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Clinical research physician Khutaija Noor discusses her article, “Why clinical research is a powerful path for unmatched IMGs.” She addresses the intense pressure and profound disappointment international medical graduates (IMGs) face when …
How IMGs can find purpose in clinical research [PODCAST]
You may have noticed the Supreme Court announced several crucial rulings on controversial topics. Buried in most coverage was a note that the Court upheld the legality of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF).
Most folks have no clue what the USPSTF is or does. To people like me, it is crucial to advancing the early detection and prevention of cancer in the United States. For now, we can be …
Why the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force is essential to saving lives
I remember a patient in her early sixties who came to our clinic with subtle memory problems. She lived alone in a rural county, relied on Medicaid, and had been passed between social services and different primary care providers for more than a year. No one had ordered imaging, and there were no neurologists nearby. By the time Alzheimer’s disease was suspected, her window for early intervention had already closed.
Medicare …
Medicaid lags behind on Alzheimer’s blood test coverage
We often sign extensive contracts when entering long-term commitments — think of the fine print in a mortgage, a car loan, or a new job offer.
While there are privacy forms and acknowledgments of office policies, the expectations of the physician-patient relationship are often assumed rather than explicitly stated. Some providers do outline expectations, and in today’s medicolegal environment, HIPAA notices are always signed — but that’s not the same as …
The unspoken contract between doctors and patients explained
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Psychiatrist, internist, and addiction medicine specialist Muhamad Aly Rifai discusses his article, “In medicine and law, professions that society relies upon for accuracy.” He argues that labeling AI errors as “hallucinations” is …
AI isn’t hallucinating, it’s fabricating—and that’s a problem [PODCAST]
An excerpt from Disease Detectives: True Stories of NYC Outbreaks.
Dr. Westyn Branch-Elliman contributed to this chapter.
There exist within NYC, communities that feel more like a small town than a perspiring slab of metropolis. People know and speak to their neighbors, greet each other warmly on the street, and watch over each other’s children. Single- and two-family brick homes with small, manicured lawns line quiet streets. There is usually one …
Brooklyn hepatitis C cluster reveals hidden dangers in outpatient clinics
Being a doctor is about more than diagnosing illnesses or prescribing medications. It is about more than knowing the latest research, the right drug dose, or the most effective treatment plan. Those things matter (of course they do), but they are just part of the job description.
The reality is more human, more vulnerable, and more complex.
Imagine what it is like to sit in the waiting room before your appointment. You …
The truth in medicine: Why connection matters most
I got into the car outside the bus station in Lowell, Massachusetts, where my father was waiting to pick me up. He looked nervous when he handed me an envelope. Inside was my medical school decision letter. I was accepted. We let out a cheer.
Along with the acceptance letter was the projected cost of attendance: around $70,000 for the first year, climbing to nearly $90,000 by the fourth. I would …
New student loan caps could shut low-income students out of medicine
Everyone wants the best model. The flashiest algorithm. The one with the highest AUC and the sexiest machine learning buzzword attached.
But here’s the problem: In hospital care, especially at midsize institutions, the “best” model on paper might be the worst fit for your people, your patients, and your workflow.
As a hospitalist and data-minded clinician, I’ve been exploring how we can use AI to reduce 30-day readmissions—an outcome tied not just …
Why trust and simplicity matter more than buzzwords in hospital AI
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Leading food allergy advocate Lianne Mandelbaum discusses her article, “What one diagnosis can change: the movement to make dining safer.” She explains how for millions of people living with food allergies, dining …
Putting food allergy safety on the menu [PODCAST]
Everyone deserves informed, compassionate and respectful health care. As medical professionals, we have the profound privilege and responsibility to make a difference in the lives of others.
As a practicing Board Certified Plastic Surgeon in San Francisco, CA, I have dedicated my practice to serving trans women, trans men, non-binary and gender-diverse individuals. Through this practice, I have viewed discrimination at the most basic levels. Patients struggle to find primary care …
Why transgender health care needs urgent reform and inclusive practices
This is a famous teaching in the Talmud, which in the Jewish faith is the commentary on the Hebrew Bible. Why would the holy book of the Jews make such a proclamation? It turns out this is about arrogance. It is about humility. The “best doctors” may also be the most prideful. Their arrogance may prevent them from realizing they need help. If they do realize it, their pridefulness may …
Why “the best physicians” risk burnout and isolation
We are now waiting for sentencing in the Sean (P. Diddy) Combs trial. Onlookers reading about the trial could have various thoughts. Thoughts about how power corrupts behavior. Thoughts about how men manipulate women through violence and sex. There could be schadenfreude. There could be prurience. Me, I think about HIV preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP).
You heard correctly, PrEP. When I hear testimony about multiple partners and escorts, my concern is for …
Why the Sean Combs trial is a wake-up call for HIV prevention
An excerpt from Real Medicine, Unreal Stories, Volume 3.
The café was quiet, tucked between a shuttered bookstore and a yoga studio that only seemed to open during Mercury retrograde. It was the kind of place that didn’t advertise, which made it perfect for writers, wanderers, and today, two physicians who had long since discovered that stories, not stethoscopes, were the truest diagnostic tools.
Dr. Gary Handler stirred his coffee absentmindedly, …
Why real medicine is more than quick labels
A recent surge in misleading ads and AI-generated videos on social media and other online sites promoting bogus diabetes products, treatments and cures – often using fake endorsements, including from my organization Diabetes Canada – poses a serious health risk to people living with diabetes.
So far this year, Diabetes Canada has heard from at least 300 people who saw or bought fake products like smart watches claiming to non-invasively …
New surge in misleading ads about diabetes on social media poses a serious health risk
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Board-certified pediatrician and certified coach Jessie Mahoney discusses her article, “Medicalizing burnout misses the real problem.” She argues that the health care industry’s current approach to physician burnout is failing because it …
Stop medicalizing burnout and start healing the culture [PODCAST]
This past week, an unhinged man in Atlanta committed an atrocity. He went to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) with five guns and killed a policeman. He blamed the COVID-19 vaccine for making him depressed and suicidal, and it is reported that he had been reaching out for mental health assistance for weeks.
Since January 2022, I have been interacting with national experts on a clinical problem that has hit …
mRNA post vaccination syndrome: Is it real?
As physicians, we are highly motivated, educated, hardworking and compassionate individuals. We deserve the best that life can offer. I do not mean the nicest houses or fanciest cars (although there is nothing wrong with luxuries). What I am referring to is having the type of career that brings out the best in us. A work environment that allows us to share our gifts easily and effortlessly ultimately contributing to …
Limiting beliefs are holding your career back
In medicine, self-sacrifice is praised. We call it dedication. We call it loyalty. However, sometimes it is just exhaustion wearing a badge of honor, and it keeps us complicit in systems that harm us and our patients.
Burnout does not kick the door in. It just shows up quietly. One day you notice you have not called a friend back in weeks. Lunch, if you can call it that, is an …
Breaking the martyrdom trap in medicine
Each year, I leave behind the electronic health record, performance metrics, malpractice fears, and the ever-present hum of burnout—and lead a medical mission trip—this year to Nicaragua. Along with a team of fellow volunteers, I carry only what we can pack: a few stethoscopes, essential supplies, and the will to serve.
We set up clinics in makeshift church halls with tin roofs in …
What a Nicaraguan village taught a U.S. doctor about true care
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