Picture this: It’s your second month of residency, and you’re deep into a hectic ED shift. The pressure is on; you’re managing patients, making decisions, and trying to get better. Then, a mistake happens. Not one that results in significant harm to the patient, but maybe you miss a diagnosis, fumble a procedure, or are just overwhelmed in general. You know failure is part of growth, but that doesn’t make …
A doctor’s cure for imposter syndrome
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Certified coach and professor Kathleen Muldoon discusses her article, “The humanity we bring: a call to hold space in medicine.” She shares how her experience as a mother in the neonatal intensive …
Why humanity matters in medicine [PODCAST]
Parents are inundated with advice and guidance on all manner of topics from an array of sources, but as a pediatric emergency medicine physician, I have been astonished to realize that parents hear almost nothing about the risk that actually poses the greatest threat of causing serious harm to their children. Approximately 10 percent of children in the United States experience sexual abuse, with one in four girls and somewhere …
The childhood risk we never talk about
As an internal medicine physician practicing in Southaven for more than eight years, I’ve learned one simple truth: Prevention is often more powerful than treatment. Every week, I see patients who wish they had come in sooner, before diabetes, hypertension, or heart disease quietly took hold. These conditions rarely appear overnight; they build over years of small imbalances in diet, stress, and lifestyle. The encouraging news is that small, steady …
Small habits, big impact on health
Like you, I receive many emails concerning environmental toxins. Many of their claims are based on conjecture rather than scientific evidence and are delivered in a panicked manner, implying that you or a family member is doomed if you do not act quickly. It is especially annoying that they often target minor issues rather than major ones. For example, they have emphasized the danger of artificial sweeteners. However, if one …
Are we scared of the wrong environmental toxins?
Author note: This piece is based on a series of conversations with Dr. Meng Xu, one of China’s leading cardiac surgeons. His voice, vision, and uncompromising devotion to valve repair inspired every word. Though he prefers to remain out of the byline, his story is the one being told.
It was 11:48 p.m. on August 14, 2021, China’s Qixi Festival, a day for lovers and a celebration …
A doctor’s fight to repair, not replace
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Physician executive Joseph Pepe discusses his article, “A doctor’s guide to preparing for your death.” He shares practical and compassionate advice on planning for life’s inevitable end, from organizing essential documents and …
How to prepare for your death [PODCAST]
Florida has seen over 1,300 pertussis cases this year, an 81 percent increase from 2024. I didn’t speak as a retired pediatrician. I spoke as a witness: a witness to systems retreat, a witness to the dismantling of public health, and a witness to the consequences of ignoring coordinated care.
The numbers are staggering. Over 1,500 confirmed measles cases in 2025. Three deaths, the first measles-related fatalities in the U.S. in …
The dismantling of public health infrastructure
When most people hear nicotine, they picture stained lungs, cigarette ads, or sweet-flavored vapes. But nicotine isn’t tar, benzene, or formaldehyde. It’s a potent nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonist with real neurochemical effects, and in carefully selected patients, it can help. I’ve been using nicotine gum and lozenges for years in patients with fatigue, mild depression, and ADHD, not as a miracle cure but as a targeted cognitive and mood-enhancing tool. …
The case for therapeutic nicotine use
Every health care organization measures recruitment and retention. HR teams work to offer competitive packages based on salary, benefits, PTO, and CME allowances. These details matter. But for today’s physicians, these are simply the baseline. The physicians entering and shaping today’s workforce expect more. They have new lines of questioning related to the amount of evening and weekend coverage, call schedules, administrative time, and available support staff. Today’s physicians will …
What is your physician well-being strategy?
The first day I walked into my residency clinic, I realized this was the part of medicine I understood the least. The waiting room was full, and every patient carried not just a diagnosis but the weight of a system already stretched thin. We learned to triage, to document, and to move quickly. But we did not learn how to lead, how to build continuity, or how to see the …
Why are we devaluing primary care?
We ran as fast as we could. I glanced up occasionally at the nurse straddling my patient, her blonde waves obscuring her face as she furiously attempted to restart a non-beating heart. We pushed the hospital bed down hallways and around corners, narrowly missing people-filled stretchers lining the Emergency Department. I stood in the back while the experts took over. If she was ready to leave this world, I wanted …
A nurse’s view on the broken health care system
The most powerful lesson I am learning in medicine whispers against the roar of constant intervention. It is the art of “”unmedicine”: the wisdom that the best care can often mean doing less. I entered medical school envisioning a future of decisive action. Yet, my clinical experiences have painted a more complex picture. I’ve seen a physician spend a full consultation gently steering a patient away from an unnecessary MRI, …
The courage to choose restraint in medicine
Carrier screening has outgrown the language we still use to explain it.
For years, clinicians told patients they were either “a carrier” or “not a carrier.” But as the science has evolved, this binary approach is not only outdated; it is increasingly misleading.
Genetic carrier screening has entered a new era, and our counseling must evolve alongside it.
For decades, carrier screening was offered selectively based on ethnicity. Ashkenazi Jewish individuals were screened …
Carrier screening counseling must evolve
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Internal medicine physician Augusta Uwah discusses her article, “The dying man who gave me flowers changed how I see care.” She shares the emotional story of a terminally ill patient whose simple …
How a dying patient taught a doctor the meaning of care [PODCAST]
In modern medicine, the use of plain language is a fundamental clinical skill. This is especially critical when health decisions can profoundly affect a patient’s life, impacting their financial stability, ability to work, personal independence, and mental well-being, as well as their capacity for managing daily care, recognizing warning signs, and adhering to treatment plans. Considering the patient as a partner in their care, an informed decision can only be …
Why plain language isn’t enough for patients
This article is sponsored by MagMutual.
Selecting the right medical malpractice coverage is one of the most important professional decisions a physician or practice administrator can make. Even if you feel confident in your current insurer, it’s wise to revisit your options periodically. The medical malpractice insurance market continues to evolve. New liability coverages emerge, and some carriers now offer …
Why it may be time to reevaluate your medical malpractice coverage
In examination rooms across the country, the foundations of medical practice are being eroded. Physicians navigating the opioid crisis are forced to choose between our ethical duty to alleviate suffering and the legal risk of sanction. When we provide reproductive care, the patient-physician relationship is being superseded by political ideology, with devastating consequences. When we follow evidence-based guidelines for gender-affirming care, we face legislative intrusion that substitutes political agendas for …
Why medicine should be the Fifth Estate
The first thirty years of my life were about becoming a doctor. I grew up in a middle-class family in a safe neighborhood with good schools and steady routines. My parents valued hard work and education, and I learned early that if you studied, followed the rules, and kept your head down, good things would follow. Private Catholic elementary school, public high school, then college and medical school. Every step …
The difference between a doctor and a physician
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Hematology-oncology physician Adeel Khan discusses his article, “Universities must tap endowments to sustain biomedical research.” He explains how declining federal support for the National Institutes of Health threatens America’s position as a …
Why universities must invest their wealth to protect science [PODCAST]
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