The Podcast by KevinMD
Episodes
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...
Physician communication using the tools of a trial attorney
29 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"For twenty years, I defended doctors when they were sued, and now I coach female leaders from all industries on how to advocate for themselves and th...
Omicron: 2 infectious disease physicians on the new COVID variant
28 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to this special episode of The Podcast by KevinMD, where I interview two infectious disease physicians on the COVID Omicron variant. They shar...
Fear of vaccines grows with the need for medical ethics
27 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"While individual doctors have obligations to both the individual and public health, their first concern is their patients. And these decisions have t...
Will the COVID Omicron variant change the world again?
27 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"The variant keeps me up at night a little bit because it has 32 mutations in the spike protein, in contrast to the Delta mutation. But it's not just ...
Grieving our collective loss with compassion
26 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"Cultivating compassion for ourselves and others is a practice in which we release judgment, anger and heal our emotional wounds. We can then move for...
To Aaron Rodgers, from a physician and Packers fan
25 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"Mr. Rodgers, I'm glad you're feeling well. This isn't altogether unsurprising given your younger age and elite physical fitness (though cases in youn...
Ignoring jaw pain comes at too high a price
24 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"The COVID-19 pandemic challenged health care systems and patients' personal economic capacity, leading to approximately six million adults losing the...
A doctor turned Hollywood actor on physicians who struggle with suicidal ideation
23 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"Thanks for gathering today in this anonymous detached space. Since it's unlikely that we'll ever publicly convene in a circle on metal folding chairs...
Should you stay or leave medicine?
22 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"I left my primary care practice earlier this year to focus on life coaching. Why did I leave? Because I wanted to do more and make a bigger impact. I...
Why economics is the best pre-med major
21 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"Economics taught me that I didn't have to culture cells in a dish to do interesting and life-changing work. I built a habit of being inquisitive and ...
Medical gaslighting due to weight stigma and bias: a viral TikTok study
20 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"Disrupting weight stigma and bias in health care starts with calling it out. The power of stories and shared experiences highlights the collective vo...
How to preserve empathy in medicine
19 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"No matter how extensive or well-developed your capacity for empathy may be, you cannot feel empathy for everyone all the time. Whether we're talking ...
How can technology innovation save primary care?
18 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"I believe there is a formula that can reduce the risk of burnout and save primary care, rooted in one key objective: Remove work from primary care do...
A new approach to orthopedic post-operative pain
17 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"My brain is still struggling to comprehend the battle for the status quo a physician faces each day; one who must, by default, be cognizant of the lu...
Black female physicians and the bias against them
16 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"I am a woman of history who stands up and tells the truth, irrespective of what other people say. I remember the words of the late Representative Joh...
Physicians have gone from being heroes to villains
15 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"I am exhausted and sad and disappointed and discouraged. I am losing faith in humanity. Where is the 'love your neighbor as yourself'? Where is the w...
Doctors are humans, not heroes
14 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"The truth is, we were all drowning, alone, and hiding behind the image of perfection. Clearly, each of us secretly thought that the others had it all...
Alternative cryptocurrencies: 5 tips for physicians
13 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"What are altcoins, and should you be investing in them? I cannot speak to whether investing in altcoins is appropriate for you. Altcoins are a highly...
Physicians aren't all hanging in there. And that's OK.
12 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"Go ahead, give yourself permission, summon the compassion and grace you'd bestow on your best friend, and tell yourself, "This is the breadth of the ...
Pamela Wible, MD on physician suicide and medicine's culture of betrayal
11 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"When the medical profession—a career you have pursued for years, a career you love and trust to do no harm does something to shatter the foundation...
Surviving medical school with depression
10 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"I was first diagnosed with major depressive disorder as a preteen after my teenage sister died. I attempted suicide three years later. This would be ...
How this physician built a direct specialty care practice
09 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"I am here to testify that it is possible, and I am not alone in this specialist direct care market. There are other specialists' practices like mine,...
A physician's tribute to nurses
08 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"At the hospital, the nurse is the one who is at the patient's bedside around the clock. When the patient has to go to the bathroom or needs help to s...
Getting messy in the game of health care
07 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"Many patients, doctors, nurses, and health care administrators appear to have a seat on the blimp with little concept of how the game has evolved ove...
A Black physician's perfectionism
06 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
I did not realize I was a perfectionist. I was far from perfect. It was not until I listened to a master class on perfectionism from a physician coach...
Mitigating risks from care during COVID-19
05 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"We have observed that delays in screenings and intervention for patients with certain common chronic conditions can contribute to claims. Now, clinic...
Diagnosis: malformation of a health care system
04 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"The diagnosis is well-established. A cure is within our reach, and the wisest among our practitioners of the healing arts are offering valuable couns...
Professional gay: Charting a career in LGBTQ health
03 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"After much searching, I was fortunate to find a fellowship that though inexperienced in LGBTQ health recognized an opportunity. Faculty and mentors w...
How medical training teaches doctors to be financially unhealthy
02 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"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 w...
How to heal and revitalize our beloved profession
01 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"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...
Family meals' surprising power
31 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"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 regu...
Taking care of yourself during medical school
30 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"Like some insidious conditions, feelings can fester. They can spread like cancer, and sap the spirit of nourishment until it starts to die, riddled w...
I bought into the stigmas about the mentally ill, until I became one of them
29 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"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 spendi...
Tomgirl and tomboy: Rethinking gender stereotypes
28 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"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 t...
I do not want to be resilient
27 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"We all know watching a module on resilience, sitting in a lecture about mindfulness, being told to practice more yoga and breathing techniques does n...
Why now is the time to get patients back to in-person routine care
26 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"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...