The Podcast by KevinMD

Anti-Asian racism and how bystander intervention training can save a life

17 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"Doctors undergo mandatory training sessions in medical school to prepare for unexpected medical emergencies. Health care workers are mandated reporte...

What you need to know about the updated benzodiazepine boxed warning

16 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"The FDA recommended an updated boxed warning and standardization of product labels across the drug class. They recommended judicious prescribing and ...

A message to medical doctors who are unhappy with their careers

15 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"This is a message to any medical doctor who is unhappy with their career. The individual reasons for this dissatisfaction will vary. Whatever the iss...

Is health care a right or privilege? The economic consequences of that answer.

14 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"American medicine is facing an identity crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic brought renewed attention to socioeconomic health disparities and turned up the...

What clinicians need to know about clinical trials

13 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"Before COVID-19, clinical research was a little-known part of health care. Despite this process being responsible for determining the safety and effi...

Medical facilities: Please keep your immune-deficient patients safe

12 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"I have a form of genetic primary immunodeficiency and several heart issues, among other things. I know that I need to be far more vigilant than someo...

How to raise tenacious and resilient children

11 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"For thousands of generations, parents, relatives, and the extended community raised and prepared children to become successful adults, to acquire kno...

Huntington's disease and a patient's perspective on genetic testing

10 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"When I was diagnosed as gene-positive for HD, just over ten years ago, there wasn't anything promising on the horizon in terms of a cure. It has only...

How deep mindset work helped me find the courage to make my career transition

09 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"I've been semi-retired in clinical medicine for almost four years now. Initially, I found myself coaching burned out physicians: Helping them recover...

A plea for help from the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic

08 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"This plea for help is on behalf of every hospital worker who has been on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic — from the environmental services...

COVID in Pakistan: a physician's story

07 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"The right choice of words, at the right time, can lift a person out of despair and literally save a person's life, while an ill-chosen word, or worse...

How to pay for women in medicine programs

06 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"'That's great. You want to start a women in medicine program! How are you going to pay for it?' This is the most common question and potential barrie...

Dying of loneliness: the COVID-19 epidemic in children and adolescents

05 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"We know the ER's revolving door will continue to spin for so many children and adolescents who seek help in the heat of their personal crisis. Some w...

Meet the physician who educates patients with cartoons

04 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Listen to psychiatrist Emily Watters' work with the homeless population and how she got her start writing cartoons, educating patients using out-of-th...

Let's talk about vanishing twin syndrome

03 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"For the folks who are either physicians or becoming care providers, I hope you choose to familiarize yourself with this odd yet common form of loss. ...

To the patient who wants to die: a psychologist's perspective

02 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"I often think about how I can make you see these things about yourself that others see. I think about the ways I can tell you that things will get be...

COVID vaccines' tragic dance

01 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"As a species, we have been an abject failure in dealing with a worldwide crisis. We politicize things for money, political reasons and some kind of w...

Bloated notes are a huge problem and a time suck

30 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"From a charting standpoint, the sins of commission easily outnumber the sins of omission. Our group's progress note template begins with a summary th...

Pediatric patients need appropriate pain management after surgery

29 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"We believe optimal postoperative pain management should provide adequate pain relief, minimize adverse effects, and reduce chances of drug misuse. Wh...

What you need to know about Ehlers-Danlos syndrome patients

28 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"The symptoms of EDS aren't limited to the musculoskeletal system and commonly affect everything from hearing and vision to integumentary issues such ...

Weight gain during the pandemic: An obesity medicine specialist explains

27 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"The impact of the pandemic on the lives of Americans will be felt for years, if not generations, to come. This includes its alarming effect on health...

How to keep your optimism in medicine

26 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"Interviewing for medical schools was intense, excruciating, and terrifying. Despite the difficult questions, there are three that stand out to me. Th...

Attention mid-career physicians: Let's find our ikigai

25 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"Mid-career colleagues: it's time to go back to the future. Time to learn again. Time to build professional and social networks at work. Take a lunch ...

Unmasking the faces of COVID: pages from a neurologist's diary

24 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"COVID was ominously not only drowning people in their own spit but struck in different shades to alter human personality that kept helplessly getting...

Physicians and the midlife dip

23 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"We all go through our early lives in the S-curve of our medical education–college, medical school, residency, early practice. As you reach the mast...

Malpractice claims from the COVID-19 pandemic

22 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"We won't know until 2022 or later whether there will be an increase in claims related to the pandemic. When a medical error occurs, it's not like an ...

Love is the strongest medicine

21 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"We know this is true in our hearts and minds, but we also know it to be true in documentable terms. Studies have proven that strong, empathic engagem...

Why doctors are such bad investors and how real estate can help

20 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"How do we combat all these beliefs that can make doctors into bad investors? I have a few thoughts. First of all, don't panic. Most of us are indeed ...

Health care leaders' roles in pandemic recovery: Caring for caregivers

19 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"These are extraordinary times. Leaders have the opportunity to seize the day, to lean into this turning point in health care delivery, to drive organ...

Physicians need growth days

18 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"We can move from being a reactor to creator. Creators think of the future and make it start happening today. Reactors are just dealing with the crisi...

Our extraordinary lungs' power and fragility

17 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"With the obvious accounted for, we turned to the obscure, the area of medicine where judgment and experience come into play. Fortunately, we received...

Advice from graduating medical students to new ones

16 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"We need you to join the ranks of this time-honored profession with new eyes and determined minds and eyes that see medicine's problematic foundations...

In memory of Bernard Lown

15 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"Ever the teacher, the Dr. Lown we knew modeled 'The Lost Art of Healing' (the title of one of his books) in the clinic, the laboratory, and the halls...

Why it's time to split the autism spectrum

14 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"Legislative advocacy has become difficult for the severe autism population since the DSM-5 lumped Asperger's syndrome with autism spectrum disorders ...

Estate planning mistakes for physicians to avoid

13 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"My thoughts immediately went to the tragic loss of one of my best clients, a physician who recently passed away after battling COVID-19. I remember h...

Teaching young children about the existence and acceptance of LGBTQ people

12 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"Even though there has been a lot of progress, LGBTQ youth are still struggling with discrimination. I am disheartened that 40 percent of LGBTQ youth ...

It's time to reframe second victim syndrome

11 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"Taking control of distress is done by embracing the concept of 'mental fitness.' Being mentally fit enables one to overcome the negative emotions tha...

What I learned from stepping away from medicine for a year

10 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"Before COVID-19, I left the practice of medicine for what would turn out to become an entire year. While away, I found a new way of seeing our hearts...

Don't be the patient that says these words

09 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"Don't be the patient that says: 'Doc, just tell me what to do …' Instead, you should ask for information to empower yourself to make decisions abou...

A transplant physician faces facts about his career

08 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"Continuing to do this work the way I was doing it was not sustainable. I needed to get off the merry-go-round. I just didn't know how. I didn't think...

How AI technologies improve the patient experience

07 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This episode is sponsored by the Dragon Ambient eXperience at Nuance. The exam of the future has arrived with clinical documentation that writes itsel...

Artificial intelligence, COVID-19, and the future of pandemics

06 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"Machine learning is only as good as the information provided to train the machine. Models trained on partial datasets can skew toward demographics th...

Blockchain in health care and in your portfolio

05 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"The future of health care will be focused on prevention rather than focused on performing excessive medical treatments, diagnostic tests, and procedu...

Patient satisfaction through a hospitalist lens

04 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"In addition to leaking private information to an unauthorized individual who just happened to ask for Ms. Mann by name, Larry commanded Nigel to wors...

An update on prostate cancer treatment

03 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"Even though prostate cancer patients are anxious to receive treatment, they still want to minimize their exposure to anyone outside their COVID bubbl...

Why do physicians fail to focus on their personal finances?

02 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"We need to crawl before we walk and walk before we run. The first step is to establish your why. Why do you want the financial freedom to practice me...

Medicine's contribution to my family

01 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"My children are embarking on their own lives now. While their paths are not taking them into medicine, I see how medicine has influenced their lives....

Reflecting on COVID-19 and combustion

31 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"Decreasing the burden of combustion material, whether from a cigarette, a power plant, or an engine, will not only pay off now in reducing COVID-19 b...

How I lost sight of my own health care while creating a women's health care company

30 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"My world tumbled upside down. I was managing taking care of three children from home, helping them navigate the realities of our new world while tryi...

Shame and the medical profession

29 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"We can't escape shame. But don't despair, dear reader, because shame resilience can be cultivated. There are mental-fitness skills that can be learne...

My patient called me the N-word

28 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"There were many things to be processed about that event. It happened within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, its disproportional effects on the ...

Bridging business principles with emergency medicine

27 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"We created a core team of individuals from different levels and functions who met daily. This team's purpose was to receive and synthesize department...

Bridging the political divide

26 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"Where do we go from here? Conventional wisdom suggests that we can only transform ourselves. This is why I propose that we attempt to recognize the T...

Social connectedness, volunteerism, and the remedy for COVID fatigue

25 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"Social connectedness is the remedy to the COVID fatigue that is running rampant in the United States. We need to stay connected to those we love. At ...

A panic attack brought on by the stress of medical school

24 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"As I leaned against the pristine wall, my vision suddenly dimmed. Everything turned gray. I gulped for air. My arms and legs went numb. I felt that d...

Go behind the scenes with a pathologist

23 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"Clinicians want specific things from a pathology consultation. They want a short turnaround time and a clear and coherent report, which can be discus...

What to consider when recommending yoga to patients

22 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"Yoga therapy differs from contemporary yoga in that the profession has a defined scope of practice based on educational standards and accreditation r...

A physician hung himself. That could have been me.

21 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"We eventually got the news that Dr. Rathburn had hung himself from one of those beautiful trees that the wind made dance. How sad. It adds to my own ...

A family physician shares her inspiration

20 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"Why else should a person become a doctor? Because there is always something to learn. Because holding someone's hand when they're scared is a profoun...

How this physician created a multi-specialty ambulatory surgery clinic from scratch

19 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"I firmly believe that if physicians leveraged themselves and their knowledge of medicine, there would be no need to for them to undertake ventures in...

Being a private practice pediatrician in a pandemic

18 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"The hospital systems ignored us by putting us lowest on the totem pole for the COVID vaccine.  The pharmaceutical companies overlooked the strains o...

How to leverage social media to combat misinformation

17 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"As members of the health care workforce, we must recognize the crucial role we play in influencing vaccine uptake. With the death toll over rising in...

How mentors changed this physician's life

16 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"Dr. Good's willing intervention and active interest in my development kept me in medical school and led me to become an academic anesthesiologist. Wh...

How switching to psychiatry made me understand suicide far better

15 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"I realized that training in psychiatry would give me the opportunity to understand suicide far better, and hopefully allow me to make a difference at...

Stress in medicine: lessons learned through my years as a surgeon

14 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"Medical professionals face uniquely challenging pressures. Our work itself is extremely demanding, and always has high stakes for those we care for. ...

Being a pediatrician did not prepare me for parenting

13 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"I hope being a parent will now equip me to be a better pediatrician. I hope I can teach them whatever I know about safe sleeping, breastfeeding, and ...

It's never too late for physicians to change directions and land new jobs

12 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"As I approached retirement from medical practice, I had an epiphany to take up writing and attended the Harvard CME course on Writing, Publishing, an...

Solving major substance use disorder treatment gaps during COVID-19

11 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"As if COVID-19 weren't bad enough during the pandemic, another public health crisis – substance use disorder (SUD) – has gone from bad to worse, ...

How 5-star reviews generated over $225,000 in practice revenue

10 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"With my natural affinity for numbers, I analyzed the reviews' precise impact after a few years, and the results were astounding.  The system generat...

What to do when physicians get subpoenaed as witnesses: A forensic pathologist explains

09 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"You're a clinician. You had a patient die under your care, and now your hospital is being sued. You are not named in the lawsuit, but you are being a...

How this physician escaped the system

08 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"If you are happy with where you are in the current system – that is wonderful, continue what you are doing. However, if you are feeling trapped, fr...

Responding to the COVID pandemic: a lesson in coalescence

07 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"When faced with an existential crisis, any organization, as large as a nation or as small as a marriage, will go one of two ways. Either it will bond...

Gender disparities in medicine: How popular literature mirrors society

06 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"Coffee in hand, I decided to try and collect my thoughts. I realized that a large portion of the literature we grew up reading has in many ways tried...

How reviewing medical malpractice claims made me a better gastroenterologist

05 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"When a patient is dissatisfied with his or her care, he or she can consult an attorney, who will enlist a physician 'expert' to determine if a doctor...

Rest in peace, primary care

04 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"The corporatization of medicine has destroyed primary care as a specialty. The primary care physician is supposed to be your go-to doctor, your advoc...

End-of-life conversations: Embrace the responsibility

03 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"For physicians who lack experience in end-of-life counseling, the process can be daunting at the beginning. However, they can be confident that once ...

Falling in love during a pandemic: a medical scribe's story

02 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"Nowadays, I go on long walks through the city alone. I make dinner for one. When I go on bike rides, it's a solo activity. I find comfort in myself, ...

An acupuncturist's take on the doctor-patient relationship

01 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"Every professional I have done the exercise with admitted that their ideal patient was inspired by someone they were close to in their personal life....

What role does the science of complexity play in medicine?

30 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"The science of complexity lays a conceptual foundation for understanding "complex adaptive systems." What all complex adaptive systems have in common...

What medical professionals can do to take climate action

29 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"As health professionals, we have the platform to enact change within our own institutions, as well as local and federal governments. We must elect le...

Our work as physicians and healers is to see the whole patient

28 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"Instead of focusing on one organ system, I want to know everything. The diagnostic challenge is to discern patterns of insults, symptoms, and lab tes...

Physician suicide: We need safe spaces to talk about it

27 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"Suicide is a path, whether fast or slow, that a person chooses to take because of their own reasons. We certainly can never predict suicide or truly ...

My Klonopin withdrawal story

26 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"Our relationship with Big Pharma is a dangerous, nasty, and abusive one, and it can prove to be fatal too. Benzos aren't limited to a specific class,...

Focus medical education on training the whole person

25 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"Had I understood the nature of my struggles and felt permitted and supported in actively addressing them, I would have been more effective, a better ...

Leadership lessons from Dr. Fauci

24 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"Dr. Fauci navigated the delicate balance between his obligation to the American people as one of our most respected physician-scientists and holding ...

A nurse shares her story of sexual assault

23 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"I am a nurse who has worked at a rural hospital. My husband is a board-certified family medicine doctor. In the fall of 2020, I was raped by my massa...

Don't forget about influenza and the lessons learned from COVID

22 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"When the public was made aware of the risk of transmitting the virus and the far-reaching measures of social distancing, closing schools, and lock-do...

Expressing grief through the power of story

21 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"Now the room is silent as if nothing at all occurred. I stand watching the red stain forming on the pristine white sheet, mocking me in my failure. I...

How essential workers cope with COVID

20 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"I really shouldn't complain. I haven't lost my housing or job. I have plenty of food and toilet paper, and so far, no close friend or family have die...

Physician morale and the doctor's voice

19 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"It is dangerously unfortunate that the use of masks has been politicized in many parts of our nation. The Dakotas (or North and South COVID as they w...

PCPs could counter virtual plans by increasing telehealth visits

18 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"If PCPs want to meet the new competition from virtual primary care plans, I suggest that they gradually increase the percentage of their visits that ...

My first end-of-life conversation

17 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"Looking back on these words at the end of my rotation, I understand what I had felt, and I feel confident naming it: the futility of medicine. We can...

Advice to pregnant surgical residents

16 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"Motherhood has been the biggest gamble of my adult life thus far. How was I going to operate for 12-plus hours while 39-weeks pregnant? Where would I...

President Biden's quest for a public option

15 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"COVID-19 disproportionately impacts those with pre-existing conditions, and our health care system leaves one in five Americans with a pre-existing c...

Patients don't need quick diagnoses. They need accurate ones.

14 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"The patient knocking on your door is not your enemy. They're sick. They're scared. They're in pain. They don't know why, and they're hoping for an an...

Meet the orthopedic surgeon who stopped taking insurance and does house calls

13 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"I can tell you what I don't want to do. I don't want to mill through 50 patients a day, mindlessly clicking through EMR checkboxes so an insurance au...

Harness the power of the humanities to counteract burnout

12 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"Humanities can be seen as part of the fabric, society, and culture of human experience. In many ways, they might be seen as the disciplines that make...

In gratitude to our nation's residents

11 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"Most residents are young, often in their mid to late 20s, having spent years ensconced in libraries, research labs, and classrooms learning pathophys...

How to find sparks of joy

10 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"Keep it Simple is a bumper sticker slogan. Life during a pandemic has been anything but simple, and the holiday season presents (not the gift kind) i...

What physicians should know before they're interviewed by the media

09 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"Lights, camera, action! You get a call from your hospital's public relations office asking you to speak to the local news. Even though this isn't you...