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Physician and clinical researcher Chris Apfel discusses his article, “Functional precision oncology: a game changer in cancer therapy.” Chris explains that functional precision oncology takes a highly personalized approach by testing a …
How functional precision oncology is revolutionizing cancer treatment [PODCAST]
Medicine demands precision. However, we overlook one of its most critical variables: physician cognitive load. As a medical student, I see both sides: how deeply patients trust their doctors, and how invisible that mental toll often is. Each day, doctors are pressured to make high-stakes decisions while managing patient care and mental strain. As a field, we track vital signs but fail to measure cognitive fatigue.
Burnout is peaking at crisis …
Why tracking cognitive load could save doctors and patients
“I will catch you on the flip side,” I said these words as I planted a kiss on Laura’s clammy forehead. I instinctively knew this would be the last time I spoke with her. I walked around the foot of her hospital bed to Sherry and told her not to get up as I bent over and gave her a big hug, the kind where I buried my face in …
When a doctor becomes the narrator of a patient’s final chapter
Let’s bust a myth: Health care is not just about rules, protocols, and playing it safe. In fact, real breakthroughs happen when we dare to think differently.
Whether it’s improving patient outcomes, solving staffing gaps, or designing more human-centered workflows, the future of health care demands creative thinking at every level.
And no—you don’t need to be an “artist” to be creative in medicine.
Why creativity is no longer optional
Health care is under …
Why innovation in health care starts with bold thinking
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Health care attorney Dennis Hursh discusses his article, “What independent and locum tenens doctors need to know about fair market value.” Dennis explains why understanding fair market value (FMV) is crucial for …
Navigating fair market value as an independent or locum tenens physician [PODCAST]
Gaslighting manifests in many forms. The most common may be political fights involving the extreme positions on any controversial issue (e.g., gun control, abortion, immigration, you name it). One extreme faction claims they have the truth and blames the opposing extreme faction for the problems in our world. We see this every day in news reports. Those who have experienced gaslighting know that political fights involve gaslighting on steroids.
Another common …
Gaslighting and professional licensing: a call for reform
Artificial intelligence is rapidly evolving, poised to reshape research, health care delivery, and medical decision-making. A new interactive slideshow delves into this shift, highlighting self-improving AI systems like the Darwin Gödel Machine and autonomous AI development.
Here are the key takeaways and their implications for medicine and beyond.
The age of self-improving AI has arrived.
Until recently, AI systems relied heavily on human engineers to design and tune their capabilities. That’s changing. The …
How self-improving AI systems are redefining intelligence and what it means for health care
Imagine a health care team treating your elderly loved one—without the full picture. This is the reality of the U.S. health care system. Our system is failing nursing home residents, the most vulnerable population, by dragging out an outdated, inefficient data-sharing system. To improve nursing home care, health data must be efficiently shared and organized across hospitals and facilities, ensuring tailored treatments for patients with complex conditions. Unfortunately, existing Read more…
How blockchain could rescue nursing home patients from deadly miscommunication
Doctors are born to serve. We say yes to the late shifts, cover for colleagues, sign up for the committee, and go the extra mile for our patients.
Somewhere along the way, that instinct to serve often mutates into something sneakier: The belief that we must constantly prove our worth through more letters behind our name.
I’ve seen it repeatedly. Physicians burned out in their clinical roles start looking for a way …
When service doesn’t mean another certification
Introduction: Financing cancer or fighting it?
Tobacco remains the single largest preventable cause of cancer worldwide, responsible for nearly 8 million deaths annually, including 1.2 million from exposure to secondhand smoke. Despite decades of public health efforts, global tobacco use continues to pose a significant threat to cancer prevention. The question remains: Are we truly winning the war against the world’s leading carcinogen, or are we merely negotiating with death?
Tobacco is …
Financing cancer or fighting it: the real cost of tobacco
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Physician executive Jay Anders discusses his article, “Health care’s data problem: the real obstacle to AI success.” Jay asserts that the transformative potential of artificial intelligence in health care is fundamentally dependent …
Why fixing health care’s data quality is crucial for AI success [PODCAST]
In medicine, we were taught to value humility over pride. To downplay our successes. To “just do our job.” Even as we achieve remarkable things, we rarely pause to acknowledge them, let alone celebrate.
Pride feels risky. Many physicians worry that being proud means being egotistical, self-important, or inconsiderate of others who may be struggling. We were trained to attribute our successes to the team, to luck, or hard work—never to …
Why so many physicians struggle to feel proud—even when they should
It was after dinner at The Goring, just the three of us—Ulla, David Chipp, and me. The kind of dinner where the wine lingers longer than the food, and the conversation slips into the quietly personal.
David, once Reuters’ correspondent in Peking during the Mao years and later editor-in-chief of the Press Association, handed me a gift: a copy of E. M. Forster’s What I believe. Inside, he had written a line …
If I had to choose: Choosing the patient over the protocol
Like many of us in health care, I recently became engrossed in The Pitt. If you’re still watching—or plan to—consider this your spoiler alert. HBO’s new medical drama immerses viewers in a grueling 14-hour shift in the ER of a trauma center. I initially tuned in for Noah Wyle, my teenage crush, but I stayed for the catharsis. Never have I related on such a visceral level to the portrayal …
How a TV drama exposed the hidden grief of doctors
Have you been encouraged to play more by your medical providers recently?
Most likely, the answer is “no.”
However, as a family medicine physician myself, I have begun to see the importance of play for many aspects of our health.
When scholars define playfulness, curiosity, spontaneity, and the freedom to suspend reality are some of the ways it is described.
I might ask right here for you to consider how those elements are important …
Why adults need to rediscover the power of play
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Patient advocate Tami Burdick discusses her article, “How collaboration saved my life from a rare disease doctors couldn’t diagnose.” Tami shares her personal and arduous journey with granulomatous mastitis (GM), a rare …
How collaboration across medical disciplines and patient advocacy cured a rare disease [PODCAST]
Having worked with patients for more than 25 years, I’ve witnessed the courage, determination, and unbreakable spirit of those facing a cancer diagnosis. But I’ve also seen the questions, uncertainties, and misinformation they and their families face throughout the cancer journey.
Cancer is one of the most challenging health issues of our time, affecting the lives of millions of people worldwide. More than 20 million new cases of cancer are diagnosed …
5 cancer myths that could delay your diagnosis or treatment
Von Willebrand disease (VWD) is the most common inherited bleeding disorder, affecting approximately 1 percent of the population, though clinically significant symptoms occur in about 1 in 10,000 individuals. It is caused by a deficiency or dysfunction of von Willebrand factor (VWF), a protein critical for blood clotting. For women, VWD poses unique challenges during reproductive years, particularly in the context of fertility and assisted reproductive technologies like in vitro …
When bleeding disorders meet IVF: Navigating von Willebrand disease in fertility treatment
Everyone talks about the pride of earning that “Dr.” title. But few speak about the ugly journey of medical school: the isolation, exhaustion, and invisible battles.
There’s never a shortage of people telling you to work hard. What they don’t tell you is that sometimes, hard work still won’t be enough. In Pakistan, over 180,000 students sit for the MDCAT each year, competing for limited seats. Globally, 70,000 take the MCAT. …
The hidden cost of becoming a doctor: a South Asian perspective
In a few weeks, we will be celebrating our 249th Independence Day, which brings celebratory vibes but concerns about how the Constitution is being ignored. Who will stand to defend it? In today’s America—where civil liberties are too often dismissed as inconvenient and the Constitution is treated like a museum piece rather than a living covenant—we are called to remember the physician patriots who helped birth this nation. Not only with …
Physician patriots: the forgotten founders who lit the torch of liberty
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