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The crushing bureaucracy that’s driving independent physicians to extinction

Physician

September 9, 2025

As a board-certified neurologist in independent practice for three decades, I’ve watched the soul of medicine slowly erode, not due to a lack of compassion, skill, or science, but from a suffocating bureaucracy that has infiltrated every corner of patient care. Private practice doctors across America are being regulated, pre-certified, audited, and administratively strangled out of existence.

Each week in my office, my staff and I spend countless hours fighting with …

How community and buses saved my retirement

Raymond Abbott

Conditions

September 9, 2025

It is Saturday, late in July and hot as blazes in Louisville, Kentucky where I live. I’ve been here for many years.

I sit in a McDonald’s restaurant close to my home. The place is just about empty. I am here after a short walk from my house, about half a mile. I am happy to be here—happy, that is, that I can manage to walk this far, even in the …

How changing your self-talk can transform your entire life

Faust Ruggiero

Conditions

September 9, 2025

An excerpt from The Fix Your Internal Language Handbook.

“I talk to myself, and I talk to them. They are not here to listen to me.”

Most of us spend more time talking to ourselves than to anyone else. We use language to think and clarify our thoughts. Whether we are consciously ruminating or thinking on a more subconscious level, we are still using language. We have internal dialogues with ourselves, …

Why retail pharmacies could transform diversity in clinical trials [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

September 8, 2025

Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes!

Health care executive Shelli Pavone discusses her article “Why retail pharmacies are the future of diverse clinical trials,” highlighting the urgent need to improve representation in clinical research. Shelli explains how barriers …

Why your clinic waiting room may affect patient outcomes

Ziya Altug, PT, DPT and Shirish Sachdeva, PT, DPT

Conditions

September 8, 2025

A busy waiting room with buzzing lights, cramped-up chairs, and rushed medical staff on the clock can make you feel more anxious about the care you are going to get. Clinic waiting rooms are often the first point of contact between patients and health care providers.

The psychology of waiting

While traditionally considered functional spaces, a growing body of evidence suggests that the design and ambiance of these environments significantly influence patients’ …

Food is a universal language in medicine

Diego R. Hijano, MD

Physician

September 8, 2025

“What is your favorite homemade food?” I ask each patient. Almost always, there is a smile, and the conversation takes off from there. Moms light up describing their special dishes. Patients giggle when I suggest, “Should we have your mom make some for us to share?” Younger kids look at their moms with wide eyes, wondering if it could really happen. Those moments, those faces, are priceless; and they carry …

The ethical crossroads of medicine and legislation

M. Bennet Broner, PhD

Conditions

September 8, 2025

Previously, I wrote about politicians regulating medical practice. I support regulations that protect individual or public health. However, when these laws are not evidence-based, misguided or frivolous, and potentially harmful, as occurred when 16 state legislatures permitted over-the-counter sale of ivermectin, they are unacceptable.

There have been instances when pregnant women, who, because of circumstances, were unable to adhere to physician advice for increased bed rest to avoid premature labor, were …

When doctors breathe the same air: How medical professionals become environmental activists

Stephen Gitonga

Conditions

September 8, 2025

In the heart of major cities—from New York to Nairobi, Mumbai to Mexico City—medical professionals are confronting more than fevers, injuries, or chronic illness. Increasingly, they face diseases rooted in environmental exposure. From asthma linked to air pollution to cancers tied to industrial toxins, physicians are witnessing firsthand the impact of environmental degradation on human health. For many, this reality transforms them from caregivers into advocates—environmental activists in white coats.

Doctors …

Why vitamins should be part of the mental health conversation [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

September 7, 2025

Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes!

Osteopathic medical student Scarlett Saitta discusses her article “Integrating vitamin education in mental health care,” highlighting the growing evidence that nutritional deficiencies can profoundly impact psychiatric outcomes. Scarlett explains how deficiencies in …

Why transplant equity requires more than access

Zamra Amjid, DHSc, MHA

Policy

September 7, 2025

A few months ago, I met a woman who had stopped speaking at dialysis. She had grown quiet, worn thin by the rhythm of a system that seemed to talk around her but never truly to her. When she finally spoke to me, it was not about her labs or transplant status. It was a whisper — “Do you think I’ll make it in time?”

In that moment, she wasn’t asking …

An IMG’s story of exclusion in U.S. residency

Fereshteh Kagar Bafrani, MD

Physician

September 7, 2025

When I was a child, I watched a neighbor struggle after a stroke. He survived, but without rehabilitation he remained trapped in his disability, dependent on others for every task. That memory shaped my understanding of medicine: Survival alone is not enough. Patients deserve a chance to reclaim independence and dignity.

Years later, after completing medical training abroad, I came to the United States as an international medical graduate (IMG), determined …

The 4 foundations that sustain physicians through burnout and balance

Ananta Subedi, MD, MPH

Physician

September 7, 2025

Introduction

When I first arrived in North Carolina several years ago, I thought happiness would come easily. I had completed my medical education in Nepal, was ready to serve as a physician in the U.S. health care system, and carried the excitement of new beginnings. But I learned that happiness is not automatic—especially for physicians navigating American health care while maintaining their sense of purpose.

The transition from practicing medicine in Nepal …

Should anesthesiologists object to unnecessary procedures?

Deepak Gupta, MD

Physician

September 7, 2025

Before making the case for evolving formal fellowships for physician anesthesiologists to conscientiously and systematically object to unnecessary health care, particularly unnecessary procedures, it is worth first exploring what constitutes “necessary.” Only then can we begin to regulate what may be considered “unnecessary.” Can physician anesthesiologists lead such academic and practical regulatory efforts, even amid potential conflicts of interest inherent in their role as anesthesia care providers?

This raises several important …

Ideology, not evidence, fuels the anti-trans agenda

Andie Riffer, PhD and Shawn E. Parra, LCSW, MSW

Policy

September 7, 2025

Recently, The Hill published an op-ed purporting to be a measured critique of gender-affirming care for youth. In reality, it was a dangerous and misinformed piece of ideological propaganda cloaked in the language of academic concern and propped up by debunked claims and bad faith arguments.

Riffer, who has studied censorship, gender regulation, and the legislative targeting of LGBTQIA+ communities across the U.S., will say …

How Ukrainian doctors sustained diabetes care during the war [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

September 6, 2025

Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes!

Physician Daryna Bahriy discusses her article “How Ukrainian doctors kept diabetes care alive during the war,” sharing how medical teams in western Ukraine adapted to protect vulnerable patients amid the chaos of …

The backbone of health care is breaking

Grace Yu, MD

Physician

September 6, 2025

A few weeks ago, I delivered a baby in the morning and sat with a grandmother near the end of life that afternoon. I adjusted insulin for a patient I first helped quit smoking ten years ago. I counseled a teenager about to leave home for college. This is the joy of family medicine: walking with people through every stage of life. But too often, that joy is overshadowed by …

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The backbone of health care is breaking

Why doctors must ask for help before burnout escalates

Diane W. Shannon, MD, MPH

Physician

September 6, 2025

“If you are reluctant to ask the way, you will be lost.”
– Malay proverb

When I was struggling with burnout during training, I did not seek help.

Even when called into the office of the revered, stately, totally intimidating chair of the department, because he had “heard I was having trouble coping.”

Nope. I saw that as a sign that I needed to do a better job of hiding my lack of coping.

When …

Why medicine is like a jazz solo

Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA

Physician

September 6, 2025

An excerpt from Born to Heal: Medical Narratives Set to the Soundtrack of Classic Rock.

Dr. Evelyn Moore had always believed medicine was more than a profession; it was a calling. Not in the dramatic, messianic sense that some doctors held onto (where they saw themselves as saviors) but in the quiet, steady way a lighthouse stands guard over stormy waters. She was not there to rescue …

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Why medicine is like a jazz solo

Why so many patients ask for drips—and what doctors wish they knew

Dr. Akintola Aminat Olayinka

Physician

September 6, 2025

As a doctor working in a primary health care setting, it’s become routine, almost expected, to hear patients ask for a drip. Sometimes it’s after they’ve listed their symptoms, sometimes they say it right after walking in: “Doctor, please just give me drip.” And often, the complaints aren’t serious. It could be catarrh, a mild fever, or even plain tiredness.

At first, I didn’t understand it. I’d look at the patient’s …

Reproductive care after Roe: Why silence is not an option

Christine Petrin, MD, MPH and Susan Thompson Hingle, MD

Physician

September 6, 2025

Since the fall of Roe v. Wade in 2022, the United States has been navigating a reproductive health crisis unlike anything in modern history. Now, in mid-2025, the picture is even more stark, and more urgent.

In the wake of the Dobbs decision, nearly 1 in 5 patients seeking abortion care, including care for miscarriage, have been forced to travel out of state. That is more than double the number from …

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