Episodes

Practicing anesthesiologist and the physician co-founder of Marit Health Rob Anderson discusses his article "Why can’t finding a doctor job be like Zillow." Rob shares his personal journey through divorce and house hunting, revealing how apps provided the control and privacy missing from his professional life. He contrasts the ease of filtering dates or homes with the invasive reality of medical recruitment, where doctors are bombarded by spam texts and expensive headhunters. The conversation ad...

Fertility specialist Oluyemisi Famuyiwa discusses her article "." Oluyemisi explains that while clinicians often focus on egg quality, the aging of the uterus itself is a frequently overlooked factor in implantation failure. She explores clinical data...

Pediatrician and certified coach Jessie Mahoney discusses her article "." Jessie shares how a personal crisis involving her husband's severe depression forced her to abandon her training in logic and control for a more intuitive approach. She explains...

Vascular surgeon Paula Muto discusses her article "." Paula argues that the government shutdown over health care funding misses the real issue of administrative bloat consuming 75 percent of spending. She explains how corporate consolidation and...

Pediatrician Trevor Cabrera discusses his article "." Trevor explains how choosing the path of an independent contractor allowed him to pay off massive student debt while exploring the country on his own terms. He challenges the misconception that...

Postdoctoral researcher Wei Zhang discusses the article "." Wei explains how peripheral artery disease acts as a silent burden on the "life-highway" vessels of the body and why amputation rates are tragically rising by nearly 9 percent annually...

Nationally recognized psychiatrist, internist, and addiction medicine specialist Muhamad Aly Rifai discusses his article "Why CPT coding ambiguity harms doctors." Muhamad analyzes the landmark case of United States v. Ron Elfenbein, where a federal judge acquitted a physician of fraud charges because the underlying CPT rules were "unquestionably ambiguous." He explains the 2021 changes to Evaluation and Management (E/M) codes and how prosecutors attempted to criminalize reasonable clinical judgm...

Board-certified pediatrician and certified coach Jessie Mahoney discusses her article "." Jessie explains how medical training conditions doctors to view endurance as a virtue and delay their own basic needs for the sake of the profession. She argues...

Physician, author, and health care reform advocate David K. Cundiff discusses his article "." David outlines a transformative plan to replace the fragmented U.S. insurance system with member-owned, nonprofit cooperatives that integrate medical...

Palliative care physician and certified physician development coach Christie Mulholland discusses her article "Why every physician needs a sabbatical (and how to take one)." Christie reveals the harsh reality that while sabbaticals exist on paper, unwritten rules often prevent doctors from accessing this critical recovery tool until it is too late. She shares her personal journey of taking an unsanctioned, unpaid break to combat burnout and how that decision allowed her to return to medicine wit...

Otolaryngologist Alan P. Feren discusses his article "." Alan explores why encounters that patients experience as dismissive or manipulative often stem from communication breakdowns driven by productivity pressures rather than clinician malice. He...

Board-certified internist with a long-standing focus on public health, tobacco control, and preventive care Edward Anselm discusses his article "The economic case for investing in tobacco cessation." Edward reveals that while smoking rates have hit historic lows, 19.5 percent of adults still use tobacco, with significant disparities persisting across race, ethnicity, and income levels. He analyzes why only 6.4 percent of patients receive optimal treatment involving both counseling and medication...

Family physician Kelly Bain discusses her article "." Kelly explains that while doctors are trained to diagnose and treat patients, they are rarely prepared to navigate the complex financial realities of the modern health care industry. She argues...

Psychiatrist Sarah Hollander, clinical psychologist Kelly D. Holder, and physician advocate and physical therapist Kim Downey discuss their article "Joy in medicine: a new culture." Sarah, Kelly, and Kim explore how the culture of medicine must evolve from a system of endurance to one of meaningful well-being. They examine the critical role of medical education in shaping the next generation, arguing that joy is not just an emotion but an alignment of purpose that can be taught and modeled. The ...

Board-certified pediatrician, certified coach, and mindfulness and yoga teacher Jessie Mahoney discusses her article "Pediatrician vs. grandmother: Choosing love over medical advice." Jessie explores the internal conflict she faced between her medical training and her role as a grandmother when her twin granddaughters were born at home. She examines how the physician's impulse to offer risk assessments and warnings can often feel like rejection to loved ones who simply want support. The conversa...

Internal medicine physician Shirisha Kamidi discusses her article "." Shirisha explains why prevention is often more powerful than treatment when addressing conditions like diabetes and hypertension. She shares a real-world example of a patient who...

Leading advocate for airline safety measures to protect food-allergic passengers Lianne Mandelbaum discusses her article "When TV shows use food allergy as murder." Lianne examines the dangerous trend in popular media where severe reactions like anaphylaxis are used as plot devices for violence without consequence. She critiques a recent miniseries that portrays food allergy murder as justified and fears this provides a blueprint for real-world bullying and harassment. The conversation highlight...

Certified coach and medical educator Kathleen Muldoon discusses her article "." Kathleen shares the harrowing personal story of having her social media account disabled when an algorithm mistook compassion for abuse. She explores how online support...

Primary care physician Jerina Gani discusses their article "." Jerina challenges the common narrative that general practice is merely a stepping stone filled with paperwork and low wages. She explains how physicians can unlock scalable income and...

Practicing oncologist, adjunct professor at Duke University, and chief medical officer at AccessHope Yousuf Zafar discusses his article "Remote second opinions for equitable cancer care." Yousuf explains how a patient's zip code often dictates their survival odds despite biology showing that rural and urban patients have identical potential for recovery when given the same protocols. He details how the explosion of precision oncology has made cancer care vastly more complex, leaving community pr...

Physical therapists Ziya Altug and Shirish Sachdeva discuss their article "." Ziya and Shirish explore how the ambiance of a medical office significantly impacts patient anxiety and emotional well-being before treatment even begins. They examine...

Triple board-certified physician in adult and geriatric psychiatry and addiction medicine, and the founder of The Aging Parent Coach Barbara Sparacino discusses her article "Why caring for a parent is hard for doctors." Barbara shares the personal struggle of navigating end-of-life care for her own parents despite her extensive professional training. She explains the "prophet in your own country" paradox where family members often dismiss medical advice from their own relatives. The conversation...

Nationally recognized psychiatrist, internist, and addiction medicine specialist Muhamad Aly Rifai discusses his article "How deprescribing in psychiatry offers a path to safer care." Muhamad explores the growing movement to reduce unnecessary medications in mental health care, a practice that has long been established in geriatrics but is now gaining traction in psychiatry. He describes the "prescribing cascade" where side effects are treated with more drugs, leading to patients feeling trapped...

Palliative care physician and certified physician development coach Christie Mulholland discusses her article "5 things health care must stop doing to improve physician well-being." Christie challenges the pervasive narrative that younger physicians lack work ethic and argues that their boundary-setting is a rational response to an untenable system. The conversation explores why well-being initiatives fail when they are treated as volunteer hobbies without budget or authority. Christie explains ...