The Podcast by KevinMD
Episodes
Why we should celebrate the Great Resignation
05 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"I see lamenting the Great Resignation. I celebrate it. It's not so much about what people are leaving – but where are they going? What have they em...
Digital apps and sustaining mental health
04 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"Digital mental health apps have increased access to mental health care for people around the world. You can find services that fit your specific need...
A nuanced look at the Tuskegee syphilis study
03 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"The Tuskegee Syphilis Study is widely acknowledged as a violation of ethics today, but the social conditions of the time allowed the grave injustices...
High deductible health insurance is bankrupting Americans
02 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"Regulators should push health savings accounts (HSA) and businesses should offer them. While HSAs are growing, they are still only available to 30 pe...
Stop health care's great resignation
01 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"As the next COVID-19 variant hits our country, I feel a renewed sense of urgency. We need to move faster to invest in an infrastructure that protects...
Diabetes impacts the whole body, but the foot can't be forgotten
28 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"As we know, diabetes is a comorbidity that can cause more severe symptoms in COVID-positive patients. This knowledge, along with the sense that diabe...
Why boundaries should be part of your 2022 physician goals
27 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"Setting boundaries can look like setting a time limit for patient appointments, availability for email responses, the number of shifts worked this mo...
How not to be a broke doctor
26 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"Remember the things that we've discussed as the majority of people are broke. And just because your friends are showing off the 'stuff' things they b...
Opportunities from the coding changes in primary care
25 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"There's a new best practice emerging, one that lets you deliver a high standard of care today but that well-prepares you for a shift to value. We've ...
Pandemic behaviors, dog poop, and the social contract
24 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"It is hard to understand and communicate the uncertainty that comes with evolving science, the changing recommendations as we learn more, the vaccine...
A PSA from a neurologist to the medical community
23 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"Have you ever been to a new city and realized you'd been pronouncing a street or a town name all wrong? Have you ever been from one of those cities a...
I am an ICU nurse. We are drowning.
22 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"Tears and sweat drown my face as I try to rip off my PPE and exit the room. I didn't want to leave him, but I couldn't bear another second in that re...
A milligram of understanding for the vaccine-hesitant
21 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"The starting point is to do our best to approach discussing COVID and vaccination with the appropriate type of empathy and understanding. To understa...
How to convert medical knowledge into digital assets that work for you
20 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"Instead of trading up for a faster horse by drawing in the exam room, it felt like I'd just built a motor car. I created a new workflow around my dig...
Guns, the Supreme Court, and physicians' voices
19 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"When my patients asked me about losing weight, I would say, 'Eat less and exercise more.' I know that it is more complicated than that. There are psy...
How to fix the CDC
18 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"A resurgent CDC is necessary to recapture the vitality of U.S. medical science. A scientific researcher alone cannot do this work. This will also req...
A shout out to small hospitals
17 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"I'm a small-time doc in a small town, and I work at a small hospital in the Midwest, and I'm proud of it. The huge university hospitals (like Clevela...
Danielle Ofri, MD on sharing stories and the emotional epidemiology of disease
16 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"This last mile of the COVID pandemic—Omicron or not—is a painstaking one-on-one endeavor. As is most of primary care. Sadly, we now have to deal ...
Medical-legal consulting as a side gig
15 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"Medical-legal consulting is a great way to use your medical training in a non-clinical field that helps people. I started this field 14 years ago and...
Fund this: Policies can fill medical funding gaps for all
14 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"Instead of trying to earn a spot on a talk show to help a person dealing with costly treatments for illness, perhaps it is best to lobby policymakers...
Autism spectrum disorder and the masks we wear
13 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"In the ongoing saga of the pandemic, there is the debate whether to wear a mask or not. These are physical masks that temporarily hide our face, but ...
Why is Covaxin not in the FDA's toolbox?
12 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"As a clinician who has received two Pfizer doses and a booster without any side effects, I wholeheartedly embrace vaccination to solve this pressing ...
Physician informatics and the chief medical information officer
11 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"At the beginning of my time as a CMIO, I needed to remain clinical to build camaraderie with my colleagues. This proved essential as the health syste...
Never underestimate the self-flagellation of the physician
10 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"Patients die. This is a tragic truism in the world of medicine. Usually, the patients who die are elderly. Patients die from diabetes and kidney dise...
Health care's goal is in peril
09 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"The U.S. health care industry has large challenges that can be overcome if we remember why our systems and services exist. We are here to help patien...
Can medicine transcend beyond the clinic walls?
08 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"Absolutely, there are times when you need to be face-to-face with your patient. Yet looking at the broader picture, COVID-19 has shown us that in man...
Innovation in a rural gastroenterology practice using a farm
07 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"Gastroenterology clinics in rural areas have the unique opportunity to innovate the field by working with local community organizations and farms. Pa...
Why and how to get a second opinion
06 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"In the end, the patient-physician relationship is crucial to overall decision-making for any plan of care, treatment, or surgery. There are many vari...
What shared journeys to the afterlife teach about dying well and living better
05 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"The more I spoke with individuals who had experienced a shared crossing event, the more I also noticed repeating patterns. A woman in West Virginia a...
Is Descovy really the better option?
04 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"As individual patients, we often don't think about these costs. In my Instagram poll, nearly everyone taking Descovy reported receiving the drug effe...
Noah Kaufman, MD on the cryptocurrency market and educating physicians about Bitcoin
03 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Emergency physician and financial planner Noah Kaufman gives a general cryptocurrency market update. He discusses the state of Bitcoin and the impact ...
Bringing the Hippocratic Oath into the venture capital world
02 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"When I came into the business world, I saw a huge spectrum of ethics and am still shocked at how there aren't any standards. Why must one be in a pro...
Why lifestyle medicine is an urgent priority
01 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"Lifestyle medicine's foundational pillars include a specialized look into diet, physical activity, sleep, stress, mood, substance use, and relationsh...
Prioritizing physician wellness: Reducing burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond
31 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"Ultimately, patients need doctors to help them be healthy, and need their doctors to be healthy to help them! Unless interventions are done now, our ...
How physicians can play the hand they're dealt
30 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"Anyone can win at poker when dealt a royal flush. But what can you do when the cards you are dealt don't appear winning at all? My answer: Make the b...
Pay heed to the little life traumas that hit us daily
29 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"Taking stock of all these experiences, I feel like I have no answers. They lead me to a space of unrest and dissatisfaction for not having a pill tha...
When records are wrong, patients are at risk
28 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"Inaccurate patient records aren't just an inconvenience. They're a risk. The EHR might speak for the patient when they cannot speak for themselves, a...
Mental health and the balance between technology and the human touch
27 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"The reality of the last two years is that almost all of us have experienced some mental health disorder symptoms, and that mental and physical health...
Men's health is a catastrophe. Here's how we can help.
26 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"A hundred years ago, women lived one year longer than men, but now they live five years longer than men. And things are getting worse. Currently, the...
Patient surveys: the quest for positive reviews
25 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"Studies show that those physicians with negative online reviews were more often scored poorly due to non-physician specific causes. In my career, I'v...
Lessons in caring too much from a fictional physician
24 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"All the faceless young men who are brought to his operating table, prepped and draped, broken and bleeding, are finding their experience of war bears...
A physician's self-care song
23 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"No matter what, your healing work matters. No one should tell you otherwise, and nothing can change that, not even a shortcoming. You provide healing...
Information overload and physician burnout: a KevinMD panel discussion
22 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to a special episode of The Podcast by KevinMD. In this 60-minute episode, I partner with DrFirst, a pioneer in health IT for over 20 years. W...
Coal mining culture and the opioid crisis
21 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"For me, my own personal stories of opioid patients come to mind, including one who keyed my car when I stopped prescribing his opioid after an acute ...
How advanced analytics can help social determinants of health
20 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"Advanced analytics can provide the insights needed to understand social determinants and help develop interventions that assist patients in overcomin...
What I learned about medicine in the House of Pain
19 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"Guiding kindly illustrates mentorship, whether it be in the dojo or in an academic medical setting. Regardless of one's stage in medical training, ce...
Culinary medicine and why clinicians should garden
18 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"For too long have gardeners allowed our food supply to be dependent on mysterious logistics. We have criminally allowed our own food growing capacity...
Analyzing the deficit of African-Americans in academic medicine
17 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"The lack of diversity in academic medicine is a significant issue that can compromise our patients' health and the education of our training clinicia...
Empathy and decreasing medical liability
16 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"Through empathy-based training, physicians and other health care providers learn the skills to have honest informed consent discussions without causi...
Superheroes can have disabilities, too
15 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"Today, more students are disclosing and speaking out about their disability and how their disability is an asset to their way of learning and what th...
What medicine can learn from the antiwork movement
14 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"The classic thinking has always been that a career in medicine is more than just a job; it is a passion, a calling, an anchor of identity. There is a...
Our patients become an inextricable part of our lives
13 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"The weekend after Isabelle's discharge, I take my shoes outside onto the driveway. The sky is a brilliant blue, and green tinges of leaves poke throu...
How to end the misinformation pandemic
12 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"The way to do this is by recognizing the power of words. I don't mean fervently declaring one's position and arguing why those who disagree are wrong...
Stress: Is it time to expose the alcohol con?
11 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"Stress is just part of the alcohol con trick. And the truth is that every benefit we have ever imagined alcohol giving us it doesn't. It is a drug, a...
Crowdfunding to pay health bills
10 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"Crowdfunding models of paying for health care maximize the probability that all members' eligible bills will be paid in full each month. These models...
Is direct primary care the answer to insurance-based problems?
09 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"Virtually everyone understands the importance of major medical insurance as it relates to unexpected high-dollar care for severe injuries and signifi...
How MRI-guided radiation therapy is changing the paradigm in pancreatic cancer
08 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"The data are remarkable and promising, though beyond the numbers is a bigger picture. Each data point represents a life – a mother, uncle, grandpar...
Anger toward the unvaccinated will only cause more harm
07 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"The unvaccinated patient is the addicted person, the overweight patient, the smoker in the waiting room. Our antipathy toward them endangers their he...
Hello, health care organization leader, are you listening?
06 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"Physicians, nurses, advanced practice providers, medical assistants, and other health care workers are a finite resource. They don't grow on trees. A...
Clearing the air our kids share: a prescription for healthy schools
05 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"Six air changes per hour and HEPA grade filtration of indoor air for our children is an investment in their futures for long beyond when the COVID-19...
With Lynch Syndrome, knowledge alone isn't power
04 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"I imagine I would have, as I'm sure so many others do, headed to the Internet, reading both accurate and inaccurate information. While much of my vis...
I wish it didn't require a cancer diagnosis to trust me
03 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"The medical profession hasn't changed. Our credibility hasn't changed. Our commitment to care for you – to adore you, to grieve your diagnosis and ...
Unsolicited advice from unmatched residency applicants
02 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"When you enter medical school, you put your trust into an unspoken promise: Work hard, pass all your classes, and you'll come out as a doctor after f...
Being naked with other doctors is a profound experience
01 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"I am sitting in hot springs deep in the dark and crisp air woods – naked. It has been a day of lectures and workshops at a retreat with my fellow p...
I will keep my advocacy sword polished and ready
31 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"I recognize that finding time for staff training and making sure the training is effectively practiced are challenges in a busy clinical setting. But...
You are what you click: Transform your social media experience
30 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"Confidence and humility are strongly related, but one arises when we focus on self, and the other arises when we focus on others. However, each attri...
How writing fiction can free physicians
29 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"Physicians can find — or start — writing workshops at medical conferences, or just about anywhere else, at any time. These workshops can become p...
Climate change through the lens of an emergency physician
28 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"The worst part of the climate crisis is that our kids, my kids, may never get to witness the most beautiful parts of our world because they may, and ...
Don't pay off your student loans early
27 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"In 2010, a landmark study from Princeton was published "proving" that money just doesn't buy happiness. Study participants were asked to compare thei...
How to navigate residency probation
26 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"The journey to becoming a physician is generally a linear path. Sure — there are exceptions, but for the most part, you can accurately predict what...
Why storytelling is critical in medicine
25 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"I love stories, either told, written, or listened to. Songs tell stories, as does art. Blogs such as the rich content open so many doors for rich con...
A shift from the medical perspective of disability to a mother's perspective
24 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"In the months just prior to the infantile spasms, as Josephine's mind had begun to develop and grow, so, finally, had my love for her. My lack of aff...
Medical debt is the enemy of everyone
23 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"Medical debt is the mortal enemy of the patient, the physician, the hospital, the community, the state, and the nation. When we think of others' debt...
Protein calorie malnutrition is devastating for patients
22 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"My practice consisted of patients who suffered from serious injuries and illnesses. Concerning the latter, a significant number had cancer, especiall...
How digital therapeutics can improve behavioral health
21 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"To better meet the needs of patients, providers can improve access to treatment and offer more immediate solutions through the use of prescription di...
Women physicians with infertility
20 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"Many of us suffer in silence for myriad reasons. Being a physician with infertility presents a perfect storm of stress, anxiety, guilt, and shame –...
Listening to patients with our eyes
19 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"Patients communicate immense amounts of information through body language. The primary understood, universal body language is choking. Anywhere in th...
Innovation insight and poetry from a physician-technologist
18 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"Medicine is not a business You fools. Healing is your blueprint, activated to complete itself. A doctor does not broker it, The best anyone can do is...
Trevor Bedford on Omicron and what about COVID keeps him up at night
17 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to an expedited episode of The Podcast by KevinMD. Trevor Bedford is a computational biologist and infectious disease scientist, Fred Hutchins...
Don't let the holidays sabotage your weight loss goals
17 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"The holiday season is rapidly approaching, and it is not uncommon for us to gain up to 10 pounds between Thanksgiving and Valentine's Day. But what i...
How this pediatrician handles a distorted concept of reality
16 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"The victims of this now distorted concept of liberty are ones that we physicians encounter every day. The one that inspired this essay for me is an 1...
Changes in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness waiver and its impact on physicians
15 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"The U.S. Department of Education recently announced some major changes to the rules and qualifications around the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PS...
Genetic testing's emotional impact
14 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"Finding out I was gene-positive had hit me harder than I could ever have imagined. How was I to know that my decision to get tested would have such a...
If you're a nurse or an abuse survivor, you don't have to be brave
13 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"I'm not brave. I'm just me. Full of light and lifted by my light. You see, when you strip away the darkness and lies that others surround you with, y...
Monica Gandhi, MD on why hospitalizations better measure COVID's impact
13 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"Some policymakers may be wary of not using case numbers as the primary metric to guide public behavior and policy. As cases become more complex, howe...
A satirical letter to radiologists from a jilted orthopedic surgeon
12 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"We orthopedic surgeons are disappointed with the growing lack of enthusiasm in your reports. When I began in practice almost 15 years ago, it wasn't ...
A COVID and Omicron update with Jeremy Faust, MD
12 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"Right now, I think that people need to understand that this virus is clearly mutating to become more contagious, and that is in its evolutionary best...
"Take it or leave it" is not negotiation but coercion
11 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"Physicians can exert their influence in a health care environment to put the patient-physician relationship at the center of the enterprise. Working ...
Kevin Pho on life as an MD online
10 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this special episode of The Podcast by KevinMD, I'm on the other side of the podcast mic. It was an honor to be interviewed by Jonathan Baktari, M...
An obstetrician recommends midwifery care
09 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"By denigrating midwifery care, pathologizing the natural process of birth, and instilling fear of complications and pain, doctors persuaded women to ...
Personal attacks and sexual harassment of physicians on social media
08 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"This survey study examines the self-reports of personal attacks and sexual harassment of physicians through social media outlets. A total of 108 phys...
How the residency application process has changed forever
08 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"The collective resiliency of the medical education community shone through the challenges of the past year. In medicine, physicians must adapt to all...
A medical student shares a story about language
07 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"My mother screamed. It meant my father needed a doctor — now. But why? We just visited the hospital days before to refill his drugs. He would be be...
To achieve health equity, culturally relevant care must be the standard of care
06 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"Practicing culturally relevant care means we can account for the social determinants of health, barriers to access, and the emotional disconnect that...
Amid powerlessness, reclaim your personal power
05 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"You have more power than you realize. It's no secret that medical providers feel structurally powerless in our chaotic health care system. Control ov...
Instead of focusing on your time, focus on your energy
04 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"I can attest to the tremendous power of simply noticing these rhythms and attending to them. It's part of a larger attempt to live a more authentic l...
Stories of surgery, clarity, and grace
03 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"My mother, bless her ninety-year-old heart, is slowing down. The things that made her happiest — getting to church, visiting friends, taking walks,...
A physician's guide to the best way to invest in real estate
02 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"Institutional real estate private equity funds have dramatically outperformed all other methods of investing in real estate such as syndicated real e...
Bonnie Koo, MD on taking control of your finances and pursuing financial independence
01 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"While much of the conversation around financial independence is tied to the ability to retire early, the real prize is flexibility. I hear a lot of '...
What you don't know about pain will hurt you
30 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"If you treat chronic pain, or are someone living with it, remember this: Changing the brain can change pain. Addressing emotional health directly imp...