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Drugs and prescribing

The AI innovation-access gap in medicine

Artificial intelligence has transformed pharmaceutical science more rapidly than any other part of health care. AI can now: Identify molecular targets faster than human researchers Compress early discovery timelines from years to months Simulate how millions of compounds might behave…

Artificial intelligence has transformed pharmaceutical science more rapidly than any other part of health care. AI can now:

  • Identify molecular targets faster than human researchers
  • Compress early discovery timelines from years to months
  • Simulate how millions of compounds might behave in the body
  • Predict toxicity or poor efficacy before a drug is ever synthesized
  • Help design personalized therapies built on real-world clinical data

Recent analyses in Drug Discovery Today and …

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The AI innovation-access gap in medicine

The Podcast by KevinMD

Leadership buy-in is the key to preventing burnout [PODCAST]

Physician advocate and physical therapist Kim Downey and counselor Shari Morin-Degel discuss their article, "Why burnout prevention starts with leadership." Shari shares her personal journey from a trauma-exposed mental health professional to a burned-out leader who initially expected her team…

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Physician advocate and physical therapist Kim Downey and counselor Shari Morin-Degel discuss their article, “Why burnout prevention starts with leadership.” Shari shares her personal journey from a trauma-exposed mental health professional to a burned-out leader who initially expected her team to just “push through.” The conversation highlights how she reached …

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Leadership buy-in is the key to preventing burnout [PODCAST]

Conditions and diseases

A daughter’s reflection on life, death, and pancreatic cancer

She was a rocker. She loved the Doors, Pink Floyd, Mick Jagger, Led Zeppelin, and Bob Dylan. She led a quiet life growing up. She was the "invisible child" among her siblings. They all had their labels in this household.…

She was a rocker. She loved the Doors, Pink Floyd, Mick Jagger, Led Zeppelin, and Bob Dylan.

She led a quiet life growing up. She was the “invisible child” among her siblings. They all had their labels in this household.

Progressively moving up the executive ladder as her daddy deteriorated (no longer a functional alcoholic), her mommy was distant and negligent and tended to care only for herself: designer clothes, perfect hairdo.

Mary …

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A daughter’s reflection on life, death, and pancreatic cancer

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Conditions and diseases

What to do if your lab results are borderline

Every week in clinic, I meet patients who carry lab results like heavy burdens. Their cholesterol is "slightly high," their thyroid level is "borderline," or their blood sugar is "just above normal." They arrive anxious, wanting certainty: Do I need…

Every week in clinic, I meet patients who carry lab results like heavy burdens. Their cholesterol is “slightly high,” their thyroid level is “borderline,” or their blood sugar is “just above normal.” They arrive anxious, wanting certainty: Do I need treatment? Am I sick?

The truth is, much of medicine exists in the gray zone (values that are not clearly normal, but not clearly dangerous either).

What the research tells us

Borderline numbers …

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What to do if your lab results are borderline

Conditions and diseases

Direct primary care limitations for complex patients

All of the arguments for direct primary care (DPC) from a provider perspective are valid. As a psychotherapist and psychoanalyst, I have essentially run a direct care practice for the last 15 years. I don't accept insurance and see patients…

All of the arguments for direct primary care (DPC) from a provider perspective are valid. As a psychotherapist and psychoanalyst, I have essentially run a direct care practice for the last 15 years. I don’t accept insurance and see patients as often and for as long as therapeutically necessary. So when DPC practices started rising in popularity, I was excited to try it. Unfortunately, as a patient who is medically …

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Direct primary care limitations for complex patients

The Podcast by KevinMD

Understanding the unseen role of back-to-school diagnostics [PODCAST]

Health care executive Kevin King discusses his article, "How to stay safe from back-to-school illnesses." Kevin explains why the return to classrooms often triggers a surge in respiratory illnesses (like the flu, COVID-19, and RSV) and how diagnostic tests are…

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Health care executive Kevin King discusses his article, “How to stay safe from back-to-school illnesses.” Kevin explains why the return to classrooms often triggers a surge in respiratory illnesses (like the flu, COVID-19, and RSV) and how diagnostic tests are a critical tool for managing them. He highlights how rapid …

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Understanding the unseen role of back-to-school diagnostics [PODCAST]

Conditions and diseases

Public violence as a health system failure and mental health signal

On a winter evening in Taipei, random violence erupted across two of the city's busiest metro stations. Within minutes, lives were lost, dozens were injured, and a familiar cycle followed: shock, fear, calls for more security, and questions about public…

On a winter evening in Taipei, random violence erupted across two of the city’s busiest metro stations. Within minutes, lives were lost, dozens were injured, and a familiar cycle followed: shock, fear, calls for more security, and questions about public safety. But for those of us in health care, this should not be framed as a failure of policing alone. It should be recognized for what it truly is: a …

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Public violence as a health system failure and mental health signal

Physician finance

Physician asset protection: a guide to entity strategy

A few years ago, I met a talented internist who had been practicing for 15 years. She owned a small clinic, worked long hours, and ran a thriving patient base, but when we reviewed her financials, I realized she'd been…

A few years ago, I met a talented internist who had been practicing for 15 years. She owned a small clinic, worked long hours, and ran a thriving patient base, but when we reviewed her financials, I realized she’d been paying far more in taxes and taking far more risk than she needed to.

Her response was one I hear often: “Clint, I’m not a businessperson; I’m a doctor.”

It’s a mindset …

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Physician asset protection: a guide to entity strategy

Conditions and diseases

Understanding factitious disorder imposed on another and child safety

Factitious disorder imposed on another (FDIA), formerly known as Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSBP), represents one of the most egregious and dangerous forms of child maltreatment encountered in clinical practice. Although terminology has evolved, the core phenomenon described decades ago…

Factitious disorder imposed on another (FDIA), formerly known as Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSBP), represents one of the most egregious and dangerous forms of child maltreatment encountered in clinical practice. Although terminology has evolved, the core phenomenon described decades ago remains unchanged: A caregiver, most often the mother, intentionally fabricates, exaggerates, or induces illness in a child to meet psychological needs. The child suffers not only from the caregiver’s direct …

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Understanding factitious disorder imposed on another and child safety

Physician voices

Physician grief and patient loss: Navigating the emotional toll of medicine

"Doc, I've seen enough doctors. I only trust you. I want you to do my knee replacement and fix my heart." I heard the conviction in his voice when I heard these words from this patient. Sitting across from me…

“Doc, I’ve seen enough doctors. I only trust you. I want you to do my knee replacement and fix my heart.”

I heard the conviction in his voice when I heard these words from this patient. Sitting across from me was a 76-year-old army veteran I had cared for over two decades. He had seen multiple specialists, endured countless consultations, and, in the end, he wanted me, the physician who had …

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Physician grief and patient loss: Navigating the emotional toll of medicine

Conditions and diseases

Joy in medicine: a new culture

Kelly D. Holder, PhD, and I first met at the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes Foundation Health Care Worker Well-Being Day in Washington, D.C., where she was a presenter. I was impressed with Kelly's work, focusing on helping health care professionals…

Kelly D. Holder, PhD, and I first met at the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes Foundation Health Care Worker Well-Being Day in Washington, D.C., where she was a presenter. I was impressed with Kelly’s work, focusing on helping health care professionals and leaders co-create a culture of well-being, which is so critical in medicine today.

This resonates deeply with Sarah Hollander, MD’s belief that the culture of medicine must change, starting in …

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Joy in medicine: a new culture

Medical education

Is medical school culture replacing academic rigor?

Medscape recently released a report entitled, "A Constant Evolution: The Unique Culture of Medical School: Medscape 2025 Report." The report's underlying premise is that a warm, welcoming, and supportive culture in medical school allows students to not only "survive" their…

Medscape recently released a report entitled, “A Constant Evolution: The Unique Culture of Medical School: Medscape 2025 Report.” The report’s underlying premise is that a warm, welcoming, and supportive culture in medical school allows students to not only “survive” their training, but to truly “thrive” in their educational journey.

What defines medical education today

Yet, reading between the lines, this emphasis on “culture” and environment also poses a very different question: …

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Is medical school culture replacing academic rigor?

Health policy

Understanding alternative drug funding programs

As elected officials and citizens brace for the possible expiration of federal subsidies for health insurance premiums, many wonder if there are alternatives to the confusing rebate/copay/deductible/premium drug coverage word salad (see: PSAOs, GPOs, NADACs, ASOs, MLRs, AWPs, WACs, U&Cs,…

As elected officials and citizens brace for the possible expiration of federal subsidies for health insurance premiums, many wonder if there are alternatives to the confusing rebate/copay/deductible/premium drug coverage word salad (see: PSAOs, GPOs, NADACs, ASOs, MLRs, AWPs, WACs, U&Cs, MACs, BERs, GERs, DFERs, GDRs, NDCs, DIRs, and ERISAs).

Just because patients don’t understand the opaque layers/players behind the drug procurement affordability crisis, doesn’t mean that lawmakers do, say experts (which …

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Understanding alternative drug funding programs

The Podcast by KevinMD

A pediatrician’s reckoning with applied behavior analysis [PODCAST]

Developmental-behavioral pediatrician Ronald L. Lindsay discusses his article, "A pediatrician’s reckoning with behavior therapy." He shares his profound professional and personal pivot, moving from a decades-long focus on measurable goals to understanding the deep trauma and harm caused by applied…

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Developmental-behavioral pediatrician Ronald L. Lindsay discusses his article, “A pediatrician’s reckoning with behavior therapy.” He shares his profound professional and personal pivot, moving from a decades-long focus on measurable goals to understanding the deep trauma and harm caused by applied …

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A pediatrician’s reckoning with applied behavior analysis [PODCAST]

Physician voices

Is primary care becoming a triage station?

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Let's discuss primary care. That's primary care, as in P-R-I-M-A-R-Y C-A-R-E. Why the emphasis? Because I believe high-quality primary care is the bedrock of a well-functioning health care system. Because I believe access to primary care is a marker of…

Let’s discuss primary care. That’s primary care, as in P-R-I-M-A-R-Y C-A-R-E.

Why the emphasis?

  • Because I believe high-quality primary care is the bedrock of a well-functioning health care system.
  • Because I believe access to primary care is a marker of a healthy nation.
  • Because I believe quality primary care can save lives, extend lifespan and healthspan, and importantly:
  • Because I believe quality primary care can reduce health care costs.

Sadly, I don’t …

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Is primary care becoming a triage station?

Physician voices

Violence against physicians and the role of empathy

It was past 7 p.m. when I finally reached home after another long day in the outpatient oncology clinic. My mind still echoed with the day's stories: patients fighting pain, families clinging to hope, and the small victories that made…

It was past 7 p.m. when I finally reached home after another long day in the outpatient oncology clinic. My mind still echoed with the day’s stories: patients fighting pain, families clinging to hope, and the small victories that made the exhaustion feel almost worthwhile. There was emotional fatigue, but also peace.

Then I opened WhatsApp. The headline jolted me: “Doctor in Chennai stabbed by patient’s son after mother’s death.” He …

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Violence against physicians and the role of empathy

Health policy

The impact of policy cuts on ableism in health care

I am a disabled doctor. Being in residency, where many of my peers are young and able-bodied, I entered medicine with extensive experience on the other side of the examination table. I also entered medicine wanting to emulate the best…

I am a disabled doctor. Being in residency, where many of my peers are young and able-bodied, I entered medicine with extensive experience on the other side of the examination table. I also entered medicine wanting to emulate the best of the care I received, and minimize the worst.

Over time, I have met more and more doctors like me who struggle with temporary or permanent disability. I see how systems …

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The impact of policy cuts on ableism in health care

Drugs and prescribing

How deprescribing in psychiatry offers a path to safer care

America learned to add medications. Add one for sleep. Add one for nausea from the first. Add one for weight gain from the second. Add a second antidepressant when the first loses effect. Add a stimulant when a mood stabilizer…

America learned to add medications. Add one for sleep. Add one for nausea from the first. Add one for weight gain from the second. Add a second antidepressant when the first loses effect. Add a stimulant when a mood stabilizer slows a teenager down. Add an antipsychotic when anxiety erupts in the clinic room. Add a statin because a lab number sits outside a guideline range. Patients, however, feel the …

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How deprescribing in psychiatry offers a path to safer care

Conditions and diseases

AI in prior authorization: the new gatekeeper

The denial came back in less than three seconds. A physician had just submitted a renewal for a medication her patient had taken for years, one that kept her stable, out of the hospital, and able to function. She expected…

The denial came back in less than three seconds.

A physician had just submitted a renewal for a medication her patient had taken for years, one that kept her stable, out of the hospital, and able to function. She expected the usual wait time. Maybe an hour. Maybe a day.

Instead, an automated message appeared: “Denied: automated appropriateness determination.”

No reviewer. No rationale. No path for appeal. Only an algorithm, silent, opaque, and …

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AI in prior authorization: the new gatekeeper

The Podcast by KevinMD

Why learning specialists are central to medical education [PODCAST]

Assistant professor of professional practice Adrian Reynolds discusses his article, "What is professional identity formation in medicine?" He explores how a student's frustrated question, "Did I get dumber?" reveals the deep crisis of professional identity formation (PIF) in medical education.…

Listen on Apple Podcasts · Spotify

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Assistant professor of professional practice Adrian Reynolds discusses his article, “What is professional identity formation in medicine?” He explores how a student’s frustrated question, “Did I get dumber?” reveals the deep crisis of professional identity formation (PIF) in medical education. Adrian argues that the role of academic coaches and learning …

Read more…

Why learning specialists are central to medical education [PODCAST]

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