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Graduating from medical school without family: a story of strength and survival

Anonymous

Education

June 15, 2025

Today I graduated from medical school. It should have been one of the happiest days of my life. And in some ways, it was. I earned this moment through sleepless nights, years of sacrifice, and an unshakable drive to serve and heal. I walked across the stage, accepted my diploma, stretched my smile from cheek to cheek, and looked directly at the camera. But behind that smile, I carried something …

Inside human trafficking: a guide to recognizing and preventing it [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

June 14, 2025

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

Public policy analyst Julia Drydyk discusses her article “Human trafficking isn’t what you think: Why education is key to stopping it.” Julia clarifies the crucial distinction between human smuggling and human trafficking, …

Earwax could hold secrets to cancer, Alzheimer’s, and heart disease

Sandra Vamos, EdD and Domenic Alaimo

Conditions

June 14, 2025

Most of us think of earwax as a nuisance–something to be cleaned out and discarded. But, did you know that this sticky substance is a natural part of your body that can reveal information about your health?

If you regularly clean your ears at home, it’s worth a second thought. Although a part of general hygiene, overdoing it–or using hairpins, toothpicks, and other pointy tools–can do Read more…

Earwax could hold secrets to cancer, Alzheimer’s, and heart disease

Why male fertility needs to be part of every health conversation

Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian

Conditions

June 14, 2025

June is Men’s Health Month, an opportunity to spotlight the unique health challenges men face—and to change the way we talk about them. One of the most overlooked and under-discussed topics in men’s health? Fertility. It’s time to bring it to the forefront.

As a fellowship-trained urologist specializing in sexual medicine and male fertility, I’ve witnessed firsthand how male reproductive health is too often sidelined in conversations around family-building. For far …

Why health care must adapt to meet the needs of older adults with disabilities

Lynn A. Schaefer, PhD

Conditions

June 14, 2025

We all know the population is aging, but did you know that close to half of all adults over age 65 in the U.S. have some kind of disability? The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) includes as a disability any “physical or mental impairment that limits one or more life activities” or a history or record of such impairment.

Thus, disabilities include: physical limitations such as mobility issues, pain, and fatigue; …

How doctors took back control from hospital executives

Gene Uzawa Dorio, MD

Physician

June 14, 2025

Several decades ago at our local hospital in northern Los Angeles County, an onslaught against doctors began. The administration marginalized and discredited them. It was not due to a lack of medical skill or knowledge, as certain physicians were labeled “troublemakers” and “threats” to health care in our small community.

The chief of staff and I, the chairman of the Department of Medicine, were members of the staff, some of whom …

Improving patient encounters: time-saving strategies for physicians [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

June 13, 2025

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Endocrinologist Michael Morkos discusses his article “Mastering the art of efficient patient encounters: tips for physicians.” Michael shares practical strategies for optimizing the patient encounter to enhance both efficiency and patient satisfaction. …

How art and science fueled one woman’s path to medicine

Amy Avakian, MD

Physician

June 13, 2025

Dreaming of medicine

Everyone has an origin story. Mine doesn’t include any radioactive spiders or vats of glowing fluid, but I did get a few extra volts of electricity being defibrillated back to life at seventeen, and that’s close enough to a tragic backstory for me. It was a short-lived event, but long enough to change everything. I remember the blur of motion as a team of doctors worked around me. …

In a fractured world, Brian Wilson’s message still heals

Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA

Physician

June 13, 2025

In memory of Brian Wilson (1942–2025).

In a world increasingly marked by fracture and fear, it is hard not to return to the quiet, aching clarity of Brian Wilson’s song Love and Mercy. Originally released in 1988, the song was not a protest anthem or a sweeping political critique. Instead, it was a simple, open-hearted wish: “Love and mercy, that’s what you need tonight. So, love and mercy to you and …

4 traits every new attending physician needs to thrive

Sarah Epstein

Conditions

June 13, 2025

When I conduct therapy for doctors after residency, I am supporting new attending physicians as they navigate one of the most intense and disorienting transitions of their careers. These early attendings often arrive feeling untethered. They’re rediscovering who they are, working through long-ignored anxiety, stepping into their authority, and trying to build lives that don’t begin and end with medicine.

When I talk about what makes a new attending “successful,” I’m …

2 hours to decide my future: Why the NRMP’s SOAP process is broken

Anonymous

Education

June 13, 2025

“We are sorry, you did not match to any position.”

That sentence alone is enough to crush someone who has spent over a decade chasing the dream of becoming a physician. But what came next was a blur of rushed decisions, emotional exhaustion, and the pressure to uproot my life—without knowing if the choice was right for me or my family.

I entered SOAP, the Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program—advertised as a …

Essential questions about nurse practitioner liability insurance [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

June 12, 2025

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Nurse practitioner Surani Hayre-Kwan discusses her article “Are you protecting your career? 5 essential questions about your NP liability insurance.” Surani discusses the critical need for nurse practitioners to secure their own …

Why being a physician mom is harder than anyone admits

Cynthia Chen-Joea, DO, MPH

Physician

June 12, 2025

There’s so much we don’t say out loud.

Not because it’s not true.
Not because it doesn’t matter.
But because somewhere along the way, we were taught that strength looks like silence—and that if we’re struggling, it must mean we’re doing something wrong. Or maybe we just forgot, in the brain fog of postpartum hormones and the blur of sleepless nights.

I’m a family physician. I’m also a mother to an amazingly bright and …

9 domains that will define the future of medical education

Harvey Castro, MD, MBA

Tech

June 12, 2025

A comprehensive 2025 framework on medical education reform has laid bare a critical challenge: The traditional path to becoming a doctor is failing to meet the demands of modern health care. The consequences are stark: 70 percent of medical students report frequent feelings of burnout, persistent health disparities remain entrenched, and a median debt of $200,000 is pushing graduates away from essential careers in primary and public service care.

This new …

When the diagnosis is personal: What my mother’s Alzheimer’s taught me about healing

Pearl Jones, MD

Conditions

June 12, 2025

I’ve spent my career as a neurologist diagnosing and managing neurodegenerative diseases. I’ve counseled families through heartbreaking prognoses, navigated complex care plans, and educated patients about conditions like Alzheimer’s disease. I thought I understood what it meant to live with a memory disorder, until my mother became my most challenging, most personal patient.

Her diagnosis came gradually, as these things often do. First, it was the missed appointments and forgotten dates. …

What led me from nurse practitioner to medical school

Sarah White, APRN

Education

June 12, 2025

For years, I cared for patients as a nurse practitioner—managing chronic disease, guiding them through acute illness, counseling them through the often messy realities of life and health. I loved my work. I loved the relationships I built with patients, the trust they placed in me, and the opportunity to make a difference in their lives.

But over time, a quiet restlessness began to grow—a sense that I wanted to deepen …

Why local cardiac CT scans could save your life

Benjamin Cohen, MD

Conditions

June 12, 2025

In cities like Los Angeles, accessing advanced cardiac imaging is not always a matter of medical need. It is often a question of logistics. Even in major metro areas, where advanced technology is available, practical barriers—like scheduling delays, traffic, and long waitlists—can prevent patients from getting scans when they need them.

Many wait weeks for appointments or travel across the city to reach a facility equipped for high-quality cardiac CT. In …

Reassessing the impact of CDC’s opioid guidelines on chronic pain care [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

June 11, 2025

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Internal medicine and pediatric physician Charles LeBaron discusses his article “How the CDC’s opioid rules created a crisis for chronic pain patients.” Charles discusses the 2016 CDC opioid guideline, initially framed as …

Key strategies for smooth EHR transitions in health care

Sandra Johnson

Tech

June 11, 2025

Healthcare organizations continue to face financial and operational efficiency pressures to implement or upgrade their electronic health record (EHR) systems, driven largely by the push for greater interoperability and the need to consolidate disparate systems. While the benefits of modern, integrated EHR systems are clear, the path to successful implementation remains complex and challenging for many organizations.

The foundation: Stakeholder engagement and leadership buy-in

The success of any EHR implementation hinges on …

How proposed NIH budget cuts could derail Alzheimer’s research

Tamer Hage, Tejas Sekhar, and Swapna Vaja

Conditions

June 11, 2025

Recent budget cuts to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have dominated the headlines since February of this year, when the NIH announced a 15 percent cap on indirect costs — a move that jeopardizes essential research infrastructure by slashing funding for facilities and administrative support vital to the advancement of scientific innovation.

Now, leaked documents threaten to compound this issue: The Trump administration plans to cut the NIH’s …