I enjoy buying gifts for people I adore. It’s my love language. I enjoy seeing the smile, joy, or surprise in the eyes of those who receive my gifts. I live for these moments.
There were times when people did not express how much they appreciated my gift, but I could see it in their eyes. It’s not just my wild imagination; it’s because I’m always confident that what I buy …
How my father taught me the true meaning of generosity
It was recently reported that barely 10 percent of U.S. doctors work in rural health care. That number is continuing to shrink, while over 20 percent of the U.S. population lives in rural areas, and more than 80 percent of rural Americans are considered medically underserved.
There are many reasons why doctors, mid-levels, and other health care workers are avoiding rural practice opportunities.
The one I want to focus on today is …
Why doctors increasingly turn away from rural clinical practice
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes!
Join us for an enlightening conversation with Julia Hotz, journalist and author of The Connection Cure: The Prescriptive Power of Movement, Nature, Art, Service, and Belonging. We explore the transformative potential of social …
How social prescribing is redefining patient care [PODCAST]
I didn’t know
when I placed my stethoscope on your chest,
listening,
that I was listening for the last time.
I didn’t know
that you said,
“when the doctor sees me, I will be fine.”
I wish I had held you longer.
If I had known it would be the last time,
I would have listened
to your heart
for a few more minutes.
I am sorry you had to go
too soon.
It still hurts so much when I lose,
and death steals
my patient.
Over …
The unspoken grief of doctors: How losing a patient changes them forever
In January 2022, the medical school curriculum underwent a transformative shift when Step 1, the first of three licensing exams for U.S. medical students, switched from numerical score to a pass/fail (P/F) grading system. Now, with several years of perspective, we can assess the broader implications of this change on medical education. The primary objective of this reform was to alleviate the pressures associated with Step 1 and to …
Did Step 1’s pass/fail switch actually increase medical student burnout?
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes!
Epigenetics is transforming our understanding of fertility. In this episode, fertility specialist Dr. Oluyemisi (Yemi) Famuyiwa joins us to explore how lifestyle factors like diet, stress, and environmental exposures influence gene expression through …
How lifestyle choices today could impact your future family’s fertility [PODCAST]
Prologue: a life forged in resilience
If you had asked me in the early days of my life where I thought I would end up, my answer would have been straightforward—a career in medicine like my mother, a family of my own, and perhaps a path well-traveled. But life rarely follows the lines we draw for it. Instead, it takes unpredictable turns, tests our strength in ways we never expect, and …
Resilient heart: a journey through medicine and life
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will likely be the next Secretary of Health and Human Services. He has said things that are not true about vaccines, autism, raw milk, and more that we do not have to list here. Furthermore, I do not want to waste time with facts about his opinions. The health professionals who are reading this essay already know that RFK Jr.’s opinions are not supported by facts.
If …
Is the Goldwater Rule hindering us?
Life has a way of teaching us through the most unexpected experiences, often in moments that feel daunting. I reflect on this often, especially when I consider my own journey—a journey shaped by illness, loss, inspiration, and a constant hunger for knowledge. One lifetime can feel too short to absorb everything there is to learn, yet the most meaningful lessons often emerge in this brevity.
As a child, I never imagined …
How life’s biggest lessons shape us: a journey through struggle, loss, and resilience
The withdrawal of Oxbryta (voxelotor) from global markets, announced by Pfizer after a recent data review revealed a rise in deaths and complications, has left sickle cell disease (SCD) patients in a precarious situation. The sudden nature of the announcement caught the patient and physician community off guard, as there was no prewarning. For an already narrow world of options available to people with sickle cell disease, this came as …
Navigating patient transitions following the withdrawal of Oxbryta
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes!
Join us in this episode as we explore the story of a medical student who redefined her career path after a pivotal moment of self-discovery and patient insight. Our guest, Janet A. Jokela, …
Patient insights can shape your career in unexpected ways [PODCAST]
American health care is broken. There are decades of literature detailing the physician shortage, burnout, moral injury, administrative bloat, devaluing of physicians, the shift from fee-for-service to real value unit (RVU)–based compensation, as well as the challenges of electronic medical records. No discernible and substantive changes have been made.
Coming from a health care family, I was familiar with the challenges I would face as a physician. My father, John Denman, …
How one health care family is using fiction to inspire real change in medicine
As someone working in the health care field, I have become all too familiar with the need for early intervention and how important it can be for a child’s overall progress.
There are parents who travel to larger states in search of better medical care and services, of which early intervention is a significant one. One particular case comes to mind, where Spanish-speaking parents sought early intervention for their daughter, but …
The urgent need for better early intervention programs
As I lay abandoned on a stretcher in the hallway of my university hospital’s emergency room, I felt powerless in my ability to improve the quality of my care. Nurses bustled back and forth between patient rooms, too busy to give me the attention I deserved. My bladder was getting painfully full, but I was too weak to get up to use the restroom and unable to find anyone I …
Top-down hierarchies in health care harm patients and health care workers alike
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes!
We sit down with psychiatrist Morgan Hardy to explore the complex rise in adult ADHD diagnoses. Morgan shares insights on the growing demand for ADHD evaluations, the impact of social and environmental factors, …
Diagnosing ADHD in adults: Understanding the risks and rewards of treatment [PODCAST]
A patient came to see me recently (all my stories start like this: “A patient walked into the room…,” akin to “A guy walked into a bar…”), and she was so embarrassed to be there. That’s not uncommon for me. What was unusual was that she refused to talk about her bowel habits. She couldn’t say what her symptoms were or what her poop looked like. To her, it was …
Why your doctor wants you to talk about poop — and it could save your life
Disclaimer: This is a broad generalization meant to spark reflection. While no one perfectly fits into generational boxes, these insights are designed to explore how each age group navigates the evolving world of artificial intelligence (AI).
Generation Z (born 1997–2012): the digital natives
How they see AI: AI is like oxygen for Gen Z—essential, omnipresent, and often unnoticed. Growing up with smartphones, streaming algorithms, and social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram, …
How each generation sees AI: a reflection on adaptation
The state of mental health care in the U.S. is dire, and with the telehealth prescription waivers projected to expire at the end of the year, it’s only going to get worse. If a temporary extension is granted, we can leverage technology and present data for clearer decisions moving forward, if it is not, we are leaving patients and clinicians without a clear understanding of how to care for their …
How we can safeguard patients without restricting telehealth access
With sixteen years of experience working with dermatology residents, my role as a program coordinator has evolved immensely. Within the auspices of graduate medical education (GME), I manage the dermatology residency program, projects, and program budgets, assist in determining policies and procedures, and work closely with the program director with any and all directives given. I guess you could say that I am the person who makes sure residents “get …
Ways that one can succeed in dermatology residency: words of wisdom from a program coordinator
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes!
We’re joined by Anand Parekh, internal medicine physician and author of Prevention First: Policymaking for a Healthier America. We dive into the lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic, exploring the pivotal role of prevention …
Why prevention is the missing link in health care policy [PODCAST]
Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.
