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Medical students Vineeth Amba and Archita Goyal discuss their article, “What’s driving medical students away from primary care?” They share the widespread discouragement medical students encounter regarding primary care careers, despite initial …
Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]
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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]
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
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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Physician executive Sreeram Mullankandy discusses his article, “Bridging the digital divide: Addressing health inequities through home-based AI solutions.” The conversation highlights that while the future of health care delivery is moving into …
How home-based AI can reduce health inequities in underserved communities [PODCAST]
On June 12, 2025, Air India flight crashed minutes after takeoff from Ahmedabad in India. Among the 242 people on board, only one survived: a man seated in 11A.
That image has stayed with me—not just because of the miraculous survival, but because of what it reveals about systems. Seat 11A was located near the plane’s wing box, the structurally strongest part of the aircraft, and beside an emergency exit. Experts …
The man in seat 11A survived, but why don’t our patients?
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Pediatrician and certified coach Jessie Mahoney discusses her article “The broken health care system doesn’t have to break you.” Jessie discusses the profound changes in the practice of medicine that no longer …
How to survive a broken health care system without losing yourself [PODCAST]
As an endodontist who specializes in saving natural teeth, I have a front-row seat when it comes to observing the nuances of oral health. I can tell who is a flosser, a fan of tooth whiteners, and the sweet tooths among us. Occasionally, and particularly in younger adults, I see signs of severe tooth decay. That usually means one thing—they have lived in a town that lacks fluoride in their …
Why removing fluoride from water is a public health disaster
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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. …
Improving patient encounters: time-saving strategies for physicians [PODCAST]
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 …
Why being a physician mom is harder than anyone admits
“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
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
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
An excerpt from Real Medicine, Unreal Stories: Lessons and Insights from Clinical Practice.
The magnolias were blooming early this spring, their pale pink petals fluttering down onto the worn brick pathway outside the hospital courtyard. Dr. Eva Cardenas wrapped her thin white coat tighter as she waited on a bench, the same one she used to eat lunch on during the worst months of 2020, six feet apart from everyone …
5 years later: Doctors reveal the untold truths of COVID-19
I’ve had a few moments in my life where time seems to stand still.
I’m not talking about being in the flow of creativity or about a near-death experience. I’m referring to those times where a sudden realization makes you reconsider how you’ve viewed yourself or your life in fundamental ways.
After leaving clinical practice, I was dogged by guilt and shame for at least a decade. I viewed my choice as …
Why this doctor hid her story for a decade
Sexism in the workplace is often associated with overt hostility, harassment, insults, discrimination, or intimidation. But what about the subtler, seemingly well-intentioned behaviors that can still hinder women’s advancement? Our study explores benevolent sexism (BvS) in academic medicine and how it may quietly limit women’s careers, even in environments committed to gender equity.
What is benevolent sexism?
Coined by Glick and Fiske in 1996, benevolent sexism refers to attitudes that appear …
How kindness in disguise is holding women back in academic medicine
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Former American College of Physicians treasurer and infectious disease physician Janet A. Jokela discusses her article, “Internal Medicine 2025: inspiration at the annual meeting.” She shares her personal reflections on the profound …
More than a meeting: Finding education, inspiration, and community in internal medicine [PODCAST]
After twenty-five years of dedicated service as a physician, overcoming a severe neurological illness taught me that medicine embraces patient recovery—but not physician recovery. I never imagined returning to practice after illness would mean humiliation, suspicion, and unnecessary trauma. Yet, that is exactly what happened.
When my illness took me away from clinical practice for over three years, I anticipated hurdles returning to medicine. I understood the need for a competency …
Why recovery after illness demands dignity, not suspicion
I was, without a doubt, in a desperate place—going back to school after not taking a math course in over six years and attempting to study calculus. It was as stressful as it sounds. Like so many of the students in my post-baccalaureate cohort, we deeply valued our education at this point—which is not surprising, considering we all had to work jobs to pay for it. But luckily, I had …
How a homeless mathematician taught me the true meaning of success
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Registered dietitian Ava Safir and physician advocate Kim Downey discuss their article, “Why patients need a registered dietitian on their health care team.” They highlight the often-overlooked yet crucial role registered dietitians …
Registered dietitians on your care team [PODCAST]
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