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Retiring from medicine felt like someone ate my sins

Vincent A. Keszei, MD

October 31, 2026Oct 31, 2026

I recently retired from practicing medicine after forty-three years, specifically in ophthalmology. Everyone I know seemed to bombard me with the same question: What's it like being retired? I've been thinking about and preparing for this moment for quite some…

I recently retired from practicing medicine after forty-three years, specifically in ophthalmology. Everyone I know seemed to bombard me with the same question: What’s it like being retired? I’ve been thinking about and preparing for this moment for quite some time. In the final days, I saw my last patient, relinquished my license and staff privileges, and completed withdrawal from all insurance plans. My family and I had a small …

Physician retention fails when toxic culture goes unchecked

Tomi Mitchell, MD

October 31, 2026Oct 31, 2026

If every physician in your organization woke up tomorrow with complete financial freedom, how many would still choose to stay? It is a simple question, but the answer could reveal more about your organization than any employee engagement survey or…

Remove the mortgage payments, student loans, family expenses, and financial obligations that keep people working, and what remains? Would physicians still choose to practice in your organization because …

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What kids really get from AI for emotional support

Timothy Lesaca, MD

October 31, 2026Oct 31, 2026

Kate Schweitzer's October 2026 JAMA article examines children's growing use of artificial intelligence and reports that, in a large Ontario survey, over one in five students used AI for emotional support or advice. Of these students, about 58 percent showed…

Kate Schweitzer’s October 2026 JAMA article examines children’s growing use of artificial intelligence and reports that, in a large Ontario survey, over one in five students used AI for emotional support or advice. Of these students, about 58 percent showed signs of emotional problems, compared to 29 percent of those who didn’t use AI. The article explains why chatbots have appeal: they’re easy to access, usually free, and can feel …

Physician finance

Why patient no-shows are really a rescheduling problem

Kyle Morham

October 31, 2026Oct 31, 2026

Specialty practices often treat no-shows as an unavoidable result of patients forgetting, getting busy, encountering transportation issues, or changing their minds. But persistent no-shows may signal problems with the patient experience. Patients can rebook a flight from their phone at…

Patients can rebook a flight from their phone at midnight, yet changing a medical appointment may require a call during business hours. Friction across booking, confirmation, rescheduling, and cancellation can turn inconvenience into a recurring operational problem. For specialty practices, …

Academic medicine does not have a monopoly on excellence

Ronald L. Lindsay, MD

October 31, 2026Oct 31, 2026

For much of my career, I practiced developmental and behavioral pediatrics far from what many people consider the centers of American medicine. Not in Boston. Not in Philadelphia. Not in Baltimore. Not in the academic corridors that dominate medical journals,…

Instead, I practiced in places like Minot, North Dakota; rural Ohio; Appalachia; Peoria, Illinois; and Phoenix, Arizona. Over time, I came to an uncomfortable conclusion: …

Patients hide their food allergy, and few doctors speak up [PODCAST]

October 30, 2026Oct 30, 2026

On a Hulu comedy, a man hides his shellfish allergy from a coworker. When the reaction starts, he takes Benadryl. Lianne Mandelbaum is a food allergy advocate, president of the No Nut Traveler, and airline correspondent for Allergic Living. This…

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Jill Schwartz-Chevlin, MD, MBA

Why is community-based palliative care so hard to get?

October 30, 2026Oct 30, 2026

After my grandmother fell and fractured her cervical spine, she lived another four years thanks to incredible caregivers, family members, and my own home-based primary care practice, which I started because of her. Twelve million patients in the U.S. living with serious illness need, but cannot access, the palliative care that saved, extended, and improved my grandmother’s life.

The U.S. health care system is not set up to support patients …

Menopause and hearing: the missing piece in women’s health

HearUSA

October 30, 2026Oct 30, 2026

Women are encouraged to pay closer attention to their health during perimenopause and menopause. From monitoring changes in sleep, mood, bone density, and cardiovascular health, to having conversations with their health care providers about what to expect, there's one important…

Hearing is fundamental to how we navigate the world, maintain relationships, and participate in our communities. Yet because hearing changes often develop gradually, they …

Physician work-life balance starts with a better structure

Jerina Gani, MD, MPH

October 30, 2026Oct 30, 2026

It's 5:30 in the afternoon. The last patient has left. The waiting room is quiet. The medical assistants are finishing their work, and the exam rooms are empty. But the physician is still sitting in front of the computer. There…

It’s 5:30 in the afternoon. The last patient has left. The waiting room is quiet. The medical assistants are finishing their work, and the exam rooms are empty.

But the physician is still sitting in front of the computer. There are unfinished notes, laboratory results to review, medication refills waiting for approval, and patient messages that require careful clinical judgment.

The physician looks at the clock. There was a promise to be …

A physician’s novel charts a course for health care reform

Paul Pender, MD

October 30, 2026Oct 30, 2026

An excerpt from Jimmy's Story: Forging a New Path for American Healthcare. Looking back, I had submitted my fictional tale, "Standing Vigil 2020," to the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), a premier peer-reviewed professional journal. The NEJM had sponsored…

An excerpt from Jimmy’s Story: Forging a New Path for American Healthcare.

Looking back, I had submitted my fictional tale, “Standing Vigil 2020,” to the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), a premier peer-reviewed professional journal. The NEJM had sponsored a fiction-writing contest, and I had received a terse letter of rejection of my submission. Little did I know at the time of the writing that my grandson would ultimately …

Chronic pain and cognitive decline feed each other

Kayvan Haddadan, MD

October 30, 2026Oct 30, 2026

Chronic pain and cognitive impairment frequently coexist in older adults, creating a self-reinforcing loop that accelerates functional decline, increases disability, and reduces quality of life. More than half of patients in pain clinics report cognitive difficulties, and roughly 45 to 50 percent of people living with dementia experience chronic pain. Longitudinal evidence demonstrates that persistent pain is associated with accelerated cognitive decline and elevated dementia risk. In a large nationally …

Robotic brain surgery sent my patient home within a day

Dr. Homoud Aldahash

October 30, 2026Oct 30, 2026

Robotic surgery is redefining what's possible in medicine, turning once unimaginable procedures into everyday realities that save lives across the globe. When we look at the human brain, with its intricate architecture and concentration of critical structures, operations inside the…

Robotic surgery is redefining what’s possible in medicine, turning once unimaginable procedures into everyday realities that save lives across the globe. When we look at the human brain, with its intricate architecture and concentration of critical structures, operations inside the skull require the utmost delicacy. As a neurosurgeon, I have dedicated over twenty-five years to understanding this complexity, driven by a passion found early in my medical training. This is …

Health technology

How much time do AI scribes really save physicians?

Brian Hudes, MD

October 30, 2026Oct 30, 2026

Doctors report feeling better with AI scribes. The measured time savings are smaller than many of them perceive, and the work of checking the AI is still unpriced. In a 2026 study of 252 physicians in the American Journal of…

Doctors report feeling better with AI scribes. The measured time savings are smaller than many of them perceive, and the work of checking the AI is still unpriced.

In a 2026 study of 252 physicians in the American Journal of Managed Care, 86.5 percent said an AI scribe reduced their documentation time. The authors also measured documentation time directly. They found no significant association between the change a physician perceived and …

Subscriber Spotlight by KevinMD

Lianne Mandelbaum, PT, on food allergy safety: a KevinMD subscriber spotlight

October 30, 2026Oct 30, 2026

Lianne Mandelbaum, PT, is a physical therapist and a leading advocate for airline safety measures to protect food-allergic passengers. She is president of No Nut Traveler, a food allergy nonprofit, and airline correspondent for Allergic Living. She has published 18…

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3 pediatric migraine traps that keep kids in pain

Deb Mojumder, MD, PhD

October 30, 2026Oct 30, 2026

On a recent Monday morning, 13-year-old Maya sat at her family's kitchen table with the blinds pulled shut, shielding her eyes from the sliver of sun cutting across the counter. Her breakfast sat untouched. She pressed both palms into her…

On a recent Monday morning, 13-year-old Maya sat at her family’s kitchen table with the blinds pulled shut, shielding her eyes from the sliver of sun cutting across the counter. Her breakfast sat untouched. She pressed both palms into her temples, dreading the first-period math test she was about to miss.

Her mother, exhausted after months of watching these episodes escalate, spotted a crumpled candy wrapper from the night before. She …

U.S. health care won’t be fixed until everyone can see a doctor [PODCAST]

October 29, 2026Oct 29, 2026

Almost 50 years into practice, a cardiologist says American health care is getting worse by the day. Peter R. Kowey specializes in heart rhythm disorders and ran a cardiology division for 25 years. This episode is based on his article…

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What a penile filler death should teach us about safety

TJ Tsay, MD

October 29, 2026Oct 29, 2026

Igho "Tiny" Ubiribo was forty-three when he died after receiving penile filler injections in Bangkok. My condolences go to his wife and family. As we discuss what happened, I want to be mindful of the pain they are going through.…

Igho “Tiny” Ubiribo was forty-three when he died after receiving penile filler injections in Bangkok. My condolences go to his wife and family. As we discuss what happened, I want to be mindful of the pain they are going through.

His death made headlines because he was known publicly. But the questions it raises matter to anyone considering this procedure. We should be asking the same questions even if this case …