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In this episode, we delve into the profound emotional experiences of Ryan McCarthy, an internal medicine physician. Ryan shares heart-wrenching moments from his practice, including the day his heart metaphorically rolled off his …
Inside the heart of an internal medicine doctor [PODCAST]
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We sit down with Carrie Atcheson, a board-certified anesthesiologist and co-founder of Business Mindset MD, to explore the transformative potential of physician-led innovation in health care. We delve into how the acquisition of …
How physician-led innovation drives change [PODCAST]
In medicine, we were taught to anticipate, diagnose, and predict conditions. Examining our patients allows us to assess the problem and make a plan. We generally know what is coming next unless some action or treatment is taken.
Personal and professional transitions are unlike medical conditions because we can rarely predict what will occur. Our life transitions can seem demanding, often onerous, because we female humans do not like change. In …
Why are transitions so difficult for women physicians?
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Join us in this insightful episode as we delve into the world of creativity and wellness with Charity Hix, a burnout and wellness coach, and Kim Downey, a physician advocate and physical therapist. …
Creativity in combating medical burnout [PODCAST]
According to the 2024 Doximity survey, the average annual compensation for a family physician is around $300,813. For 90 percent of family doctors, this is their reality—stuck in the matrix of traditional employment. They feel unloved, undervalued, and used by the system to feed the corporate cash register. I know because that is what I did for the first 15 years of my career. However, I discovered a better …
Rewriting the rules: Achieving a million-dollar income in family medicine
When demand exceeds supply, a resource is limited. Allocating those resources “involves a tension between efficiency and equity.” The market has several ways to allot those limited resources, beginning with cost. For example, frequent flyer miles, a form of resource allocation, may not seem controversial, except to those getting on last, where there is no room for their carry-on. Health care is a limited resource for many reasons, and equity …
Concierge medicine: exclusive access or equity dilemma?
The yearly arrival of Santa Claus was a wonderful ritual of my early childhood years and later as I became a parent and a grandparent. It was exciting and fun, and the production provided mystery and joy. The fact that millions of people look forward to giving without getting accolades for doing so symbolizes the best in human nature. We willingly give credit to a myth for bestowing on those …
Why teaching medicine feels like being Santa Claus year-round
The aging baby boomer generation is creating a multitude of new challenges for our already stretched thin health care sector. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, by 2030, all baby boomers will be older than 65, with about one in every five residents being of retirement age and increasing demand for health care services. Simultaneously, many of our clinicians are nearing retirement or choosing to retire early. The …
As a pain management physician, I often receive requests to authorize or renew patients’ accessible parking permits. These usually are routine, but not always. One morning, a patient, whom I’ll refer to as Steve, came into my clinic.
Steve was mainly a healthy man in his 40s. He had had chronic pain since an accident on a construction job site several years ago. He had successfully filed for disability, with a …
The ethical dilemma of accessible parking permits
Deciphering burnout can sometimes feel like interpreting the orders of your favorite attending physician. Though I don’t consider myself “old,” I started my medical career before electronic medical records, when paper charts were the norm and computers were rare. We carried little pocket notebooks filled with essential information because at 2 am, after weeks of little sleep, that crucial detail always seemed to slip our minds.
Back then, we relied on …
Decoding burnout: the complex symptoms and hidden tolls in health care
I have always felt that I was in the mainstream of medical thought and actions. Recently, however, I have been subjected to a barrage of articles on physician burnout, depression, and even suicide! I am happy to be working in my medical practice. What is wrong with me?
Like everyone, it is difficult to drag myself out of a nice, warm bed each morning. But as I begin to dress for …
Thriving as a doctor: Why I still love my medical practice amidst burnout fears
In 2017, amidst the routine of caregiving for my elderly father, I experienced a sudden and unexpected turn of events that brought me face to face with an undeniable truth: the importance of knowing and listening to our bodies. I slipped on a carpet and broke my ankle while pushing my father forward in his wheelchair. It was a moment that not only challenged my preconceptions but also illuminated a …
An ankle away: the urgent call to listen to our bodies
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Welcome to a special episode of the podcast where we turn the tables on Kevin Pho, the founder of KevinMD. In this episode, pediatrician Lisa Sieczkowski interviews Kevin, delving into his motivations behind …
From patient care to powerful stories: an interview with KevinMD [PODCAST]
I read in a dusty novel that a famous pirate said there are no legacies in this life. Our lives, he said, float atop a fickle sea, and when we die, nothing remains. Many hands work the decks and, in the process, are worn, discarded, and forgotten. The sea gives, and eventually, she flushes the flotsam, leaving no monuments to souls and their adventures.
Well, this is not entirely true. And, …
This doctor sometimes listens to pirates
A windy, bumpy road led my family into Costa Rica’s remote Nicoya Peninsula, one of the world’s five so-called Blue Zones. Our arrival in 2021 satisfied a wish I had made while undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer to visit this fascinating, biodiverse region where people are documented to live healthier, longer lives.
I have taught my students in the lifestyle medicine program at Metropolitan State University in Denver about the literature …
Blue Zones uncovered: a physician’s first-hand experience
The evolving health care landscape presents a growing demand for skilled providers. To meet this challenge, health care leaders must prioritize innovation and explore solutions that leverage existing resources to deliver the high-quality care that patients deserve.
The U.S. health care system faces a looming crisis: a critical shortage of clinicians. The Health Resources and Service Administration predicts a shortfall of nearly 140,000 physicians by 2036. Compounding this issue, a …
Interdisciplinary care teams play a pivotal role in mitigating the clinician shortage
In my personal life and my training as a physician, the burden of “trying to never be wrong” was a mantle I was accustomed to carrying. In retrospect, it was probably a fusion of people-pleasing and perfectionist tendencies. Part of this character trait is having a fix-it mentality. Everything that was not working according to my plan should be fixed. If my patient is sick, I need to find out …
Breaking free from perfectionism: a physician’s story of transformation
In my work with thousands of overstressed physicians and over 175 health care organizations, I have repeatedly learned one lesson: resilience training alone is not sufficient to rein in the epidemic of physician burnout.
If you believe, as I do, that physicians are the canary in the coal mine of medicine, then it is clear the epidemic of physician burnout is an indictment of the conditions of the mine, not the …
Why resilience training alone won’t fix physician burnout
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We welcome family physician Michael Fine alongside insights from medical resident Fatima Khan. Join us as we delve into the transformative journey of the Scituate Health Alliance, spearheaded by Michael, and its pioneering …
A social movement to save primary care [PODCAST]
I know you are wounded, as I am also injured.
It is as if we have been battered and bruised and kicked to the side of the road, left there alone to suffer. An ignored problem will soon be forgotten; at least, that is their contention.
We have screamed out our maladies and concerns to those in closed, cold rooms, those with mechanical minds that churn out debits and credits but cannot …
Health care’s breaking point: patients and physicians abandoned
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