Most of us think of earwax as a nuisance–something to be cleaned out and discarded. But, did you know that this sticky substance is a natural part of your body that can reveal information about your health?
If you regularly clean your ears at home, it’s worth a second thought. Although a part of general hygiene, overdoing it–or using hairpins, toothpicks, and other pointy tools–can do Read more…
June is Men’s Health Month, an opportunity to spotlight the unique health challenges men face—and to change the way we talk about them. One of the most overlooked and under-discussed topics in men’s health? Fertility. It’s time to bring it to the forefront.
As a fellowship-trained urologist specializing in sexual medicine and male fertility, I’ve witnessed firsthand how male reproductive health is too often sidelined in conversations around family-building. For far …
We all know the population is aging, but did you know that close to half of all adults over age 65 in the U.S. have some kind of disability? The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) includes as a disability any “physical or mental impairment that limits one or more life activities” or a history or record of such impairment.
Thus, disabilities include: physical limitations such as mobility issues, pain, and fatigue; …
Several decades ago at our local hospital in northern Los Angeles County, an onslaught against doctors began. The administration marginalized and discredited them. It was not due to a lack of medical skill or knowledge, as certain physicians were labeled “troublemakers” and “threats” to health care in our small community.
The chief of staff and I, the chairman of the Department of Medicine, were members of the staff, some of whom …
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Endocrinologist Michael Morkos discusses his article “Mastering the art of efficient patient encounters: tips for physicians.” Michael shares practical strategies for optimizing the patient encounter to enhance both efficiency and patient satisfaction. …
Dreaming of medicine
Everyone has an origin story. Mine doesn’t include any radioactive spiders or vats of glowing fluid, but I did get a few extra volts of electricity being defibrillated back to life at seventeen, and that’s close enough to a tragic backstory for me. It was a short-lived event, but long enough to change everything. I remember the blur of motion as a team of doctors worked around me. …
In memory of Brian Wilson (1942–2025).
In a world increasingly marked by fracture and fear, it is hard not to return to the quiet, aching clarity of Brian Wilson’s song Love and Mercy. Originally released in 1988, the song was not a protest anthem or a sweeping political critique. Instead, it was a simple, open-hearted wish: “Love and mercy, that’s what you need tonight. So, love and mercy to you and …
When I conduct therapy for doctors after residency, I am supporting new attending physicians as they navigate one of the most intense and disorienting transitions of their careers. These early attendings often arrive feeling untethered. They’re rediscovering who they are, working through long-ignored anxiety, stepping into their authority, and trying to build lives that don’t begin and end with medicine.
When I talk about what makes a new attending “successful,” I’m …
“We are sorry, you did not match to any position.”
That sentence alone is enough to crush someone who has spent over a decade chasing the dream of becoming a physician. But what came next was a blur of rushed decisions, emotional exhaustion, and the pressure to uproot my life—without knowing if the choice was right for me or my family.
I entered SOAP, the Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program—advertised as a …
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Nurse practitioner Surani Hayre-Kwan discusses her article “Are you protecting your career? 5 essential questions about your NP liability insurance.” Surani discusses the critical need for nurse practitioners to secure their own …
There’s so much we don’t say out loud.
Not because it’s not true.
Not because it doesn’t matter.
But because somewhere along the way, we were taught that strength looks like silence—and that if we’re struggling, it must mean we’re doing something wrong. Or maybe we just forgot, in the brain fog of postpartum hormones and the blur of sleepless nights.
I’m a family physician. I’m also a mother to an amazingly bright and …
A comprehensive 2025 framework on medical education reform has laid bare a critical challenge: The traditional path to becoming a doctor is failing to meet the demands of modern health care. The consequences are stark: 70 percent of medical students report frequent feelings of burnout, persistent health disparities remain entrenched, and a median debt of $200,000 is pushing graduates away from essential careers in primary and public service care.
This new …
I’ve spent my career as a neurologist diagnosing and managing neurodegenerative diseases. I’ve counseled families through heartbreaking prognoses, navigated complex care plans, and educated patients about conditions like Alzheimer’s disease. I thought I understood what it meant to live with a memory disorder, until my mother became my most challenging, most personal patient.
Her diagnosis came gradually, as these things often do. First, it was the missed appointments and forgotten dates. …
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For years, I cared for patients as a nurse practitioner—managing chronic disease, guiding them through acute illness, counseling them through the often messy realities of life and health. I loved my work. I loved the relationships I built with patients, the trust they placed in me, and the opportunity to make a difference in their lives.
But over time, a quiet restlessness began to grow—a sense that I wanted to deepen …
In cities like Los Angeles, accessing advanced cardiac imaging is not always a matter of medical need. It is often a question of logistics. Even in major metro areas, where advanced technology is available, practical barriers—like scheduling delays, traffic, and long waitlists—can prevent patients from getting scans when they need them.
Many wait weeks for appointments or travel across the city to reach a facility equipped for high-quality cardiac CT. In …
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Internal medicine and pediatric physician Charles LeBaron discusses his article “How the CDC’s opioid rules created a crisis for chronic pain patients.” Charles discusses the 2016 CDC opioid guideline, initially framed as …
Healthcare organizations continue to face financial and operational efficiency pressures to implement or upgrade their electronic health record (EHR) systems, driven largely by the push for greater interoperability and the need to consolidate disparate systems. While the benefits of modern, integrated EHR systems are clear, the path to successful implementation remains complex and challenging for many organizations.
The foundation: Stakeholder engagement and leadership buy-in
The success of any EHR implementation hinges on …
Recent budget cuts to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have dominated the headlines since February of this year, when the NIH announced a 15 percent cap on indirect costs — a move that jeopardizes essential research infrastructure by slashing funding for facilities and administrative support vital to the advancement of scientific innovation.
Now, leaked documents threaten to compound this issue: The Trump administration plans to cut the NIH’s …
“Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it.”
Didn’t take long, did it?
The quote in the title is from George Santayana. The movie is It’s a Wonderful Life with Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey along with Clarence Odbody, who played Clarence the angel. The scenes are from the moments when Clarence shows George what the world would have been without him and his value to his family, his friends, …
As a pediatrician and public health advocate, I’ve spent my career serving families whose lives often depend on a strong safety net. Medicaid is that safety net. It provides care for over 70 million Americans — including children, pregnant women, seniors, and people with disabilities.
Right now, federal policymakers are considering dramatic Medicaid cuts that would threaten coverage for millions. This is not just a policy debate. It will spark a …
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