I was, without a doubt, in a desperate place—going back to school after not taking a math course in over six years and attempting to study calculus. It was as stressful as it sounds. Like so many of the students in my post-baccalaureate cohort, we deeply valued our education at this point—which is not surprising, considering we all had to work jobs to pay for it. But luckily, I had …
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Registered dietitian Ava Safir and physician advocate Kim Downey discuss their article, “Why patients need a registered dietitian on their health care team.” They highlight the often-overlooked yet crucial role registered dietitians …
The health care system, in theory, operates on one fundamental principle: to prioritize patient welfare. Yet, contemporary systems in many regions, particularly the United States, have increasingly veered off course, entangling themselves in a jungle of bureaucracy, regulation, and profit-driven motives that obscure the vital role patients play as the focal point of care. The result is a system riddled with inefficiencies, frustration, and barriers to optimal health care delivery.
I read Dr. Harry Severance’s recent piece, “Violence in health care: Why doctors and nurses are leaving,” with a sinking feeling of recognition. He’s right. Health care is becoming the most dangerous profession in America. Violence is no longer rare or shocking—it’s something every physician and nurse now half-expects at some point in their career.
I still remember an early shift in the ER when I was stitching up a …
“We are under-exercised as a nation; we look instead of play; we ride instead of walk.”
—John F. Kennedy, Sports Illustrated, 1960
In 1960, then-President-elect John F. Kennedy issued a striking warning: Americans were becoming physically unfit, and this trend threatened not just individual health, but the vitality of the nation itself. He saw physical activity as foundational to our strength—not just as a people, but as a country. Over sixty years …
The health care industry rightfully remains vigilant against external cyber threats, with the Director-General of the World Health Organization even labeling file loss from ransomware as potentially “issues of life and death.” Patient safety and the sanctity of confidential health information are paramount—which are also the very reasons health care organizations are prime targets for malicious actors. But as economic headwinds lead to corporate layoffs and government budget cuts dominate …
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Certified coach Kathleen Muldoon discusses her article, “The cost of presence: a lesson in listening.” She recounts a poignant experience observing a health care student disengaged during a powerful presentation by a …
Room 1, ICU — Love on life support
This was a busy Saturday in 2022.
06:45 — I walk into the unit and spot a gray-haired man pacing outside Room 1. Clothes rumpled, air sharp with sweat. The moment he catches my white coat he stops.
“Doctor, any updates for me?”
Through the glass I glimpse his world: a woman in her …
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Health care executive and patient advocate Aja Best discusses her article, “How early CKD diagnosis can save lives: a transplant survivor’s journey.” She shares her harrowing personal experience with a delayed diagnosis …
It’s not the easiest question to ask aloud—especially in medicine, where we pronounce death but rarely reflect on it.
We chart it. Certify it. Explain it.
But what does it mean to die?
For most of us, the word carries a double weight. It means to stop biologically. To cease. To end.
But it also means to vanish. To be forgotten. To be no longer seen, needed, or named.
As a surgeon, I saw death …
I have always been a performer at heart, starting with theater in school. For 28 years, I was a law professor at Indiana University in Indianapolis, and teaching gave me a captive audience. Beyond the classroom, I have always been passionate about music. I play the guitar and sing, and back in the day I was part of a band. I was also a distance runner and dreamed of completing …
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Health care public relations leader Melanie Doupé Gaiser discusses her article, “Antimicrobial resistance needs a publicist.” She highlights antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as an urgent and deadly public health crisis that is not …
The field of emergency medicine (EM) is at a crossroads. Faced with rising burnout, a constantly changing health care landscape, and an evolving trend in unfilled residency positions, the specialty is now grappling with another proposed structural change: A proposed mandatory fourth year. While the idea has been periodically debated over the past two decades, it gained new momentum with proposed changes to the ACGME Program Requirements for Graduate Medical …
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In numerous writings and venues regarding physician practice, the claim is made that “physician education is lacking in nutrition, geriatrics, care for non-cisgender people, relating to patients in general, cultural respect, equitable treatment, etc.” While all of these suggestions have merit, to what extent would they lengthen the already most extended medical school curriculum among developed countries? Or would those who advocate for these additions propose that they replace parts …
In the grand theater of American higher education, where the pursuit of knowledge once bowed to the austere discipline of merit, a troubling drama unfolds. The medical school admissions process, now awash in the murky waters of holistic review, risks becoming a stage for ideological caprice rather than a crucible of intellectual rigor. Amid the clamor of the Gaza conflict—a geopolitical tempest that has spilled onto university quads and inflamed …
Even before Mia was born, I could sense that something about her was different. With my other children, I felt constant movement during pregnancy, but Mia stayed curled up in one spot and hardly moved at all. When I mentioned this to my obstetrician, he assured me that it was normal. But I was sure that there was something more going on.
As soon as Mia was born, there were signs …
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Medical student Rishma Jivan discusses her article, “Medical curriculum 2.0: Integrating technology and innovation in medical education.” She argues for an urgent update to medical training, embedding technology and innovation as core …
Here in the Midwest we have finally made it through the doldrums of winter, which also indicates the season that basketball fans eagerly anticipate all year: March Madness.
The annual National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) single-elimination basketball tournament inspires millions of folks to fill out brackets predicting the winners, myself included. I love sports for a multitude of reasons, and witnessing these young adults experiencing some of the best—and hardest—moments of …
Integrity and trust are foundational. But today, that trust is under assault—not from human error, nor negligence, but from the sophisticated but disturbingly unreliable outputs of artificial intelligence (AI). What the media euphemistically calls “AI hallucinations” are not benign mistakes—they are dangerous fabrications, systematically undermining both clinical and legal standards.
As a psychiatrist, I confront the reality of hallucinations regularly. Patients vividly describe voices, visions, and sensations with profound distress. Hallucinations, …
There’s an ever-growing body of evidence to suggest that diabetes contributes to the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Some even go so far as to dub Alzheimer’s disease “diabetes type III.”
How might diabetes cause Alzheimer’s disease?
It’s the sugar: Chronic high blood sugar (hyperglycemia) can damage blood vessels, including those in the brain. This vascular damage reduces oxygen and nutrient delivery to brain cells, increasing …
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