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Historian and ethicist Nigel Cameron discusses his article, “How DrKoop.com rose and fell: the untold story behind the Surgeon General’s startup.” The conversation chronicles the dramatic history of the iconic dot-com era …
When credibility is your only asset: the cautionary tale of DrKoop.com [PODCAST]
Sleep is not a luxury — it’s a fundamental pillar of health on par with diet and exercise. As we enter a new era of sleep, people are more aware than ever before of how rest impacts their overall health. We are at an inflection point where sleep is increasingly recognized as essential to preventative care and wellness. Yet, many still suffer in silence, trapped in a cycle of exhaustion.
The …
Why sleep is the missing pillar in modern health care
An excerpt from The Healthy Kidney Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Manage Hypertension, Control Stress, and Prevent Renal Failure, Kidney Disease, and More.
A good friend and neighbor of mine is a kidney transplant survivor, and I wanted to thoughtfully document her thoughts on different parts of her journey. She is currently a married, African American woman, mother of a teenage son, in her forties, and works full time in …
How a family’s strength led to a successful kidney transplant
As a health care professional, I’ve often observed how one critical aspect of medication safety and efficacy gets overlooked: food-drug interactions.
Every day, we prescribe and dispense powerful medications — but what patients eat alongside those medications can completely alter their effects.
This isn’t just a pharmacy concern. It’s a multidisciplinary issue that deserves greater attention from physicians, pharmacists, and patient educators.
The physician’s role: Asking the right questions
We often do a solid …
The food-drug interaction risks your doctor may be missing
A woman sat nervously in front of me, eyes wide, voice low. “I saw this video on TikTok,” she said. “Now I’m not sure I want to try it.” “It” was semaglutide—one of the most transformative medications we’ve seen for weight loss and metabolic health in years. But her fear wasn’t uncommon. Like many patients I see, she came in hopeful, but hesitant—torn between her desire to get healthy and …
Beyond the TikTok hype: Rebuilding trust in evidence-based weight loss medicine
In recent years, an alarming trend has emerged within the health care system, one that is eroding the very backbone of medical care delivery: the physician. What once were rules and regulations designed to protect and elevate the standard of medical care are increasingly being exploited by medical authorities as a tool to extort, reprimand, and harass physicians. More disturbingly, this extortion is now cloaked as “education,” forcing doctors to …
The weaponization of rules: How regulatory overreach puts physicians and health care at risk
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Pediatrician and certified coach Jessie Mahoney discusses her article, “Physician wellness is a strategic imperative—not a moral crusade.” The conversation focuses on why physicians must shift their advocacy for well-being from a …
How to speak the language of leadership to improve doctor wellness [PODCAST]
In January, I wrote regarding the biased NBC report on unidentified bodies from a coroner’s office being used by a medical school. Subsequently, the network aired two related episodes.
The second report centered on a self-employed purveyor of bodies and parts. He displayed no respect for the people whose bodies or parts he sold. The report was disturbing, as there is an ethical difference between an individual profiting from these …
Ethical dilemmas in using unclaimed bodies for medical research
The Nova Oath is a modern physician’s declaration of courageous care and ethical impact:
I stand not merely as a technician of the body, but as a steward of life, a witness to pain, and a catalyst for healing.
I vow:
The Nova Oath: a physician’s pledge to courageous and ethical care
As a radiologist, I’ve heard the same question too many times, usually from anxious medical students struggling to decide if they should pursue radiology:
“Is AI going to replace radiologists?”
I understand the concern. I had similar fears during training. But after years of practicing medicine and watching AI promises play out in the real world, I can confidently say this: AI is not replacing radiologists. It’s not even close. And those …
AI is not a threat to radiologists. It’s a distraction from what truly matters in medicine.
As a psychiatrist deeply committed to my patients’ well-being, there are moments etched into my memory—moments of profound suffering, struggle, and ultimately, redemption. I vividly recall Sarah (name changed for confidentiality), a 45-year-old teacher whose severe depression had drained all joy from her life. “Dr. Rifai, I just want my life back,” she told me, tears streaming down her face. Her plea echoed the silent anguish of countless patients I’ve …
How deep transcranial magnetic stimulation is transforming mental health care
There’s a quiet rebellion happening in medicine. A movement of physicians no longer willing to sacrifice their humanity for productivity quotas, administrative burdens, or the illusion of perfection. We wrote White Coats, Courageous Hearts with thirteen other physicians to shine a light on this shift—voices reclaiming agency in a system that often forgets that doctors are human, too.
Alae Kawam, DO:
There has been a profound cultural shift—and an emerging rift—in the …
True stories of doctors reclaiming their humanity in a system that challenges it
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Entrepreneur, AI enthusiast, and wellness advocate Vaishali Jha discusses her article, “Gen Z is already transforming mental health care—are we listening?” The conversation explores the vital need for new perspectives in health …
How Gen Z is transforming mental health care [PODCAST]
I know what I’m about to say is unpopular, and maybe even controversial within our field — but I need to say it.
I’ve been a nurse for 18 years. I care deeply about my patients, and I care about the future of this profession. But I’m increasingly disheartened by what I see inside our own ranks. There’s a phrase we all know: “nurses eat their young.” We repeat it so …
Nurses aren’t eating their young — we’re starving the profession
The emergency physician across from me had it all on paper: good schedule, six-figure salary, respected by colleagues, two kids in college, mortgage nearly paid off. “I should be grateful,” she said, staring at her coffee. “But I keep wondering — is this it for the next twenty years?” If you’re nodding, you’re not alone. That quiet restlessness isn’t ingratitude. It’s evolution.
The script we’ve all been given
From day one of …
Why wanting more from your medical career is a sign of strength
I am trapped in a circadian rhythm that I cannot escape from. I think it started when I finished my residency. And to make matters worse, this week it felt like I was also trapped in the series Squid Game. I awake about an hour before first light (sometimes as early as 4:30 a.m.) and almost instantly fall asleep about an hour after dusk if I am laying down. No …
U.S. health care leadership must prepare for policy-driven change
I have been on the pre-med path for years. I started college excited to one day become a doctor, but I quickly learned that excitement was not part of the culture. From the beginning, pre-med students are taught to compete with one another. We are forced into difficult STEM courses that are often graded on a curve, which turns classmates into rivals. I saw people hide resources, give wrong information …
Why the pre-med path is pushing future doctors to the brink
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Retired surgeon, psychotherapist, and author Patrick Hudson discusses his article, “Why we fear being forgotten more than death itself.” The conversation explores the profound difference between the biological act of dying and …
Why the fear of being forgotten is stronger than the fear of death [PODCAST]
I have never been outside my hospital since I joined two months ago.
As the only doctor in the oncology department, I cannot take the time to roam around the hospital. My duty hours are filled with chemotherapy treatments and the continuous monitoring of sick patients.
The hospital where I work is affiliated with a private medical college. On Saturdays and Sundays, the students have a holiday. It was a Saturday, and …
How a rainy walk helped an oncologist rediscover joy and bravery
An excerpt from Real Medicine, Unreal Stories: Lessons and Insights from Clinical Practice (Volume 2).
The dinner plates had been cleared and a lazy instrumental playlist drifted through the background. Thad Brigham leaned back in his chair, a satisfied smile crossing his face as he looked at his daughters across the table.
“You two always manage to bring the energy back into this old house,” he …
How inspiration and family stories shape our most meaningful moments
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