Admiral William McRaven is a Navy SEAL and was the president of the University of Texas. In 2014, he gave a commencement speech that has been viewed over 10 million times. It is considered one of the greatest contemporary graduation speeches of all time.* Although the speech was directed at 8,000 graduates at the University of Texas, his message certainly applies to the health care profession.
So, here …
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Anesthesiologist and psychotherapist Maire Daugharty discusses her article, “Why real therapy isn’t just about crisis.” She challenges the common misconception that therapy is only necessary or effective during acute crises (“crisis-hopping”), explaining …
Kim Downey:
A friend shared with me how she told someone their mutual physician was on medical leave. She heard it was serious. That person’s immediate response was concern over how it would affect their upcoming appointment. My friend said she thought of my advocacy work, initiating a conversation fostering empathy for the struggling physician.
I read a post by a surgeon, with fellow doctors commenting …
Imagine waking up one morning to a bold headline screaming: “New Global Law: All Antidepressants Abolished!” Just like that, no more Prozac, no more Zoloft—no more of those little pills that have helped millions keep their balance while navigating life’s emotional tightrope. Pharmacy shelves are wiped clean overnight, and suddenly, one of the pillars of modern mental health care is gone.
Before you clutch your chest and start breathing into a …
For years, weight loss has been sold as a simple math problem: eat less, move more, and the pounds will melt away. But if that were true, we wouldn’t have an obesity epidemic affecting over 40 percent of adults in the U.S.
Now, a new class of medications—GLP-1 receptor agonists like semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro, Zepbound)—are changing the game. People who have struggled with their weight for …
Medical education is a long and arduous route and can take from twelve to sixteen years of education which includes three to four years of undergraduate degree, one to two gap years before medical school, four years of medical school and three to seven years of residency training.
To address this shortage, we have come up with solutions for creating three-year medical schools, starting tracks for physician assistants/associates and nurse practitioners. …
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Physical therapist and food allergy advocate Lianne Mandelbaum discusses her article, “Flying with food allergies: Combating misconceptions and advocating for safety.” Sharing harrowing personal experiences with dismissive airline staff that ignited her …
When I first entered Aga Khan University Hospital as an emergency medicine (EM) resident, it felt like stepping into a whirlwind. The controlled chaos of the emergency department, the endless maze of technology, the pressure to make decisions in seconds—it all felt like too much. To make things harder, this opportunity came only after facing rejection last year—a moment that could have easily shaken my confidence. Some early on even …
Why has faith in government health agencies never been lower? Because conflicts of interest (COIs) have never been higher.
At the FDA, concerns about drugmakers “buying” drug approvals go back to passage of the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) in 1992. Since then, the many doctors with research and speaker grants, drug stocks, and past employment with drugmakers heighten concerns. Worse, many major drug trials that claim to show …
I recently attended a medical conference for the Huntington’s disease (HD) community. Hundreds of people were gathered to collaborate, share knowledge, and learn how to better address the needs of their patients. During the first session, I found it challenging to listen to the presentation and the conversations taking place around me. The detached manner in which people were speaking was troubling to me, so I stepped out for a …
Today was my first Match Day as a program director and, while most of my emotions are unprocessed, I already have many thoughts.
I can’t forget the concurrent drop in my stomach, pause in my cardiac systole, and the involuntary intake of breath which occurred when the email arrived—2 minutes early!—from the NRMP. I stacked an extra gasp even before I exhaled the first while I fumbled to open the email. …
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Internal medicine physician Kara Pepper discusses her article, “From burnout to balance: 5 stages of career transformation.” Drawing from her own journey away from burnout and her experience coaching hundreds of physicians, …
Are you absorbing the system’s dysfunction?
Do you find yourself absorbing the collective frustration of health care dysfunction? Taking on the role of savior? Overextending to compensate for broken processes? Feeling personally responsible for guiding patients, family, or friends through the labyrinth of health care?
You’re not alone.
The power of choice in medicine
It’s rare that a practicing physician …
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In today’s digital world, health care is no longer confined to hospital walls. Social media platforms are influencing health behaviors, while telemedicine technologies are redefining patient-doctor interactions. But are these innovations improving health care, and what are the risks, if any? This article explores how digital platforms, namely social media and telemedicine technologies, are reshaping patient care and bridging gaps in education, access, and engagement.
For many, social …
As a physician who transitioned into health technology leadership, my journey over the past few years has revealed a fundamental truth: The future of health care delivery isn’t confined to hospitals or clinics—it’s in patients’ homes as well. I am not just talking about patients who have to be discharged early from our hospitals, but also about patients who don’t have easy access to health care and patients who have …
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Family physician Atharva Joshi discusses his article, “How the system hunts physicians who refuse to kneel.” He argues that the health care system often targets minority physicians not through overt actions but …
I’ve spent a lot of time trying to understand and tame my own mind.
I meditate—have for years. I journal. I go to therapy. I’ve devoted years of my life to endurance sports to “get out of my head,” I even lived at a yoga ashram. I’ve done the work, or at least, a lot of it. I don’t think I’m unfamiliar with introspection or emotional hygiene.
For over a year, we, Korea’s medical students, have lived under the weight of institutional threats
What began as a disagreement over health policy escalated into an all-out campaign to silence us. We were told that if we resisted, we would be punished. At first, the punishment was supposed to be academic probation. But on May 2, 2025, something changed.
Despite university rules that previously allowed for probation or suspension, the government …
It was recently match day in the medical school world. Students who have given their lives to their studies to become doctors learned where they’d spend the next three to seven years in their chosen specialty completing their residency. This is one of the highlights each year as newly minted dermatologists, surgeons, psychiatrists, and internal medicine doctors, among many others, begin their next chapters and disperse across the country. It’s …
Doctors are plagued by medical malpractice lawsuits. Every year, there are 85,000 lawsuits filed, of which 66.6 percent are frivolous. Each doctor has an 8.5 percent chance per year of being sued.
In the course of my efforts to make a difference, I personally contact 50 of the nation’s most prestigious medical malpractice law firms, both plaintiff and defense firms. I make it known that I developed a risk management process …
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