—especially women physicians—lack personal boundaries. Before hitting my low point, I had no boundaries. I had been raised to give, give, give, and, when times became tough, to give more by...

Listen to the Episode
Oct. 18, 2022

Using simulations to improve medical decision making

"The scenario is preset, and hence based on a lot of constraints, but when it is run, there is freedom for everyone to operate. This freedom to take part in the defined context is the same as the spirit of the rules. The constraints and rules that we...

Listen to the Episode
Oct. 17, 2022

Hearing is connected to well-being

"As an audiologist, treating hearing loss is a part of my everyday life. Even still, I’m sometimes amazed at the difference hearing aids can make in patients’ lives. For example, recently, when an older patient with longstanding hearing loss was...

Listen to the Episode
Oct. 16, 2022

I wanted to care for people, so I became a direct primary care doctor

"I’ve started to understand many aspects of business, and although we’ve done some pretty amazing things in the past two years, we’ve also made people frustrated and mad while trying to care for them. And so, I still reflect on these basic...

Listen to the Episode
Oct. 15, 2022

Emotional eating: Why you always want food

"I’ve consistently found that most of the doctors who want coaching help feel like I did when I struggled with my weight: They weren’t feeling like their lives were completely out of control or their problems were insurmountable. It wasn’t like...

Listen to the Episode
Oct. 14, 2022

How discovering trauma changed this doctor’s life

"In some ways, my diagnosis was the beginning of the rest of my life. I’m now a health coach, helping women struggling with chronic stress and anxiety. And I love what I do. I am able to use all of my healing skills and my personal journey to give...

Listen to the Episode
Oct. 13, 2022

End printed medical journals

"For the better part of two decades in medicine, I considered printed journals an old friend. Getting my latest medical journal in the mail, opening it, enjoying the feel, look, and even the smell of the journal was almost like getting a monthly...

Listen to the Episode
Oct. 12, 2022

What physicians can do in Ukraine

"You can talk about Ukraine and the courage of the Ukrainian people as you talk to colleagues and patients and as you talk to family and friends in your community. The U.S. may be divided now, but we can speak as one people in support of democracy in...

Listen to the Episode
Oct. 11, 2022

KevinMD on the Stay Off My Operating Table podcast

In this special episode, KevinMD is on the other side of the microphone as he's interviewed by cardiothoracic surgeon Philip Ovadia and patient advocate Jack Heald, originally aired on the podcast. He shares his perspective on the social media-health...

Listen to the Episode
Oct. 10, 2022

A pediatrician reflects after a difficult conversation

"There is silence, then the words from the family flow forth. Angry, accusatory, confused, dismissive, worried, ugly, personal. The words cut deeply, and when I pick up the next chart, I feel as though I am still bleeding."  is a pediatrics...

Listen to the Episode