My fourth year of OB/GYN residency there was an essay contest about what it meant to be an advocate for women’s health while preserving your sense of self. I sent a screenshot of the contest to my then-boyfriend, now-husband. He replied, “You want to add something else to your to-do list?” He was joking, but he wasn’t wrong. Just a few days prior, I was hyperventilating from all the things …
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes!
Registered nurse June Pomeroy discusses her article, “How physician obesity affects patient care.” June explores the complex realities of weight bias within the medical field, examining how a physician’s own struggle with …
Introduction
Tay-Sachs disease is a devastating genetic disorder that primarily affects individuals of Ashkenazi Jewish descent, though it is also found among Cajuns in Louisiana and French-Canadians. This fatal condition typically manifests within the first six months of life and leads to progressive neurological deterioration, often resulting in death by age five. As medical science advances, the question arises: Should genetic testing for Tay-Sachs be mandatory for all individuals of reproductive …
For most of my training, I assumed communication was a straight line. Say the thing. The other person hears the thing. Why complicate it? Only much later, in a small seminar room at St. John’s College in Santa Fe, did a tutor named Charlie Fasanaro loosen that idea. He walked us through Euclid the way you might guide a child who is learning to see. I had no sense then …
One of the first questions you’re asked when applying to medical school is: Why do you want to be a doctor? For most, the answer is some version of “I want to help people.” But for me, that was never the real question. It was always “Why do you want to be a pediatrician?”
I’ve known since I was very young that I wanted to work with children. I’ve always loved …
Children often surprise us with the seriousness they bring to a clinic visit. Every so often, when the room feels tense, I turn to a simple question and ask what their favorite toy is. Caregivers smile, and children lean forward with the kind of excitement that only play can spark. In a moment, the atmosphere changes. The room feels lighter, the conversation easier, and the visit begins to unfold with …
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes!
Health care strategist Dana Y. Lujan discusses her article “Why direct primary care (DPC) models fail.” Dana argues that the DPC community’s obsession with “purity” is missing the point, stating that these …
All clinical trials are fueled, in part, by optimism. A trial currently underway in California is fueled by the optimism of one patient in particular, Kayvon Goodarzy.
Despite decades of effort, there has been an abject lack of new approved therapies for glioblastoma (GBM). The standard of care for this deadly brain tumor has been chemotherapy and radiation, to less-than-ideal results. But that might be changing, and it’s all thanks …
“Vaccines do not cause autism.” That statement once anchored public health. The CDC just dismantled it, quietly, strategically, and dangerously.
Presumption reversed, justice subverted
Attorney Lindsey Halligan didn’t misspeak when she claimed James Comey must prove his innocence beyond a reasonable doubt to a Virginia grand jury. She exposed the new doctrine: guilt by accusation, innocence by loyalty. Then she staged a procedural ambush. She bypassed the full grand jury entirely. She …
When the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry released its October 2025 policy statement expanding what counts as valid, evidence-supported autism treatment, it marked a turning point that has been needed for years. For more than a decade, insurance companies pushed a narrow, outdated narrative that applied behavior analysis was the only evidence-based intervention for autism. That narrative was not accurate. It shaped policy, and it left families with …
When the first pandemic lockdowns swept through hospitals, our hallways went silent. The absence of visitors felt practical at first, a necessary shield against viral spread. But weeks turned into months, and that silence began to echo with something deeper: distrust.
I remember walking into a patient’s room to find her eyes fixed on the door. She wasn’t waiting for the nurse. She was waiting for her daughter, the daughter she …
Even the most “affordable” DPC models struggle in lower-income markets because the behavioral economics of these populations create high churn and unstable revenue. Practices that succeed in underserved areas nearly always diversify into employer partnerships, institutional contracts, or expansion into higher-income neighborhoods. Without understanding these behavioral and economic realities, physicians risk building a model the community cannot sustain long-term.
I previously argued that physicians must answer five market questions before …
It happens almost every clinic day. A patient walks in, sits down for their vital signs, and their blood pressure reads higher than expected. Sometimes much higher. Moments later, when I retake it myself after we’ve talked for a few minutes, it’s 20 or 30 points lower.
“But, doctor, I check it at home and it’s never this high!”
They are right. This is the phenomenon of white coat hypertension, blood pressure …
ADVERTISEMENT
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes!
Physician and professional certified coach Chrissie Ott discusses her article “How an insider advocate can save a loved one.” Chrissie shares a terrifying recent story of a friend’s elderly, Spanish-speaking mother who …
When I was a resident, the trauma surgeon was the go-to person for anything complicated. It seemed like they could do everything, and do it well. That’s what drew me to the field. There was a confidence, decisiveness, and scope that made trauma surgery feel like the pinnacle of surgical mastery.
For most of my career, I’ve worked as a trauma and critical care surgeon, from busy academic Level I trauma …
Halfway through a teletherapy session, you notice your therapist pause mid-sentence. They’ve just heard the soft clatter of your keyboard, or seen your eyes flick sideways to a second screen. You’re technically “there” on video, but a work email just popped up, laundry is buzzing, someone’s messaging you, and suddenly the session is sharing space with three other tabs in your brain.
On the therapist’s end, it can feel like talking …
Medicine thrives on structure. Protocols, guidelines, and standards safeguard patient outcomes and reduce error. Yet the same structure that preserves consistency can quietly suppress creativity.
For physicians who dream of improving systems, innovating within such rigid frameworks can feel like trying to work inside a box. But structure and creativity do not have to be opposites. Oftentimes, the struggle lies in how we spark creativity in a system built for safety.
The …
The average KevinMD reader may wonder why I’m so prolific in my commentary on pediatric medicine and the systemic reforms it demands. The answer is simple: I go to the source. Always.
That habit was forged nearly 30 years ago when the American Academy of Pediatrics invited me to serve as contributing section editor for Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics in AAP Grand Rounds. My role: select key studies, critique methodology, and distill bottom-line …
I found a lump at age 32, just four months after a clear clinical breast exam. No family history. No genetic markers. I noticed the golf-ball-sized mass one day while putting on my bra.
It turned out to be stage 3C, with spread to 14 lymph nodes, as advanced as it gets without being terminal. I went through a year of aggressive treatments: bilateral mastectomy, chemo, radiation, reconstruction, and hormone therapy.
My …
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes!
Food allergy advocate Lianne Mandelbaum discusses her article “Why Hollywood’s allergy jokes are dangerous.” As the mother of a child with a life-threatening food allergy, Lianne shares her personal trauma and outrage …
Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.
