An excerpt from The Healthy Kidney Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Manage Hypertension, Control Stress, and Prevent Renal Failure, Kidney Disease, and More.
A good friend and neighbor of mine is a kidney transplant survivor, and I wanted to thoughtfully document her thoughts on different parts of her journey. She is currently a married, African American woman, mother of a teenage son, in her forties, and works full time in …
As a health care professional, I’ve often observed how one critical aspect of medication safety and efficacy gets overlooked: food-drug interactions.
Every day, we prescribe and dispense powerful medications — but what patients eat alongside those medications can completely alter their effects.
This isn’t just a pharmacy concern. It’s a multidisciplinary issue that deserves greater attention from physicians, pharmacists, and patient educators.
The physician’s role: Asking the right questions
We often do a solid …
A woman sat nervously in front of me, eyes wide, voice low. “I saw this video on TikTok,” she said. “Now I’m not sure I want to try it.” “It” was semaglutide—one of the most transformative medications we’ve seen for weight loss and metabolic health in years. But her fear wasn’t uncommon. Like many patients I see, she came in hopeful, but hesitant—torn between her desire to get healthy and …
In recent years, an alarming trend has emerged within the health care system, one that is eroding the very backbone of medical care delivery: the physician. What once were rules and regulations designed to protect and elevate the standard of medical care are increasingly being exploited by medical authorities as a tool to extort, reprimand, and harass physicians. More disturbingly, this extortion is now cloaked as “education,” forcing doctors to …
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Pediatrician and certified coach Jessie Mahoney discusses her article, “Physician wellness is a strategic imperative—not a moral crusade.” The conversation focuses on why physicians must shift their advocacy for well-being from a …
In January, I wrote regarding the biased NBC report on unidentified bodies from a coroner’s office being used by a medical school. Subsequently, the network aired two related episodes.
The second report centered on a self-employed purveyor of bodies and parts. He displayed no respect for the people whose bodies or parts he sold. The report was disturbing, as there is an ethical difference between an individual profiting from these …
The Nova Oath is a modern physician’s declaration of courageous care and ethical impact:
I stand not merely as a technician of the body, but as a steward of life, a witness to pain, and a catalyst for healing.
I vow:
As a radiologist, I’ve heard the same question too many times, usually from anxious medical students struggling to decide if they should pursue radiology:
“Is AI going to replace radiologists?”
I understand the concern. I had similar fears during training. But after years of practicing medicine and watching AI promises play out in the real world, I can confidently say this: AI is not replacing radiologists. It’s not even close. And those …
As a psychiatrist deeply committed to my patients’ well-being, there are moments etched into my memory—moments of profound suffering, struggle, and ultimately, redemption. I vividly recall Sarah (name changed for confidentiality), a 45-year-old teacher whose severe depression had drained all joy from her life. “Dr. Rifai, I just want my life back,” she told me, tears streaming down her face. Her plea echoed the silent anguish of countless patients I’ve …
There’s a quiet rebellion happening in medicine. A movement of physicians no longer willing to sacrifice their humanity for productivity quotas, administrative burdens, or the illusion of perfection. We wrote White Coats, Courageous Hearts with thirteen other physicians to shine a light on this shift—voices reclaiming agency in a system that often forgets that doctors are human, too.
Alae Kawam, DO:
There has been a profound cultural shift—and an emerging rift—in the …
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Entrepreneur, AI enthusiast, and wellness advocate Vaishali Jha discusses her article, “Gen Z is already transforming mental health care—are we listening?” The conversation explores the vital need for new perspectives in health …
I know what I’m about to say is unpopular, and maybe even controversial within our field — but I need to say it.
I’ve been a nurse for 18 years. I care deeply about my patients, and I care about the future of this profession. But I’m increasingly disheartened by what I see inside our own ranks. There’s a phrase we all know: “nurses eat their young.” We repeat it so …
The emergency physician across from me had it all on paper: good schedule, six-figure salary, respected by colleagues, two kids in college, mortgage nearly paid off. “I should be grateful,” she said, staring at her coffee. “But I keep wondering — is this it for the next twenty years?” If you’re nodding, you’re not alone. That quiet restlessness isn’t ingratitude. It’s evolution.
The script we’ve all been given
From day one of …
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I am trapped in a circadian rhythm that I cannot escape from. I think it started when I finished my residency. And to make matters worse, this week it felt like I was also trapped in the series Squid Game. I awake about an hour before first light (sometimes as early as 4:30 a.m.) and almost instantly fall asleep about an hour after dusk if I am laying down. No …
I have been on the pre-med path for years. I started college excited to one day become a doctor, but I quickly learned that excitement was not part of the culture. From the beginning, pre-med students are taught to compete with one another. We are forced into difficult STEM courses that are often graded on a curve, which turns classmates into rivals. I saw people hide resources, give wrong information …
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Retired surgeon, psychotherapist, and author Patrick Hudson discusses his article, “Why we fear being forgotten more than death itself.” The conversation explores the profound difference between the biological act of dying and …
I have never been outside my hospital since I joined two months ago.
As the only doctor in the oncology department, I cannot take the time to roam around the hospital. My duty hours are filled with chemotherapy treatments and the continuous monitoring of sick patients.
The hospital where I work is affiliated with a private medical college. On Saturdays and Sundays, the students have a holiday. It was a Saturday, and …
An excerpt from Real Medicine, Unreal Stories: Lessons and Insights from Clinical Practice (Volume 2).
The dinner plates had been cleared and a lazy instrumental playlist drifted through the background. Thad Brigham leaned back in his chair, a satisfied smile crossing his face as he looked at his daughters across the table.
“You two always manage to bring the energy back into this old house,” he …
8:00 a.m.: The start of a not-so-perfect morning
I wake up, already running a bit behind. I toss last night’s leftovers into a lunchbox while thinking, Will this meet my nutrition for the day? Maybe tomorrow I’ll pack something better. Morning routine kicks in: shower, brush, poop, pack bag, grab tea. No time to sit and sip, I carry it with me.
8:45 a.m.: Wheels on the ground
I hop into my WHO-assigned …
It was early morning—likely the first appointment of the day. The music in the waiting room had not even been turned on yet, and the smell of coffee was just beginning to meet the air. After a few minutes, I was called back to a room and sat in the exam chair, already in scrubs and mentally preparing to scurry off to work right after. In fact, I was already …
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