The disease of modern medicine: How a sick system is failing physicians

Physician
March 29, 2025

“It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.”
– Jiddu Krishnamurti

The American medical system is ill, and physicians are among its sickest patients. As a dual-boarded physician, an assistant professor of family medicine, and someone who has walked the halls of both academia and clinical practice, I have witnessed firsthand the symptoms of this systemic disease. It is a sickness that manifests in exhaustion, …

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Rebuilding after disaster: lessons in community resilience [PODCAST]

Podcast
March 28, 2025
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Pediatrician Derek W. Moss discusses his article, “How natural disasters reveal resilience and the power of community.” Derek reflects on the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, which flooded his Hendersonville Pediatrics practice and …

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The emergency department crisis: Why patient boarding is dangerous

Physician
March 28, 2025

Last night when I came to work most of the beds in our 31-bed emergency department (ED) were full. There were more than 20 patients either in the waiting room proper or in the chairs that serve as “rooms” behind the triage area.

Much of the problem was the fact that we were boarding patients who were waiting on inpatient beds, psychiatric admissions, or transfer to higher levels of care elsewhere. …

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Physicians are feeling betrayed. How do we protect our peace when health care is under siege?

Physician
March 28, 2025

Many physicians are feeling profoundly betrayed right now.

We dedicated our lives to medicine, science, and healing. We sacrificed. We put our patients first, often at great personal cost.

The current political and public health landscape makes many of us feel disregarded, unheard, and deeply disrespected.

Health care, and we as physicians, feel under siege.

Public health policies are shifting in ways …

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How embracing uncertainty changed my life

Physician
March 28, 2025

I have felt anxious for most of my life.

Born into a poor family, my main goal has always been to become independent enough to support myself without needing to ask anyone for money to meet my basic necessities.

I witnessed my father frequently asking others for help whenever he faced significant challenges that his limited salary could not cover. For instance, he would reach out to people when it came time …

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How to hold ambulance chasers and hired guns accountable for frivolous medical malpractice lawsuits at little to no cost

Physician
March 28, 2025

Until now, when a lawsuit is frivolous, once a doctor who is the defendant prevails, the case concludes. However, there is a next step. Whether it is taken depends on this doctor.

Prevailing means there is 95 percent confidence that the lawsuit is frivolous. Not every frivolous lawsuit is malicious; however, every malicious lawsuit is frivolous. Malice is actionable.

As of now, malicious prosecution cases are difficult and expensive to prove because …

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Mastering the language of medicine [PODCAST]

Podcast
March 27, 2025
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Pediatric neurologist Paige Kalika discusses her article, “Learning the language of medicine: from student to fluent physician.” Paige compares mastering medicine to learning a language, from grasping basic vocabulary like anatomy to …

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The hidden bias young female physicians face every day

Physician
March 27, 2025

This story is dedicated to all my female friends in medicine.

Didi does not love her job. What started as a noble purpose of helping people made her feel as though she has become a glorified customer service representative. She focuses on her Hippocratic oath, all right. She’s an internist in her 30s, seeing about fifteen to twenty patients per day, and she’s fed up with the sense of disrespect.

It does …

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Adapting to survive: lessons from Blockbuster for primary care

Policy
March 27, 2025

Blockbuster was once a dominant force in the video entertainment industry, with thousands of stores and near-total market control. However, when digital streaming services emerged, Blockbuster was slow to respond, dismissing Netflix as a passing trend. By the time it recognized the shift in consumer preferences, it was too late – the company collapsed, unable to compete in the new era of on-demand entertainment.

Health care, particularly primary …

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Why doctors love AI scribes—and the risks they bring [PODCAST]

Podcast
March 26, 2025
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Urologist David Canes discusses his article, “Why AI scribes are changing medicine and the hidden risks you must know.” He shares insights from using AI scribes in over 3,000 clinical encounters, noting …

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How corporate greed and politics are destroying health care

Policy
March 26, 2025

In past decades, physicians practiced medicine. The majority were dedicated to patient well-being. They were paternalistic and decided what was in their patients’ best interests, and patients generally trusted their judgments. In the 1970s, ethicists concluded that patients and clinicians should make treatment decisions jointly. This position has been championed since then, despite multiple surveys demonstrating that more than 50 percent of patients prefer their physicians to be the decision-makers. …

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The silent grief of vanishing twin syndrome: Why words matter in health care

Conditions
March 26, 2025

Pregnancy loss is always a deeply personal and often devastating experience, but for those who experience vanishing twin syndrome (VTS)—where one twin or multiple fetuses are lost during pregnancy—the loss can be uniquely isolating. Unlike a traditional miscarriage, VTS is often discovered incidentally during an ultrasound, leaving many patients to process their grief in the absence of clear guidance, emotional support, or even acknowledgment from their health care providers.

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Normalizing male plastic surgery in Africa

Conditions
March 26, 2025

Aloma Isaac Junior, a Nigerian comedian popularly known as Zicsaloma, recently underwent rhinoplasty. This intervention exposed deep-rooted biases about masculinity, beauty, and body autonomy in Africa. Instead of curiosity or support, his decision was met with mockery, outrage, and accusations of self-hate.

This backlash reveals a cultural blind spot. Plastic surgery is often seen as an indulgence for women, while men are expected to accept their looks as they are. Medical …

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Protecting immigrant families: a pediatrician’s call to action [PODCAST]

Podcast
March 25, 2025
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Developmental pediatrician Fiorella Castillo discusses her article, “Advocating for immigrant children: a doctor’s perspective.” Fiorella shares her firsthand experiences supporting immigrant families as they navigate developmental disabilities like autism and ADHD in …

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The hidden cost of a medical career: Is it still worth it?

Education
March 25, 2025

In her KevinMD article, Janet Constance Coleman-Belin describes the overwhelming difficulties increasingly being seen by many during their medical education and now facing many more of our young, bright minds as they choose and migrate into their future life’s work.

I suggest that a majority of these difficulties are pressures witnessed and felt as these students begin to enter clinical workplaces—the same pressures being experienced by …

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The FDA’s outdated prescription rules are failing women and opioid users

Meds
March 25, 2025

An excerpt from Your Body, Your Health Care.

Tens of millions of American women—more than four out of five women who have had sexual intercourse—have used oral contraceptives, which are crucial for reducing unwanted pregnancies and the incidence of abortion. Obtaining a physician’s prescription can add up to $200 plus time and inconvenience to the cost of “the pill.” Nearly a third of American women who seek prescriptions for oral …

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Big pharma’s grip on health care: time for change

Meds
March 25, 2025

Everyone seems so scared of the word government regulation when it comes to health care. Why? In part, this is because those against regulations (everyone making money off health care) make sure to scare laypeople into equating such action with socialism. Fear of concept is not a good argument against regulating monopolies that are bankrupting millions of Americans. Pretty sure most Americans would be happy to have limitations placed on …

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Transforming patient care with motivational interviewing [PODCAST]

Podcast
March 24, 2025
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Gastroenterologist Steven Pearce, health care consultant Bruce A. Berger, and physician advocate Kim Downey discuss their article, “How motivational interviewing transforms patient care and outcomes.” They explore the transformative power of motivational …

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The power of forgiveness: How letting go transforms your life

Physician
March 24, 2025

Just imagine when you felt hurt or betrayed by a colleague, patient, staff member, friend, or family member. Now, picture life if you could somehow free yourself of that hurt, pain, or discomfort. This article will discuss the concept of forgiveness and how it applies to our medical practice.

Examples of forgiveness

A white male racist burned down a predominantly African American church. The arsonist was convicted and sentenced to prison. He …

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